Business Spotlight: New pottery store in Carson City to teach love of clay

As the idiom goes, those who can, do, and those who can't, teach.

Then there's Merrill and Jo Moore, who do both.

The Carson City couple learned to throw clay four years ago through a local studio, and now are ready to pass on what they've learned by opening their own pottery studio inside the Carson Mall.

"We enjoyed it so much that we began looking for advanced workshops and taking every class we could find," Merrill Moore said. "We’ve had the incredible good fortune to have met and learned from some amazing potters over the past few years."

Their new venture, Ogres-Holm Pottery, holds its grand opening at noon on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 1308 S. Carson Street in Carson City next door to JoAnn's Fabric Store.

"This our first public studio, retail store adventure," Moore said. "The studio manager is our youngest son, Lucas Lamont, who is an artist working towards his degree in business."

Moore said he and his wife will continue to work their full-time jobs outside of the studio, reserving pottery instruction for evenings and weekends.

About a thousand of the space's 1,550 square feet is devoted to studio, where the Moores will hold classes and teach others how to throw clay.

"Potters, as a rule, love to share their knowledge," Merrill Moore said. "We are primarily a teaching studio, we will have a limited selection of pottery clay and tools available along with a small gallery sales area for work produced in the studio."

Only about 300 square feet will be reserved for their product gallery, he said, because the central focus of this business is to produce creativity through hands-on education.

"The retail store aspect is just a minor portion of our business," Moore said. "Our main goal is to teach the skills and craft of ceramics and pottery, in a clean, comfortable, relaxing environment."

The remainder of the space will house two Paragon Viking kilns, a glazing section, storage and wash-up space, he said.

Moore said the store will also provide clay, firing and glazing services to store customers.

Although the store is a new business venture for the Moores, teaching how to throw clay and make pottery is not. The couple has hosted a number of public bowl-making workshops in the community for the past few years, Moore said, but they were unable to hold classes privately out of their home studio.

The new store, however, gives them the space and the venue they've sought for their learning studio.

"When people started asking if we could teach them about pottery, we had to turn them down because our license for a home business prevented us from having classes in our home studio," Merrill said.

Upon finding the vacant Carson Mall space, the Moores felt the timing and the opportunity were right to open a public art studio of their own.

"There were very few local options for people wanting to learn about pottery," Merrill said. "We decided that a teaching studio that had regular hours, multiple instructors and open studio options would be great addition to the art community in Carson City."

He said having an inviting space for potters and clay throwers to come and ply their craft is important to the arts community, because it means bringing clay and pottery art to the public fore.

"We are bringing art and the potential to learn clay to a very public space," Moore said. "Potters often find themselves in warehouses, cramped sheds, or jammed into a corner of a garage. We wanted to create a clean, bright space where people want to be."

While clay and pottery seem to fill a specific niche in the arts community, Moore said there is a lot of depth to the use of clay and he hopes to grow his studio in order to meet the broad scope of clay uses.

"There are so many facets to working with clay," he said, "and so many different bodies of craft and art associated with ceramics that having the space for people to explore those possibilities is exciting."

Moore said clay-throwing is an ageless art, a craft that transcends the age barrier. He hopes to attract clients young and old to the studio where they may develop the joy he has found in the clay arts.

"Our by-line is ‘Slow Down – Imagine – Create,’ which is what working with clay does," Moore said. "You are never too old to play in the mud. We also believe that everyone should have the opportunity to work with clay and have made our studio as accessible as possible."

Besides being learning studio for students, Ogres-Holm Pottery is also meant to be a conduit for local potters, sculptors and other ceramic artists to share their knowledge, Moore said.

Ogres-Holm Pottery currently has three instructors lined up to teach six-week throwing classes, he said, as well as another holding workshops in ceramic painting and ceramic basketry in January. Two more instructors will teach six-week clay hand-building classes.

Private lessons are available with several of studio instructors, Moore said.

Ogres-Holm Pottery offers a membership option, he said, that gives members and current students open studio access during business hours.

"Our studio also has a full time manager who has considerable clay skills who is available to assist if requested," he said. "We are working with potential guest artists for special focus workshops, and planning to add children’s workshops in the near future."

Saturday's grand opening will feature clay throwing and hand-building demonstrations throughout the day, Moore said.

"We planning a very low key opening," he said. "We'll have small projects for anyone who wants to get a little muddy."

Beginning Saturday, Ogres-Holm Pottery will be open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is closed Sunday.

Evening and weekend workshops and classes are already on the schedule, Moore said. For more information, call the studio at 775-461-3616 email the Moores at ogresholmpottery@gmail.com.