Rain City Clay opened on April 2nd, 2022!!!

Where has all the time gone? Three years after Rain City Clay (RCC) first opened its doors, we are reflecting back on all that we’ve done and what we still hope to accomplish. Read on to learn more about how we have connected with the community, expanded our knowledge, upgraded our tools, and what we plan to do next!

Join us for an open house Sunday, May 28th from 12pm-4pm. We will be giving tours and you may sign up for a FREE Try Clay Session on the potter’s wheel.

Our Programming:

RCC offers 10-12 classes with 16 spaces during each quarter. Participants have generous access to the studio for practice time! 10 scholarships are given each quarter
Studio access for 30+ independent study participants!
We have an indy study practice space that is available for use during all open hours (generally 9am-9pm)
Exciting one-day "try clay" events for adults and youth
Sip n Spins, Parent n Pups, Private events, Lessons, & More
Visiting Artist Program (Three-month award residency)
Clay Club - bringing clay to the classrooms of local schools
Firing Service for organizations/schools
Four Studio Rentals for Artist-in-Residence
Affiliate Program - self directed with 24/7 studio access

About our staff and instructors!

We are one tight-knit crew!
With 7 people on our staff, everyone does their part to help RCC/RCS thrive. Deb Schwartzkopf is the founder & director, does the books, guides the vision, and instructs at Rain City Clay and Rat City Studios; Anika Major is Rain City Clay’s studio manager, assists with admin work, and is an instructor; Brooke Felix is a technical assistant, our ambassador, and an instructor; Brooke Hanson (yes, we have two Brooke’s!) is our youth coordinator, a Rat City Studios technical assistant, and an instructor; and Sam O’Brien is a technical assistant and instructor.

Joining us in this next chapter of RCC’s journey are crew members Irene Nelson & Zoe Maris! In March, Irene began working as a technical assistant for the studio in addition to her wonderful work as an instructor. Around that same time, after six and a half years of dedicated work to RCS & RCC, we said a tearful goodbye to instructor and marketing & events manager Hayley Reed as they handed the reins over to Zoe. You can get to know our new crew members through the RCC blog where we also do monthly staff highlights. For more information about other studio artists and instructors, check out our Crew page!

In addition to staff who teach regularly, RCC rotates through guest instructors. These have included Allison Grevstad, Alice Lee, Emily Turner, Finn Park, Krista Cortese, Jen Fujimoto, Jody Wally, Joe Wilkinson, Juliann Choe, Liz Quackenbush, Rene Gutierrez, Terri Goodwin, Tony Gonzales, and more! Our instructors bring their knowledge and enthusiasm for clay and share it with the whole community! There are SO many folks who help RCC Thrive.

“Deb does such a great job of creating community and fostering a feeling of inclusivity. From the kick off / ribbon cutting event with the raindrop decorating and pottery throwing with the kids watching to the glaze workshops with John Britt to the potlucks at her house (complete with chickens and bees) Deb has gone out of her way to make Rain City Clay a special place for everyone: community member, student and teacher alike. Yay Rain City! Happy Birthday!” - Jen Mills

“I have so many great memories from RCS and RCC! Some especially memorable favorites were learning to maintain wheels and kilns, which I now do at Rain City Clay. We had Amaco technician Sharon Gardner visit us at RCS, and she unlocked an exciting new world of wheel maintenance for me! I love keeping up with our equipment, and it makes me so happy to see our students learning.” - Anika Major

RCC couldn't have done it without the incredible teamwork that brought this dream to life. From our dedicated staff to cherished friends, loving family members, and passionate volunteers, each played a vital role in transforming this space into the vibrant hub of clay and creativity that it is today. The first year we painted, sanded, built, and poured our hearts into every corner. The second year we iterated on a solid start. Now, as we head into our third year, we are so excited to expand our offerings, outreach, and creative clay community.

We are so thankful for the students who continue to breathe life into our dream, igniting it with your creativity, kindness, and unwavering support. Every session, your enthusiasm and passion remind us why we do what we do. Cheers to sharing experiences and engaging and building community through clay!

