The Sunnyvale Sun
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Photograph by Brian Connelly
Jonathan Huang, an instructor at Mother Earth Clay Center in Sunnyvale, sculpts the rim of a vase. The center is popular with those looking to reduce stress.
Soul-soothing sculpting facing shortfall
By ERIN HUSSEY
After spending 22 years as a Silicon Valley electrical engineer, Abby O'Connell left the corporate sector to pursue her dream of opening a ceramic studio. In July 2004, she opened the doors to the Mother Earth Clay Center and her dream became a reality. Despite the center's popularity, O'Connell's dream is slowly turning into a nightmare.
"I have totally liquidated my entire retirement fund," O'Connell said. "Everything I own has been put into this place, and I haven't taken a salary for three years. Frankly, if we are not able to raise the funds [to stay in operation], we will have to shut the studio down."
Six-session classes average around $150 and full memberships are $110 per month.
"Right now our prices are actually below the median," O'Connell said. "The class fee basically covers the instructor cost, not the general overhead."
On average, the center's PG&E bill is about $2,500; during the July heat wave, it increased to more than $3,000. And that's only one bill. There are also staff fees, building maintenance, supplies and the $12,000 monthly check for rent.
In order to keep the center open, O'Connell brainstormed with her staff, including studio manager Robert Thomas, and came up with the idea of creating a nonprofit foundation.
"We basically decided to spin off the portion of the business that clearly has an educational focus, like the classes and workshops, and the community events into a nonprofit arm and then start to do some fundraising," O'Connell said.
Their first major fundraiser for the Mother Earth Clay Art Foundation Inc. will take place Sept. 9. Pottery wheel demonstrations, a silent auction, live band, food and beverages will all be included in the $30 ticket price.
"After the initial fundraiser on the 9th, we will have a better idea of what the future will hold," Thomas said.
"Ultimately, we'd like to get someone in place as the director of development. That person would hopefully help us obtain grants from local foundations and set up our corporate council and establish a relationship with our corporate neighbors."
Many of the current members and class participants at Mother Earth are Silicon Valley businesspeople. For example, employees from Google, Yahoo! and Symantec have all taken turns around the potter's wheel.
"A lot of people in this valley work very stressful jobs," O'Connell said.
"To have something where you can take a break from it all and not involve a computer screen or electronics, it's like a little oasis and is very soothing. It really fills that need, the human soul need, if you will, in this fast paced, high technology community. It also benefits us because they bring their skills into the studio."
"I started coming here when I was writing a thesis for spirituality," student member Sharon Leman said. "There is a real sense of community here, that's the beauty of it. No one laughs at the beginner student who makes stuff that kids probably do a better job at in kindergarten. It's the process, not the product."
In addition to the synergy and high quality supplies the Mother Earth center provides indoors, it also extends its arms outward, giving recycled clay to teachers, donating bowls for the Empty Bowls Charity fundraising dinner and offering low-cost educational programs for families and children.
"This is the best ceramics studio on the West Coast, period," said instructor Jonathan Huang, who has also worked in Massachusetts and Shanghai.
"It's all the little details that set this place apart from any place you go to. Hundreds of people have come through those doors. If it closed, it wouldn't just be a few people losing their jobs, it would be hundreds of people out of all this opportunity, and that would be a real tragedy."
For more information about the community clay benefit for the Mother Earth Clay Art Foundation, call 408.245.6262. Tickets are $30 per person or $50 per couple.
