Welcome to the Southside Pottery Newsletter!

Hello! My name is Kelly and each month I'll share with you updates about the workshop, the Jeff Kleckner Archive, and the goings-on in our neighborhood. 

The Southside Pottery Workshop

Kelly at the wheel

Owen making pots

The potters of Southside Pottery are myself (Kelly) and my friend Owen. We are both educators who have been working with clay for a few decades, or more. We met in a pottery class roughly 14 years ago and quickly realized that we are both drawn to many of the same ceramic traditions. While our pots don’t necessarily look the same, the energy that feeds them often is. After my wife and I acquired Jeff Kleckner’s home and studio, I began to think about the making of pots as more than something I simply did for myself outside of my actual job. Thankfully, Owen has agreed to join us for the ride. As things progress and we figure out what it means to be potters who wish to sell pots, I’ll be sure to share what we learn, with you.   

For now, we’re happy to report that we had our first successful sale at the Lit Holiday Mart in December. We sold some pots, met new people, and learned a lot for the next time. 

Lit Holiday Mart setup

The Kleckner Archive

Jeffrey Kleckner Pottery sign, painted by Dana Van Horn

For a bit of context: Jeff Kleckner was a potter and friend who lived and worked at his studio in South Bethlehem, PA. After learning of his sudden passing in 2020, my wife and I grew concerned about preserving his legacy and the work he left behind. We spoke with his family and were fortunate to work out an arrangement that has made us the new stewards of his studio and home. Our plan since then has been to archive Jeff’s materials, tools, documents, and other artifacts and transform the space into a workshop that amplifies the creative expressions of the South Bethlehem community. Up until now, we have been sharing the archival work through Instagram (@klecknerworkshop) and a few YouTube videos. This section of our monthly newsletter will be dedicated to the continuation of that work. 

For those of you who have been keeping tabs on us over on Instagram, thank you for your continued interest and support.   

The Neighborhood

Looking East on Broadway in South Bethlehem, PA

The workshop and the archive do not exist in a vacuum. We are situated on Broadway in an incredibly lively area of South Bethlehem. It is my hope that each month I can share a little about the area and our neighbors. At the moment, it is far too windy and cold to be doing any sort of fieldwork.