Connecting with the community

little hands at one of our youth clay events

For the last couple years, we have been working to provide enriching classes for creative adults in West Seattle. Now, thanks to the dedicated efforts of RCC staff, we have steadily developed youth clay programs both in the studio and at local schools. Aiming to get kids excited about clay and aid them in developing their creative confidence, this spring session marks the one year anniversary of our after school clay clubs which are now running at three local schools (Arbor Heights Elementary, Westside School, and Genesee Hill Elementary)!

Additionally, we have run several one-day “Parent n Pup” and “Clay Play” classes, with our first 10-week youth wheel class underway at RCC this spring! Last summer we ran two weeks of handbuilding clay camp as part of our goal to create a Youth Summer Clay Camp here at the studio. This year, RCC is happy to announce that we have doubled our summer offerings and are hoping to run two weeks of handbuilding and wheel throwing clay camps for ages 6-15!

“I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in just the first year of the youth program. I once heard from a kindergartener’s parent that getting him to school was a struggle every morning, except on Mondays when he has clay club. That was so sweet to hear. The best feedback is getting continued interest from students who sign up again and again! Watching kids build on their skills and gain creative confidence makes my teacher heart happy.“ ~ Brooke Hanson

summit atlas high school student works on clay strawberry

Summit atlas high school student’s ceramic fruit

Seeking Knowledge at NCECA

This March, members of RCC staff had the pleasure of attending the 59th conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). While there were lots of cool workshops, events, and learning opportunities, a highlight was contributing to a community marine reef and exploring sustainable ceramics. Made out of clay, each form is later fired with salt from the Great Salt Lake in Utah and then submerged in the ocean to serve as a sustainable artificial reef for marine organisms!

Brooke hanson’s contribution to the reef

Deb leading a presentation at the 59th nceca

Additionally, our founder, Deb Schwartzkopf, led a presentation at the conference, perfectly highlighting this year’s theme: “formation”. Deb’s presentation guided NCECA attendees through building their form vocabulary, easily making repeated shapes, and, most importantly, having fun hand-building! Diving a bit deeper, Deb went into detail about bisque-fired molds and their applications. She demonstrated how to make a simple mold from clay and then used two of her own bisque molds to hand-build vases.

The presentation, and event as a whole, was a huge success and we are thankful to NCECA for putting on such an amazing conference! We will see you next year in Michigan for NCECA’s 60th conference: “Volumes”.

Expanding our tools

More great equipment!
Thanks to a generous, anonymous donor, RCC set up an adaptive wheel in the main classroom! Maybe you’ve seen it around the studio and haven’t even realized how awesome it is. Much as its name implies, the wheel and the arms can change height, creating a more adjustable space for the user’s throwing experience. This tool opens up new opportunities for people who use mobility aids to participate comfortably in classes or practice time at RCC.

What’s next?

Rain City Clay is facilitating “Making Waves”, a cup show exhibition, at Jellyfish Brewing Company in June of 2025!

This will be our second year putting on the cup show at this location! We are excited that this year there will be two fun clay events to participate in as well! RCC would like to thank local artists Ryan McDonald and Erica Davidson for taking the time to demonstrate their unique clay techniques. We even have a “Play With Clay” youth event for younger artists looking to participate! With so much to offer, make sure to check out the “Making Waves” page for more details on how you can be a part of this epic clay event this summer. Ultimately, the goal of the cup show is to display the diversity of work happening in our community. We hope that this yearly event will continue to grow in the coming years alongside our community of amazing artists in West Seattle.

Have you had a chance to take one of our John Britt workshops?

We are proud to be hosting our third workshop with esteemed glaze chemist and potter, John Britt, in August 2026. The first time we learned how to mix glazes and create test tiles more efficiently. The second time Britt held a workshop, we focused more on stains to make colored glazes. In 2026, he will be going over the basics again (perfect if you missed the first one) and how to “fix” glazes based on what you want from them. Ever had the frustrating experience of meticulously applying a glaze just for it to seemingly do whatever it wants in the kiln? John Britt will teach you why it happened and, more importantly, how to fix it!

To learn more about John Britt and our other exploratory workshops with Jen Allen, Marty Fielding, & Austin Coudriet. Check out the RCC Exploratory Workshops page!

Finishing out 2024

We finished out 2025 with our Annual Holiday Show and Sale!
SO many artists participated and we had a fabulous turnout from the community.

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RCC is Three Years Old!