Kathy LaMotte, artist
The Odyssey Gallery of Ceramic Arts has undergone evolutionary changes through the years since Brian and Gail McCarthy began the organization under the name Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts in 1993. Back then, it included Highwater Clay, a ceramic school, a gallery and a community clay studio for local artists. “As their business grew, they asked Gabriel Kline to take over the Odyssey school (now called Odyssey Clayworks) and in 2014 they asked members of the community clay studio if they would like to take over the gallery,” says Anne Jerman, one of the co-op’s founding members. “We originally started with 25 studio community members. We have maintained the co-op at 25 members.”
Karli Pendergraft, artist
Growth has continued in the 12 years since the organization became a co-op, with changes in advertising, marketing and developing a presence through special events. “We have also changed how we manage the changeover of the gallery display, always working to improve the presentations,” says Jerman. “In 2024, we went through a rebranding process. This was important to us as we worked to be more inclusive of the artists in the community studios behind the gallery.” In addition to the co-op’s 25 members, there are approximately 30-35 artists in the working space in the back of the gallery who display and sell their work through Odyssey. Members serve on committees that run the co-op and take shifts each month working in the gallery to greet visitors and sell work.
Besides a place for ceramic arts enthusiasts to see and purchase an array of high-quality work, Odyssey provides another form of crucial support to its artists. “Working with clay, creating a body of work, finding ways to express yourself is all very satisfying,” Jerman says. “It can also be isolating when a person is working alone. The co-op offers community, working with folks who understand the work and all the problems and joys of working with clay.”
Anne Jerman, artist
Karli Pendergraft has worked in clay, sculpting by hand, for about 10 years and became an Odyssey co-op member in 2023, a move, she says, that has boosted her confidence as an artist as well as offering opportunities to connect with both patrons and fellow artists. “The creativity each individual artist brings to the collective allows for a remarkable range of unique work,” Pendergraft says. “All of our artists create their work locally; several even have studios within the same building as the gallery.”
Kathy LaMotte recently retired from a career in law, but she was in her thirties when she fell in love with clay after taking a pottery class with a friend. “For years, clay work has mostly been my therapy,” LaMotte says. She had rented studio space at Odyssey for years before retirement gave her the time she always wanted for creating. “As a result, I think, my clay work has become playful and sassy, and I’m having so much fun with it,” she says, adding that she was honored at a recent invitation to display her work in the gallery.
“All of us begin with a lump of clay, but the work goes in so many interesting and gorgeous directions,” LaMotte says of Odyssey. “And the artists are a community—helping and encouraging each other, sharing tricks and tools. It’s a good place to be.”
Odyssey Gallery of Ceramic Arts is located at 238 Clingman Avenue, in Asheville’s River Arts District. To learn more, visit OdysseyGalleryofCeramicArts.com or call 828.505.8707.
