🎧 Q&A with POT Mandy Kolahi

Appears in the March 2025 issue of Ceramics Monthly.

 

The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.

Ceramics Monthly: What inspired you to establish POT in Los Angeles as the first pottery studio for and by people of color? 

Mandy Kolahi: At the time, Donald Trump had just started his first presidency and the country was going in a far right-leaning direction. I really wanted to be in a space where I could feel safe and comfortable around people like myself, while also making pottery. The vision started small and simple—I created a space that I otherwise wished had existed for myself and my friends. 

CM: Were there any pivotal moments or mentors in your early life that inspired your journey into pottery and community building? 

MK: I am a Middle Eastern woman of Muslim heritage, so my whole life, my existence has been politicized and demonized in American society and media. As a result, I’ve always been aware of the need for community building and activism. As well as being from Los Angeles, where police brutality is an added layer of marginalization to our communities, I’ve always had an interest in the intersecting layers of political organizing. 

CM: How did you approach designing POT to feel welcoming and accessible to individuals who might feel out of place in traditional art settings? 

MK: Well, our whole staff is BIPOC, so it’s kind of just who we are. Our people see themselves in us. The language we use, the people we hire, the physical spaces we set up, and the classes we host—they all reflect the homes and lives of people of color because that’s who we are. We also don’t require art degrees to hire so that we can break opportunity cycles perpetuated by gatekeeping. 

CM: How does POT prioritize and support communities of color through its programs and initiatives? 

MK: Our programs come in a variety of languages and are targeted to and taught by members of different communities. We prioritize cultural programming and cultural preservation through clay as part of our core mission. We have a number of workshops and events for particular communities, as well as specific scholarships for those communities. For instance, our Khmer Ceramics workshop has scholarships available for Cambodian community members, etc. 

CM: How has the studio evolved since its founding, and what were some key milestones along the way? 

MK: Our first studio in Echo Park opened in 2017 and is about 1000 square feet. POT Gardens, our second studio, opened in February 2020 in south Los Angeles and is about three times larger. Our programming has evolved from offering 2–3 different classes a month at one studio, to now about 30 different classes per month across two studios. We have also expanded our programming to include more community events so that our communities have a chance to come enjoy our space for free and without commitment. Community building through events such as marketplaces, fundraisers, community days, open houses, and free workshops have definitely become a pillar of our mission. We have also expanded the ages of our programming to include young kids, teens, a teen camp, etc.

 

CM: What are your goals for the future of POT, and how do you envision expanding or evolving your services and community impact? 

MK: Our dream is to continue to expand into communities and areas where folks don’t have a lot of access to arts resources. For the time being we continue to focus on making it through this economy, which has been very rough on small businesses like ours and our customers, especially as we offer accessible pricing. So, for now, we are just trying to survive as a means to continue serving our communities. 

CM: Can you tell us about your background and how you started working in clay? Describe your first experience with the material and where it occurred (home, school, community studio, event, etc.). 

MK: I first started in high school. I grew up in the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) system, which is typically underfunded in the arts so we only had access to handbuilding with clay. I didn’t even know wheels existed back then. My high school teacher was Joe Pinkelman, who was incredibly inspiring, and I grew to love ceramics as a hobby from there. He is still making ceramics and still one of my favorite living ceramic artists. He did that magical thing teachers can do to make a kid fall in love with something for life. 

CM: In a large city like Los Angeles, square footage for apartment/ home/garage studios likely comes with a steep price tag and may not be within reach for most. Do you offer studio rental and/or kiln rental to artists lacking studio space of their own? If so, how has that fostered another layer of community within the walls of POT? 

MK: Yes, square footage is very expensive in LA! That’s why our studios are smaller than some—we can’t afford warehouse-size spaces or big walk-in kilns with our accessible pricing model. We have 1–2 electric kilns per studio. For members, firing is included in membership, which they seem to appreciate. Between members and classes, our kilns are at capacity so we can’t rent them out further. But we have a number of ways both in person and digitally that build community with our members, between perks, private events, online groups, and days to just make pottery together. 

CM: If money was not a barrier, what would your wishlist be for POT? 

MK: So many things! We would definitely have two more full-time staff on the office end to help with events and community outreach. Currently, we are a small staff of six managers doing everything on the business end and running multiple studios, so we would love to afford more help. We would love to be able to provide a space dedicated purely to free community programming and outreach. We also dream of owning our own space one day to avoid getting priced out of our neighborhoods. One fun fantasy is our dream of our own unique software customized to help folks learn about and utilize our specific services. More locations in underserved areas would be great too. We have so many dreams! 

CM: What has been the most memorable “first experience with clay” moment you’ve witnessed at POT? 

MK: We watch a lot of kids or teens touch clay and have their a-ha moment where they realize they love it. We can watch them catch the pottery bug in real time. This happens with adults, too, but something about watching it happen to a young one is truly beautiful. We think pottery can help the youth so much these days, especially as a creative outlet and alternative to screen time, so it’s incredibly rewarding to witness them pick it up as a new outlet. 

the author Mandy Kolahi is an Iranian-American woman, community organizer, ceramic artist, and mother born and raised in Los Angeles. To learn more, visit www.potstudiola.com or Instagram @pot_studio_la.