We cordially invite you to the opening reception of the first Holiday Artists' Showcase at Maine Prairie Studio. 16 local and regional ceramic artists are a part of this invitational holiday sale.
The reception will be Nov. 22, 4-8 pm at our downtown Kimball studio. Come find some great handmade holiday gifts and refreshments.
Showcase runs from Nov. 23 - Dec. 21
Featured Artists:
Megan Jorgenson | JD Jorgenson
Claire Volden | Nina Nabizadeh
Jodie Milroy | Jake Jensen
Timothy Zlatic | Shannon Smieja
Brady McLearen | Emma Le Konrad
Andrew Webster | Katie Webster
Mary Green | Lauren Lukasavitz
Cortland Harstad | Anastasia Speer
David Swenson | Alexa McAdams
Gallery hours Nov. 23 - Dec. 21:
Wednesdays - Saturdays, 10 am - 8 pm
Closed Sundays - Tuesdays, and Thurs. Nov. 28.
mary green
Mary creates wheel-thrown and hand built pottery that feels good in the hand and brings joy to everyday life. The current expression of her pots are experiments in colored terra sigillata brushwork and mono printing on a dark stoneware, often dipped in a terra sigillata to finish. The color palette and designs are inspired by the natural beauty of Lake Superior and time spent on the north and south shores.
Cortland Harstad
Cortland was born and raised in the St. Cloud area and currently resides in St. Joseph. He started his career in the creative fields after studying 3D Modeling and Graphic Design at Minneapolis Media Institute. He served as a Studio Photographer, a Graphic Designer, and a Studio Specialist during his career and now currently teaches as a Visual Arts Coordinator at the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Cortland was introduced to Maine Prairie Studio through his Studio Specialist position at Cherrico Pottery during a Wood-Firing opportunity. This opportunity not only lit the fire of the kiln, named Rocinante, but lit a proverbial fire in his heart for the awe inspiring community and practice of pottery. He quickly found himself taking classes with JD and Megan and in April of 2023 he became a Studio Assistant at Maine Prairie Studio.
jacob jensen
Jacob Jensen was born and raised in Owatonna, Minnesota. He graduated from Owatonna High School in 2013, and pursued a degree in science education through Bemidji State University. It was during his senior year at BSU that he discovered ceramics through a hand building class. After graduating with a degree in science education in 2017, he sought out experiences to continue pottery and specifically develop his skills on the wheel. The Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud offered that opportunity, through classes and various firing opportunities, Jacob developed his throwing chops. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, he was able to purchase an electric wheel and throw pots in his apartment garage. After moving back to Owatonna, and purchasing a home, he had room to buy a second wheel, a Leach-style treadle wheel.
Today, Jacob makes pots in his home studio and travels to Kimball, Minnesota, to wood fire at Maine Prairie Studio. Together, with his friends and mentors, they have a wonderful time firing, and creating new work. He even teaches classes at the Owatonna Art Center occasionally, when he is not teaching Owatonna’s middle schoolers.
jd jorgenson
JD is originally from Bismarck, ND. He now resides in Kimball, MN, where he and his wife Megan Jorgenson operate Maine Prairie Studio, a ceramics studio, teaching space and gallery. He received an BA from the University of Iowa in 1997. He apprenticed with Richard Bresnahan, at the Saint John’s Pottery from 2002 -2003. JD has taught ceramics classes and workshops at Northern Clay Center, Paramount Center for the Arts, White Bear Center for the Arts and the Grand Marais Art Colony. Currently, he teaches at Maine Prairie Studio.
JD’s functional work has exhibited in galleries nationwide. He has taught workshops focused on techniques he learned during his apprenticeship that incorporate Japanese and Korean influences at: Grand Marais Art Colony, Northern Clay Center, White Bear Center for the Arts and Marlboro College in Vermont. He received the Jerome Foundation Visiting Artist Award at the Saint John’s Pottery in 2002, Red Wing Collectors Society Foundation Award in 2011 and Individual Artist Awards through the Central Minnesota Arts Board. He was also a recipient of a 2024 Arts Education grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
megan jorgenson
Megan Jorgenson resides in Kimball, MN, where she and her husband JD Jorgenson operate Maine Prairie Studio, a ceramics studio, teaching space and gallery. She received an MFA in Ceramics from Utah State University in 2012. She has been an Artist in Residence at the Red Lodge Clay Center, North Dakota State University, Northern Clay Center and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Marlboro College in Vermont. She has also taught at Saint Cloud Technical and Community College and Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Megan’s functional and sculptural work has exhibited in galleries nationwide and been featured in Ceramics Monthly.
Emma le konrad
Emma Le Konrad is a Minneapolis based ceramicist. She has been working with clay for over a decade and has developed her current body of work over the last three years. Emma’s work focuses on the cross section of functionality and retro and mid-century design.
Lauren lukasavitz
Lauren lives in Sauk Rapids, MN where she works with children with Autism providing therapeutic services as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minor in Art from University of Minnesota Duluth in 2016. She later pursued a Master’s degree at Ball State University in Special Education emphasizing in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2022. She first started working with ceramics during her time at UMD with a focus on hand building.
Lauren began taking classes at Maine Prairie Studio in the winter of 2022 to learn more about the wheel throwing process, and became a Studio Assistant at Maine Prairie Studio in April of 2023.
alexa mcadams
Alexa McAdams is an artist based out of Clearwater, MN. She is an interdisciplinary artist currently working in functional ceramics while incorporating her love of watercolor painting in her decoration techniques. Her work is inspired by impressionist art, food, and pop culture references. She feels that it is important to have a sense of play in her work so she tries to incorporate a bit of humor in each piece.
