OUR MISSION
Our mission is to cultivate pleasure, community, and new career paths in pottery for BIPOC communities while breaking opportunity cycles in our industry. We felt a need for spaces that feel fun and empowering for those marginalized in most ceramic spaces, namely people of color, the queer community, and the youth. Our belief in the transformative effects of fun and pleasure greatly inform our intentional and unique programming. We also believe in making pottery accessible to our communities and do so through our non-profit arm, The POTluck Initiative. We offer scholarships for students and members, free workshops for our communities, work-trade programs, and career training. Arts degrees can be expensive and a privilege to attain, so we do not require them for hiring and are willing to train persons who do not have degrees but display interest, skill, and love for pottery.Ā
About us
POT was established in 2017 by Mandy Kolahi, a first-generation Iranian woman born and raised in Los Angeles. With Los Angeles being the largest diaspora for Iranians outside of Iran, she has always been inspired to celebrate all the cultures that make up Los Angeles. Growing up in an immigrant community, she found that access and encouragement to arts are not always present in communities focused on survival, thus leaving many adults feeling unwelcome when trying new hobbies they never had access to in their youth. A hobby potter since high school, she recognized that most pottery spaces felt unwelcoming due to a lack of diversity and gatekeeping in the industry. As a middle eastern woman from a Muslim community who grew up during the post-9/11 era, she also experienced unique intersections of race and oppression and how they affect many in America. All of this inspired POT, a community studio focused on accessibility and pleasure for persons of color and adult beginners. POT has since developed organically to 2 locations to include the youth in our programming as they have been a great source of inspiration and hope. We also offer intermediate and advanced level classes to accommodate our community of students who have been learning with us for 5+ years.Ā
CONNECTING WITH OUR COMMUNITY
POT offers sliding scale and free access to pottery for grassroots organizations focused on prison abolition, state violence and police abolition, youth foster care assistance, mental health, education, and other causes that serve our communities well-being and safety. If you represent such an organization, or just want to join the community, please email us to connect!
Meet the Crew
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MANDY KOLAHI
Founder & Teacher
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EBONY HOBBS
General Manager, POT Gardens Studio Manager & Teacher
She / Her -
OLLIN GONZALEZ
Echo Park Studio Manager & Teacher
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VANNY VONG
Office Administrator & Teacher
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SALIMA ALLEN
Social Media Manager
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TANIA CHAIDEZ IBARRA
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JADEN WILLIAMS
Studio Tech
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SACHA TAYLOR
Projects Manager
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Daniela Aramayo
Community Outreach
She / They / Ella
Instagram: @d__yo
Meet our Teachers
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Angel Bermudez
Teacher
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Clarke Ginn
Teacher
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Tia Santana
Teacher
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Aram Hernandez
Teacher
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Liz Navarro
Teacher
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CHRISTINA ERIVES
Teacher
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ISABELLA HACKERMAN
Teacher
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DESMOND JERVIS
Teacher
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JUSTIN CHANG
Teacher
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MANUELA GARCIA
Teacher
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SYDNEY RAY
Teacher
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BRENNEN HUBBARD
Teacher
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SONIA SHAKOORI
Teacher
In the press