About Us

Welcome to Clay on Main, a unique art center and studio located in the heart of the Oley Valley in Pennsylvania.

  • Our Mission:

     Clay on Main offers artists time and space to create.

  • Our Vision: Clay on Main will provide a home where artists from all backgrounds can create and share their work at the highest level.
  • Core Values: Integrity: we are honest, transparent and ethical in all our interactions.
    • Empowerment: we use art as a tool to connect individuals and groups with their own centers of confidence, intuition, and ability.
    • Excellence: while welcoming members and students at all stages in their artistic journeys, we continually encourage their growth toward their highest potentials.
    • Community: art is a tool for communication; we both rely on our community and strive to create more connections with our neighbors and with our colleagues in the local and global art world.
    • Good Stewardship: all of our financial resources will be applied with our mission, vision and core values foremost in mind at all times.
    • Diversity: we know that diverse perspectives strengthen and enrich our organization; we welcome people without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, genetic information, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or status as a veteran.

about

The studio developed from a collaboration of artists who regularly work together. Each person brings their own style and ability to a cooperative studio environment that allows discovery, collaboration, and personal development.

We serve the local community with a variety of clay arts programs. We teach community classes and workshops in clay for adults and children, host professional workshops, collaborate with other non-profit organizations to offer learning opportunities through art, and hold public lectures and events.

Clay on Main also houses a cooperative gallery which serves as a venue for the display and sale of members’ and guest artists’ work. We also host the Half Moon, a venue for local musicians.

We are located on Main Street in the historic village of Oley PA. We are housed in a 19th century farmhouse, once the site of the Heffley family bakery. The township of Oley, a rural mix of farmland, forest, and quaint villages is on the National Register of Historic Places. Rural Berks County, a center of Pennsylvania German red ware continues to inspire clay artists to experiment with creative and contemporary work. Oley is about an hour’s drive northwest of Philadelphia and three hours from New York City.  LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BUILDING where Clay on Main resides.

Clay on Main is a  501 (c)( 3) non-profit organization. We seek community support and wish to work cooperatively with other community non-profit organizations.


Meet our Instructors:

Pirjo L’Esperance

Alizabeth Wenrich