MEETINGS & EVENTS
Membership is required to participate in some events but the regular networking, informal member demos, and fellowship at our monthly meetings will remain free and open to the public.
Greater Austin Clay Artists is excited to announce our new Clay Mixer series! This new meetup series will give us an opportunity to gather and socialize at local community clay studios around Austin. Each meetup will have a theme, but it's primary focus will be for us to just network, have fun, and see our Austin clay studios!
To learn more and see the upcoming schedule of mixers,
visit our Clay Mixers page.
Upcoming Monthly Meetings
GACA Presents: Chad Franco
Tuesday, July 7
7:00-9:00pm
St. Edward’s University
Join us for our July meeting as we learn practical techniques for carving symmetrical designs from Chad Franco!
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Chad will be demonstrating how to measure out a symmetrical design on a cup or mug and show techniques for laying down straight lines to then carve away.
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Chad Franco is ceramic artist from San Luis Obispo, off the central coast of California, specializing in wheel thrown hand carved pottery. He has developed a deep connection to the medium of earth over the past decade in his ongoing passion and study of sustainable building and earth architecture. His start into the world of pottery was yet another method of working earth into form that continued to deepen his understanding and appreciation for the medium of clay.
The early days of pottery came by way of his partner in 2018, Adriana Lemus, who is now an active full time potter. Together they shared a studio in SLO, where Chad would discover his love of throwing on the wheel and delving into his own self-taught passion for hand carving pieces and finding flow-state in the fine details of turning the foot, creating crisp beveled edges and embellishments with chattering texture. His influences from traveling around the world are reflected in his designs highlighting the beauty of symmetry and geometry that connect with patterns you see throughout the arts in many different cultures across the globe.
In 2024, as he was following his ongoing studies over the last several years learning Cob, adobe, Super Adobe and hemp building methods, Chad found his way to the Austin area to learn natural plasters from Simon Gonzales of Texas Cob Co in Kingsbury, Texas. At that time, he simultaneously gathered a small working studio together in his Austin apartment and started his pottery business, Meza Franco Pottery. Currently, Chad is creating pottery full time from his small home studio where he is able to connect with people face to face on a weekly basis selling at Austin’s local Texas Farmers Markets. It has been at these markets where he has had the pleasure to engage with people and share his love for this art form, and encourage people to slow down in life long enough to enjoy the gift of daily rituals through the act of eating and drinking from functional art. Life is too short to not appreciate the everyday experiences, using a hand made cup for your daily rituals.
You can find Chad's work here:
@meza.franco.pottery
MezaFranco.com
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578578698359
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Weekly Texas Farmers Markets:
Saturday from 9-1pm at Bell in Cedar Park, TX
Sundays from 10-2pm at Mueller in Austin, TX
As always you are invited to join us and our presenting artist for dinner before the meeting at AGBG on Oltorf starting at 5:30.
2026 Meetings/Demonstrations
January 14th - Open House & Supply Exchange
February 3rd - Chance Ramirez: Feel It Out Workshop
March 3rd - Kell Simon: Slip Inlay
April 7th - Hector Kriete: Throwing Off the Hump
April 22 - Special Guest Sue Tirrell: Slab Plate Design
May 5th - Dougherty Arts Center Visual Artists in Residence
June 2nd - Diane Sung: Solid Figure Sculpture
July 7th - Chad Franco: Carving Symmetrical Designs
August 4th - Marc Jeannin:
September 1st - Empty Bowls
October 6th - TBD
November 3rd - Jenn Hassin:
December - No meeting
Interesting in being a demonstrating artists for one of our meetings?
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Email us with your information, what you would like to demonstrate, and some images of your work.
Meeting Details
GACA has returned to holding our monthly meetings in the Ceramics Studio in the Fine Arts Building at St. Edward's University in 2026.
The Fine Arts Building located at 3001 S Congress. You will need to register your license plate at the following link to park on campus. You can do this prior to arriving, and park in any of the green lots surrounding the building. Use the session code CLAY to access.
https://vpermit.com/stedwards/ClaimableEvents/Claim
The Fine Arts Building is circled in red on the map, with South Congress Ave to the left. You can open Google Maps with directions by clicking the image or going to this link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/o2QPFha7w2jK9v5o6
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Meetings typically start at 7pm with community announcements followed by a demonstration or talk from an area artist.
