Our Studio
The Atelier – Community Arts & Ceramics Studio, is YOUR creative hub, right here in the village of Alfred, NY! Located in the former doctor’s office, we will now care for your creative and artistic needs. Our vision: A welcoming, vibrant, creative, community-centered art space where people of all ages and backgrounds, from hobbyists to well-established artists, can have fun, learn and make cool stuff.
We offer private studio spaces, memberships, classes and workshops, in a venue full of natural light, loaded with high quality equipment and access to all the tools you will ever need. We also have a flex space for other creative endeavors and community meetings.
A couple of images to help you visualize!
Building
28 Church Street, Alfred NY
Main entrance
With the 24/7 access for members
Wheel-throwing room
With 10 BRENT C wheels
Hand-Building room
With adjustable height workstations
Parking
14 parking spots on the premises
The Shed
Up and Coming Micro Gallery
Future home for a gas kiln
Coming soon we hope!
Clay Storage
3 clay bodies available: 182, 112, 553
Our Kiln room
2 electric kilns – 1 front and 1 top loader
Community Tools
With all the tools you’ll ever need
Washroom & Reclaim
Let’s keep it clean!
Drying and Shelving rooms
With individual shelves for all
Our Team
When talent meets passion, when folie meets reality, please meet the team behind the Atelier and the ones who keep it alive everyday
Audrey Mattio-Evans
Ben Evans
Ben Buess
Steven Colby
Alfred, NY – A Legacy Grounded in Clay
Founded in 1888, the Celadon Terra Cotta Company transformed local shale into decorative roofing tiles fired to a brilliant terra-cotta red. Its success helped launch a ceramics boom and sparked further expansion. A second factory, the Rock Cut Clay Company – later renamed Alfred Clay Company – opened in Alfred Station, where it produced both bricks and roofing tiles. At the dawn of the twentieth century, the terra cotta industry stood at the heart of Alfred’s economy employing members of more than a quarter of the town’s families. The impact of the two companies extended far beyond manufacturing. Celadon co-founder John Jake Merrill, a New York State Tax Commissioner, played a pivotal role in securing passage of the 1900 legislation that established the New York State School of Clay-Working and Ceramics.
For 30 years, it remained the only institution of its kind in the United States. The school eventually evolved into the renowned New York State College of Ceramics, a statutory college within Alfred University and one of the nation’s leading centers for ceramic art, engineering, and research.
For two decades, terra cotta products helped shape the architectural landscape of Alfred, reflecting its unique character. More than a century later, many of the tiles still crown buildings throughout the community, serving as enduring reminders of a legacy forged in clay.