A ‘Blue Marble’ image of the Earth. By NASA via Wikimedia Commons
Do something • Learn something • Share something
• Change something — Meetup.com
I loved the idea of meetup.com from the get-go and joined some time ago, taking part in a few local groups I learned about through it. It’s a wonderful site and concept! Such a good way to connect people who are interested in the same things. Like usual, I arrived at this post idea by traveling a circuitous route. Last night, I was looking at real estate in the area around my birthplace. I had such a fun time and the prices are so good that I wish I could buy a classic Florida cottage. While on the Florida theme, I decided to look up ceramics action there. That led me to one of the groups below. That made me curious, so I looked up other meetups related to the topic. After perusing group after group, I started developing some guidelines about what I would or wouldn’t include in this post. For instance, I left out all groups that promoted classes only, as they seemed to be more about advertising than communication. Also, some seem inactive; I can’t tell if they have been meeting recently but I included some of them anyway. Then, I decided to include groups of artisans of all persuasions who meet to talk turkey. To me, there is something so exciting about that…people who go out of their way to meet with others to talk about art or work on art together. (Some of these groups sound exactly like one I founded four years ago, private, with a rotating leadership.) And, though it is hot stuff, at present, I did not include groups for people who paint pottery. This post is for people who make and decorate their own work. (I really regretted not including The Chicago Rebel Craft League, which I liked because of its great name, spunk, and well-designed site.) The groups below are listed alphabetically by country, then province or state, then city or town. Included is info on when it was founded, membership numbers and activity data.
AUSTRALIAN MEETUPS
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES
P-plate Project: handmade pottery 4 people, pets & plants; Founded Jun 30, 2012; 23 P-platers; 3 Past Meetups; 1 Upcoming Meetup
“Hand make your own pottery for family, friends and home. We use hand building techniques to make our pots and share coffee while getting to know new people in an open, relaxed, pet friendly community garden. All levels of experience welcome.
Please be aware there are NO electric wheels available, we only make by hand.
Weekly fee of $12/person includes clay, use of tools and underglaze colours followed by a sealant coat of foodsafe, clear kiln fired glaze.
Children may attend if fully supervised by a parent. Love to meet you and see some ‘mud’ on your hands!!”
CANADIAN MEETUPS
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Vancouver Contemporary Artists; Founded Mar 17, 2010; 242 artists, 60 Past Meetups; 1 Upcoming Meetup
ITALIAN MEETUPS
San Gemini, Umbria
San Gemini Historic Preservation Studies; Founded Dec 20, 2007; 152 members; 7 Past Meetups
“San Gemini Historic Preservation Program. Field School for Art, Architecture and Landscape Restoration. Umbria, Italy. This meetup site is an online place for students, faculty, alumni and prospective students of the San Gemini Historic Preservation Program to keep in touch and exchange, ideas and experiences.”
UNITED KINGDOM MEETUPS
BRIGHTON, SUSSEX
Creative Arts Brighton; Founded Jul 28, 2010; 477 creatives; 242 Past Meetups; 9 Upcoming Meetups
“Creative Arts Brighton is a meetup group for people interested in all things creative.
Our meetups are suggested and organised by members who are willing to share their creative skills & ideas. In previous meetups we have got together to sketch, paint, sculpt, write, print, knit, visit local artists studios and exhibitions, and sometimes just to chat about arty things.
Feel free to have a look through our photo albums to get a feel for how we do things. We are a very friendly creative bunch so please do come along to one of our meetups.”
“This group aims to:
- Connect people with an interest in producing art.
- To be a forum for sharing information about what local art events are coming up.
- To organise trips to galleries, museums, art film screenings, …
- To organise taster sessions for glass art, print making, etc.
- Inspire and motivate each other into producing more art, and improve our skills.
- To be a repository of links to useful resources.
While this group hopes to attract artists from all disciplines. The current organiser’s key interests are Glass art, Ceramics, painting and sketching. If this group currently isn’t serving your area of interest very well, then you are invited to put forward suggestions for meetups, and even become part of the organising team – So making this group a magnet for people who share your art interests.”
UNITED STATES MEETUPS
ENCINO, CALIFORNIA
L A Visual Artists; Founded Apr 29, 2012; 106 artists; 7 Past Meetups
“This is a group for emerging and professional visual artists: painters, sculptors, photographers, digital artists, etc.
Let’s get together and plan group shows, citywide open studios days, plein air sessions, friendly critiques to help each other, artist dinners, etc.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
The Los Angeles Art Group; Founded Oct 23, 2006; 1,415 members; 31 Past Meetups; 1 Upcoming Meetup
“The Los Angeles Art Group is a community for Artists, Writers, Poets, Musicians, Entertainers and Art lovers. We encourage, support, and inspire each other to achieve our goals and enrich our community.
