01/01/2026
This has been an incredible year for the pottery, and we are deeply grateful for the support of our community. Our success is your success; our success is because of you, Rockford. Thank you all for being our customers, our students, our partners, and our friends these past 9 years. I also want to thank our incredible staff Jesika and Madi, this could not be accomplished without your partnership!
Here's a look back at some of our highlights for 2025:
⭐ Your votes helped us win the award for the best place in Rockford to take an art lesson (Community Votes 2025)! Thank you!!!
⭐ We became an official Laguna Clay distributor, allowing us to grow our support for area artists as an affordable local resource for all types of clay, rare earth minerals, glaze materials, and Laguna glazes! Call us for your orders.
⭐ The pottery went through a whopping 10,600 pounds of clay!
⭐ More than 800 guests visited the pottery! From students to members, through classes, private lessons, group workshops, fun date nights and parties, we made memories, gained skills, and built community.
⭐ You had fun, and just got plain dirty with a smile, across 5 hand building story time workshops for children and their parents, 22 unique wheel-thrown and hand building workshops, 28 multi-week class series, 12 kids' class series, and 21 date nights!
⭐ You celebrated milestones and spent time with family, colleagues, and friends at countless birthday parties, bridal parties, girls' nights, teambuilding workshops, and custom private events hosted at our pottery.
⭐ Our kilns have been filled to the brim with thousands of pieces, firing day and night, 174 times.
⭐ Our shelves have been packed with works from so many students, artists, and community members! More than 850 customers visited our storefront, ordered custom work, or met us at numerous successful community events and local art fairs to purchase handmade pottery from our staff, members and students! We have so many more planned for next year and can't wait to see you again.
⭐ We engaged with so many community partners, bringing the ceramic arts alive across our community. From fundraising partnerships to support area nonprofit organizations, scouts earning merit badges, older adults from RVC's Center for Learning in Retirement, seniors in memory care programs, youth of all ages from area community centers and public and private schools, homeschool groups, Rockford and Harlem Public School students for job shadowing and career expos and dozens of educators for teambuilding, to groups from area health systems, businesses, and organizations, we were honored to bring out your creative side.
⭐ We had fun throwing pottery on the local news including WIFR's Aaron Wilson, and WTVO's Tamika on the Town!
Whether trying your hand at the wheel, hand building for the very first time, or just appreciating and supporting the arts, we are deeply grateful for you. Cheers to 2026!
RAAC Rockford Area Arts Council Lucky Pepper Pottery ELM Leaf Pottery Sisters Ceramics