Brady McLearen
Brady McLearen studied at the University of Minnesota and Alfred University focusing on traditional and contemporary ceramics. He creates utilitarian vessels and sculpture using clay, plaster, wood and a mixture of other media and found objects. His work is a lyrical expression made in collaboration through the physicality of material that presents questions touching on existentialism, paradox and absurdity. Born and raised in a working-class Minnesota suburb, his work meditates on human’s disassociation with nature, outward and inward expansion, and the present moment.
Jodie Milroy
Jodie Milroy began her journey with clay about 8 years ago after her youngest child went off to college. She took a wheel throwing class and it piqued her curiosity about the process and this medium. She especially enjoys wood firing ever since participating in a wood firing here at Maine Prairie Studio. She continues to participate in wood firing and classes, and enjoys the community she's found in Central MN and especially at Maine Prairie Studio. Jodie has a home studio near Kimball, where she lives with her husband Bob. When she is not playing with clay, she enjoys fishing, foraging, cribbage, traveling, live music and adventures with her children, Jason and Megan.
Nina Nabizadeh
Nina Nabizadeh is a first generation Iranian-American in Southern Vermont. They are an art educator and ceramicist with an MA from Umass Amherst and BA from Marlboro College.
Their work seeks to integrate pattern, color, and memory. They enjoy sewing and growing flowers in their spare time.
Nina was a resident artist at Maine Prairie Studio in July 2024.
Anastasia speer
Anastasia specializes in functional pottery that sparks visual, tactile, and emotional connection. A focus on the use of familiar motifs alongside interesting textures helps to create a more immersive experience for those who interact with her work. She believes pottery has a special ability to help us slow down and appreciate small moments of intimacy and introspection created even in the mundane, such as morning coffee, shared meals, or caring for houseplants.
Shannon Smieja
Shannon (Faber) Smieja joined the clay community at Maine Prairie in the fall of 2022 and never really left. What started as a chance to make some art with her dad, in a beginner wheel class, turned into a passion for ceramics and countless hours spent in the studio exploring the medium. With a background in graphic design, Smieja features typography, linear lines, and shapes throughout her work and glazes. She lives in Dassel, MN, with her husband, Matt, and two daughters Quinn and Reese. Smieja is a Kimball Area High School alumnus, has a BFA in graphic design from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and works for Dassel-Cokato Public Schools. She also manages Maine Prairie Studio's merchandise.
david swenson
David Swenson is ceramist and instructor from Clearwater, MN. In 2009, he moved to Minnesota and worked in the twin cities area teaching ceramics in community education. He has been a visiting artist and lecturer at SAIC, the University of Minnesota TC, UW Stout, and at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Swenson has received grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Jerome Foundation, Central Minnesota Arts Board, and Northern Clay Center. His work is embellished with motifs and techniques inspired by history, folk arts, medieval art, and textiles, while maintaining an eclectic and modern aesthetic.
Claire Volden
Claire Volden started her journey with clay when she was a sophomore in high school. She was quickly fascinated by the art. Claire continued to take ceramic classes throughout high school. She graduated from Buffalo- Hanover- Montrose school district in June 2024. Claire decided she wanted to do something with clay after graduating, so when she saw Maine Prairie Studio was looking for an apprentice she saw it as a perfect opportunity to learn more about ceramics. Claire started apprenticing with Megan and JD Jorgenson in September 2024. Since then she has started to learn more about firing kilns, mixing glazes, throwing techniques, and more.
Claire lives on a hobby farm in Buffalo MN with her family where they have miniature goats, chickens, ducks, bees, cats, dogs, and occasional pigs or cows. When she is not at the studio she enjoys being outside, hanging out with animals, going to the lake, and eating ice cream. Claire looks forward to learning more about ceramics throughout her apprenticeship at Maine Prairie Studio.
andrew and katie webster
Webster Pottery is Katie and Andrew Webster. Together, the Webster's make finely-crafted utilitarian pottery decorated with archetypal imagery inspired by the natural world.
Andrew : From an early age, Andrew found himself attracted to creative processes of all kinds, which continued into his teens and early twenties at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Andrew's creative and intellectual interests were broad, however, leading him to pursue Art History rather than studio crafts. In 2010, he earned his BA in Art History with a Minor in Ceramics. He continued at the University of Oregon, where he earned a Master's in Art History in 2013.
After teaching for several years and increasing his presence in the studio, Andrew rededicated himself to pottery in 2017 full-time. Making pottery is a way for him to achieve connection to things he values—artistic tradition, aesthetics, nature, and people, to name a few. He loves the grind and humble nature of pottery; the manual labor of wedging, rolling, throwing, and pinching clay. Today, his work combines influences from ancient art and a love of nature, texture, and utility.
Katie: Katie's passion for pottery began in childhood when she befriended Robyn Hegland, whose father, Peder Hegland, was an accomplished functional potter. Inspired by the materials and process, Katie began working at public ceramic studios in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, such as the Paramount Visual Arts Center, which continued through adolescence.
Katie continued to pursue pottery in 2006 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where she later earned her BFA in ceramics in 2010. The psychological and philosophical undertones in her work stems from a background in therapy. In 2013, Katie earned a Master's degree in Marriage & Family Therapy.
timothy zlatic
Timothy grew up in a cottage-industry household. His mother, Susan Beyer, supported four children with a slip cast ceramic business in her basement she started in the 80’s. Timothy would later major in ceramics at Oregon College of Art and Craft. In the years following the pursuit of higher education, he explored diverse mediums such as video/animation, kinetic wax sculpture, oil painting, collage, and printmaking. It took him 15 years of trial and error before finally taking the leap to founding his own pottery business, Maiden MN. In the wake of his mothers retirement, the artist is navigating new horizons in his career handcrafting works of art “Made in Minnesota”