Ashanti Hampton, an Atlanta native, plans to open a community pottery studio next year named East Atlanta Clay.
Hampton grew up in the Stone Mountain area and attended Georgia Tech, earning an engineering degree. She later received a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute in New York. Hampton says she has always been interested in art and design.
“I always wanted to explore art and pottery, and I needed an elective my last year in college, so I decided to take a class in industrial design where we would take recycled goods and make them into new things,” Hampton said.
Hampton says she comes from an engineering family but most of her family is also creative and enjoy art. Though her family urged her to pursue engineering, Hampton says they have been supportive with Hampton’s art career.
“Most of my family are engineers but they are also very creative people who enjoy art, but I am the first in my family to pursue a career in art,” Hampton said.
Hampton highlighted her desire for East Atlanta Clay to be a community space, especially for younger children.
“East Atlanta Clay will be a ceramic studio that focuses on accessibility both physically and for youth,” Hampton said. “Usually pottery and art classes are not open to the younger age range, from 4 to 5, so I want to make sure that East Atlanta Clay offers classes for those age ranges because art is so important for young children.”
Sophomore Eilie Depenbrok believes art is one of the most important subjects to learn, especially at a young age.
“I have always really enjoyed art, but I think it is especially important for younger kids to be introduced to art because it offers so many benefits for them later in life,” Depenbrok said. “It helps to boost their creativity.”
Hampton believes East Atlanta Clay will be extremely beneficial for the Atlanta community. She wants the studio to be a place where people connect and have an escape from daily life.
“We all spend too much time on our phones, and I found that pottery helps you to just put the phone down and focus on doing stuff with your hands that is not scrolling,” Hampton said. “Pottery has helped me feel less anxious, and it has many meditative properties. Community is [often] connected to a specific place, and I want that to be the case for East Atlanta Clay. I want people to be able to find friends and have a good time with each other.”
Depenbrok believes a community pottery and art center would be beneficial for Atlanta’s community because it will allow people to utilize their creativity without having to worry about judgment from others.
“I feel like, in a school art class, you are getting graded on your work, and it has to be done a specific way, but if a community pottery center opened up, there would be a place where you can show off your work and creativity without the fear of judgment or having to get a grade on it,” Depenbrok said. “The art will be more for yourself than for anyone else, and I like that idea.”
Depenbrok said art is important in all stages of life, but for teenagers specifically it is a way to share their emotions in a creative and productive manner.
“I feel like art is a great way for teenagers, and just students, in general, to share their emotions with others in a more creative and productive way than what we sometimes do,” Depenbrok said.
Hampton not only wants to offer classes to different age ranges, but also hopes to expand East Atlanta Clay into mediums beyond pottery.
“I want to pull people in from the Atlanta Art scene to help teach some classes on different types of arts such as printmaking and watercolor,” Hampton said.
