VISITING ARTISTS | Vallejoclay

Visiting Artist Workshops
at Vallejo Clay

We love welcoming ceramic artists to teach at Vallejo Clay, where our clay community can discover new techniques, creative approaches, and surface design that helps advance their skills. By partnering with professional and experienced artists, we strive to inspire and elevate the craft, encouraging artists to push the boundaries of their artistic expression.

Teach a Workshop

Kala Stein is an artist, designer, and educator who makes large-scale ceramic art installations and collectible design. Stein works at the intersection of craft, design, and sustainability, exploring notions of beauty and loss in the natural world. International teaching and travel inspires her work which is increasingly focused on environmental shifts and atmospheric mapping. Stein’s work speaks to her spiritual reverence for the natural world as she expands the boundaries of ceramic art through her processes and systems of making.

Kala received a National Endowment for the Arts Grant with her Co-Lab group; and teaches at studios and institutions across the globe including Alfred University, Anderson Ranch Center for the Art, La Meridiana International Ceramics School in Italy, Menlo Studio in Jingdezhen China, The Cool Projects in Greece, Sonoma Ceramics, and Diablo Valley College. Stein received her MFA in Ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and her BFA from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She is one of the newest members of the International Academy of Ceramics.

Kala Stein

November 2025

I seek to create environments of eccentric juxtapositions that illuminate the vulnerability and impermanence of environment, memory and time. I utilize visual elements such as plants to represent growth, braided hair to symbolize the passage of time, fish, and birds to illustrate flight, migration, and nesting. My studio process is composed of both the curiosity for the medium’s complex chemistry and the clays inherent ability to take any form.

Malia Landis is a sculptor and ceramic Artist living in Ukiah, California. Born in St. Helena, California and raised in Waimea, Hawaii, Malia received her Bachelor's of Arts from Humboldt State University in 2010 and her Master's of Fine Arts from San Jose State University in 2014.

Malia Landis

September 2025

Christa Assad-studio-artist portrait.jpg

Assad's distinctive works begin on the potter's wheel but transcend the round, resulting in pieces that have earned places in permanent collections including The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The Ceramic Research Center at Arizona State University Museum, and The Penn State Fulbright Scholar Collection. Her work has been featured in Garth Clark's "Shards," Kevin A. Hluch's "The Art of Contemporary Pottery," and Lark Books' "500 Teapots" and "500 Pitchers."

With a rich history of international exhibitions and teaching, Christa brings both technical mastery and artistic vision to her teaching

Assad now balances her creative life between potting and painting from her desert hideaway in Baja. There, she operates the only wood kiln in the region, experimenting with local clay and incorporating treasures discovered during her explorations of the dramatic landscape.

Christa Assad

June 2025

March 2025

Lynne Meade

Lynne Meade's works in clay exemplify stunning form, intricate detail, and subtle beauty. Lynne's modern design style is mesmerizing and her meticulous technique breathes originality. Meade collaborates with designers, architects, and individual clients to create unique pieces of art for both public and private spaces.

Meade has been exhibiting her sculpture and design work since 1987. She studied at Penland School Of Crafts and graduated with a BA in Ceramic Design from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1986. She has taught classes at MIT, The New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts, ASUC at UC Berkeley, and workshops around the country. In 2009, Meade received the Carol Duke Artist Award for Excellence In Craft at the Bellevue Arts Museum. She has permanent collections at American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, California and at Benedict University in Chicago, Illinois.

April 2024

Whitney Smith

Whitney's favorite approach to surface design on ceramics involves using underglazes and slips to achieve colorful and visually stunning one-of-a-kind surfaces, while employing sgraffito and mishima techniques for a contrasting tactile depth that makes the surfaces pop. Her workshop focused on applying slips and underglaze to pottery and carving simple designs to create a contrasting visual and tactile surface. The result was a visually striking effect where the inlaid underglaze created intricate patterns.

Whitney Smith is the owner and founder of Vallejo Clay Workshop. You can see more of her work on her site here!

Diana Fayt

February 2024

Diana Fayt is a studio potter, illustrator, and teacher. Her ceramic pieces are part folklore and part personal narrative, documenting both real and imagined stories. She has been featured on the cover of Ceramics Monthly as well as in numerous international and American Publications, such as The Journal of Australian Ceramics, American Craft, Domino, and Sunset Magazine. Her roster of clients include Heath Ceramics, Anthropologie and Terrain. Diana has taught workshops at Arrowmont School of Crafts, Santa Fe Clay, Metchosin School Of The Arts, Sierra Nevada College, The Potters Studio, Master Presenter at Clay Gulgong as well as pioneering early online ceramics education with her self-created teaching platform, The Clayer and is a graduate of California College of the Arts.