All types of art and entertainment lovers are welcome, including painters, photographers, sculptors, conceptual artists, performance artists, filmmakers, graphic designers, etc.
Jump on board and let’s create, inspire, and grow together.”
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
Art That Fires Your Soul/ Sac. region; Founded Dec 23, 2011; 38 artists; 2 Past Meetups
“A place for fellow artists to let flow creative ideas, experiences, juices and yes, even failures. (Without which there would be no serendipity) Followers of bright & shiny things, Glass/Ceramisc/Metals/Combinations Thereof… Artists who want to mix, match, experiment with, push that silly envelope! And who want to play with others who do too.
So if you,
Weld, Fuse, Enamel, Blow, Fire, Torch, Solder, Put anything in a Kiln, in a Pit or in a Hot Box or are thinking about it, this is the forum/ group you have been looking for.
Inspiration is Hot”
“To Experiment in primitive firing processes and share knowledge with others.”
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Atl N.CERAMICS PAINTING POTTERY HANDBUILDING & SCULPTURE; Founded Aug. 8, 2007; Clay lovers; 622 Past Meetups; 6 Upcoming Meetups; $10.00 per year
“The purpose for this group is to get together, Is to be able to have fun creating and trade tips in a laid back working studio atmosphere .
Enjoy creating something from clay. Hand build, sculpt or throw something on the wheel.
You can do slab work, slump, fold, pinch, coil or work with extruded forms… You can learn to make your own molds or stamps or Paint Pottery that is already made
Any who has an interest in the arts is welcome to visit weather you want play, watch or commission a custom order or many clays porcelains stone ware are in stock.
All skill levels welcomed
FREE OPEN STUDIO – you are more than welcome to come on over .
Hang out or and work with friends or by yourself as long as Joanne is available
Materials and low Firing changes may apply.”
“This group is for artists and crafters of homemade, handcrafted, authentic, unique, unusual, one-of-a-kind, and original art and crafts. It doesn’t matter if you’re experienced, just starting out, or somewhere in between, we can all learn from each other. We’re a community of like-minded individuals and we help each other grow as artists and artrepreneuers through networking, sharing knowledge, exchanging ideas, and providing information to help grow, market, and sell our work. For more info. see the Pages section on the group page.”
HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA
South Florida Ceramic Arts Meetup Group; Founded Aug 27, 2007 ; 287 members; 124 Past Meetups; 2 Upcoming Meetups
“Learn about ceramics and pottery. You don’t have to just paint it, you can make it and we can show you how!
I want to re-vive a dying breed of do-it-yourselfer’s and artist alike.
This meetup is for anyone with or without experience in ceramics and working with clay, it is even for crafters wanting to make their own beads or for people that just want to get dirty. This meetup is for you!
WANTED: All those who enjoy making something from nothing, just being hands-on and, of course, having good clean dirty fun will love this meetup.”
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Pottery for Progress; Founded Mar 4, 2010; 73 potters; 3 Past Meetups
“A group devoted to creating a better life for everyone through the medium of clay.
We will try to meet 3-4 times or more each year at locations that accommodate the workshop. We have raised money for the American Cancer Society and will be working on helping to raise money for kids in areas who lack art and other ways of positive expression. By coming out to an event you are supporting the cause. 50% or more of what you give will go towards the efforts. We will post pictures of the classes and locations.
No experience is needed. Project descriptions will be posted as the agenda and location is chosen. Come out to have fun and support a good cause.”
“We would love to meet our neighbors and local artists of all kinds. Our community’s residents should pull together to not only grow as individual artist but as a team of creative people learning from and inspiring each other.Those involved can learn new skills, build a portfolio, or just hone their existing technique in an environment that fosters communication, even friendship, with others who have the same interests, talents or ideas.”
“Meet with other people who create and sell handcrafted products, arts, and/or crafts. If you are an artist, artisan or crafter this will be a great opportunity for you to meet similar talented creatives! Each meeting we will focus on something we need to know, like websites and ecommerce, accounting, pricing, shows, exhibiting our work… etc. We will also plan the Artisan Gift Market 2012, a holiday gift fair in December. Our 9th year!!!”
“We are a group surrounding pottery and ceramics and art in general.”
“This group was started because many artists in Austin are less interested in chatting about their art (though it’s loads of fun and will be part of all future meetups) and more interested in creating and selling it. The purpose of the group is to develop new venues to display and sell visual art. The people who will join this group are primarily working artists who may not make a living or work full-time at it, but have ambitions to do so or at least keep art as a major part of their lives.”
“What is wonderful about fired clay is that it is an inherently honest material. It is exactly what it purports to be.” — Peter Soucy
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