The new Sharing Arts Community Ceramics Center in Dublin launched last week, with longtime artist and teacher LuLu Fichter throwing the first pot on the wheel.
“I felt like I was christening it with a bottle of champagne,” Fichter said.
The event marked years of work from organizers who were seeking to fill the void left behind by the shuttered Sharon Arts Center campus, which housed arts equipment and classes in multiple mediums, including a large ceramics studio. Sharon Arts closed in 2019, and shortly thereafter, efforts towards a new community ceramics studio began, with the MAXT Makerspace and Arts Alive taking the lead, culminating in the Sharing Arts center now located at 1283 Main Street in Dublin.
While there’s still more equipment to install and a few finishing touches to tidy up, the Sharing Arts Center is officially open to members and will begin offering classes starting on April 19. The center will be staffed for open studio hours for the general public throughout the week.
“It’s big enough and it’s bright and there’s just a lot of really great energy, young and old, coming into this space,” Fichter said. The former Sharon Arts Center teacher plans to instruct at the new center along with several other former teachers; a large swatch of former students are making the transition as well.
“They’ve worked really hard and they’re really excited to be back, and there’s new blood too,” Fichter said.
For more information, visit maxtmakerspace.org/ceramics.
Ben Conant can be reached at bconant@ledgertranscript.com. He’s on Twitter @BenConantMLT.