Ellen Kleckner’s work explores connection through the convergence of materials—ceramics, wood, steel, and reed—each carrying its own history and tension. Using systems of joinery, she investigates relationships between structure and flexibility, function and meaning. These assembled forms reflect interdependence, reciprocity, and care, shifting subtly to emphasize containment and comfort. At the heart of her practice is a commitment to collaboration and community. Whether through The Implement Archive or shared studio spaces, she seeks to honor the places where people gather, create, and engage—crafting not just objects, but meaningful connections.

Ellen Kleckner is an artist, educator, and arts administrator committed to fostering creative communities and advancing the fields of ceramics and glass. Since 2016, she has served as Executive Director of the Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio (ICCGS), where she leads strategic planning, community engagement, and program development to support artists, students, and educators. Kleckner holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Ceramics from Ohio University. She has participated in residencies at leading craft centers and foundations, deepening her expertise in collaborative, community-driven art practices.

Although not makers themselves, my family put a premium on things we interacted with on a daily basis, like a hand carved wooden bowl on the kitchen table or the salt glazed crock that three generations of Doty’s have made pickles in. My grandfather was a collector and curator who had a particular interest in folk art. There was a simplicity in these works, a delicate balance of precision and an unselfconscious attitude. Growing up around these sometimes strange and unsophisticated works was impactful, forming the connection to the work I would discover later on my own.

There is a vitality in the physical forms created by the hands of our predecessors. However, my intention is not to mimic, rather an attempt at creating something new that has an understanding of where it came from. Along with a deep reverence for historical works, I am drawn to primitivism, vernacular architecture, and the natural landscape we all exist in. Those influences are rooted in a similar place, simplicity, practicality, and functionality. I am constantly balancing those ideals with the persistent challenge of problem solving with this transformative but sometimes humbling material. When I am in the studio, I aim to create something new that is accessible while still possessing deeper connections to the world around us and the people who inhabit it.

My love language is a delicious home cooked meal in a beautiful array of hand-made pots. I love that pottery is a vehicle for nourishment in that way. My love for cooking and all things green is what inspires me to create. Playful and kindhearted dishes become entwined in our daily lives through choosing a coffee mug first thing in the morning to deciding which bowl is just right for homemade soup or planting an array of herbs in a handmade planter. With each fingerprint, pinch, and coil I am creating a conversation. I want each piece to transport delight from myself to the user. It’s simple, it’s honest, it’s lighthearted, it’s happy.

Stephen Burks Man Made

Chicago native, Stephen Burks is an acclaimed industrial designer, product development consultant, and educator whose innovative approach to design synthesizes craft, community, and industry. Independently and through association with various non-profits, he has collaborated with artisans and craftspeople in over ten countries on six continents. His socially engaged practice seeks to broaden the limits of design consciousness by challenging who benefits from and participates in contemporary design.

Stephen Burks Man Made is an internationally recognized hands-on collaborative design studio deeply invested in the transformative power of craft techniques that challenge the limits of new technologies within industrial production.

They believe in a pluralistic vision of design that is inclusive of all cultural perspectives and backgrounds.

They bring the hand to industry through a community-driven, workshop-based practice.

Their projects include furniture, lighting, interiors, exhibitions, and product design.

Heidi McKay Casto creates objects that explore the intersections of utility and sculpture, and feature a variety of playful design elements, anthropomorphic animal portraits, and vibrant colors. Her work explores similarities between instinctual animal behaviors, and behaviors learned through her lived experience as a woman, artist, and mother, gaining insight and inspiration for living with fewer insecurities and societal pressures. Heidi desires for the work to be a synchronistic exchange of connection where care and beauty are more present in daily life for users, and where complex human emotions might be made more discernible through light-hearted depictions of anthropomorphized animal subjects.

I am a clay artist, humanitarian, and global trotter. My work and passions center on the lives of little girls who were and still are my mentors as I traveled the world. I am concerned about their ability to live full, healthy lives without the burdens of war, child marriages, sex trafficking, displacement, and harmful ritualistic practices. My intention is to bring awareness to the human condition beyond the comfort zones that we may or may not live within. I, along with 8 girls, formed the Apron Project in Cambodia, which is a sustainable entrepreneurial project for girls and young women reintegrated back into society after being forced into the commercial sex industry. We create beautiful, one-of-a-kind aprons that I sell on my Etsy store. I have volunteered in Cambodia since 2007, and would like to for the remainder of my life.

In recent years, I’ve made a departure from bodies of work that were incredibly heart-wrenching and decided to focus on work that simultaneously contains social commentary and is heart-warming. Clay is my primary material using the sculptural language, in addition to mixed media materials, like cloth, dirt, glass, etc. My dominant subject matter is little girls and women. My work is fueled by their human stories.