Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Walt Moore. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Walt, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

My partner Dusty came up with the idea that our small pottery studio should become the center of a ceramics arts community in Monument. Once the decision was made, we grew rapidly and now include a dozen individuals including potters, a wood carver, a watercolor artist and teacher and a collage artist. We hope that this will be our legacy and that it will continue for many years. Inspiring younger artists and getting more people, especially children interested in the arts are very important to us. In order to achieve this goal we teach classes in wheel-thrown pottery, hand building and slab work and assist our newer members with training in use of the kilns and the basics of running a studio.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Dusty and I have been potters together in the Monument and Palmer Lake area for a decade and in our current location for eight years or so. We came to pottery from different directions, but ended up here in the same place. Dusty traveled the world with her Army husband and settled in Monument after raising kids and making her home in several countries. She started pottery after an accident that required some retraining of her brain. She took pottery lessons at the Air Force Academy and then moved to a studio at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts. I started pottery lessons in 2012 after a 30 year career as an environmental scientist. I am fascinated by the combination of physics, chemistry and art that is required to create pottery. Personally, I think there is also some alchemy involved and the whole process is a bit on the magical side. I seldom get exactly what I expected out of the kiln, but it is always interesting, informative and (usually) beautiful.

We provide lessons for those who want to learn more about making pottery and a space for more experienced artists to create. We have a small retail space for our members to sell their wares. We participate in the Empty Bowls dinner every year by contributing bowls and by providing space in our studio for other potters to make bowls for the dinner. Our landlord contributes money every year (thanks John!) and we use his contribution to purchase clay and glazes which are available for free to the other Empty Bowls potters to use. Money raised by the Empty Bowls dinner goes to Tri-Lakes Cares, a local charity that supports those who need help in this area.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Dusty and I met at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts as fellow potters renting space there. We moved to our current location with other potters from the TLCA and love our downtown space. Dusty and I have worked together, managed the studio together and shared life experiences for a decade and have become close friends.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

We were asked to leave the TLCA because the manager there wanted to go in a different direction with the facility. We had nowhere to go and had to start looking for a new space with little notice. After months spent exploring several other possibilities, during which we had nowhere to work, we moved into our current space and have prospered there despite the rocky start.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]

Image Credits
Walt Moore