Our Ceramics Instructors
Bekah Bliss
Bekah Bliss is a ceramic artist and teacher in Kansas City, Missouri. She received a Bachelors in Art Education and Ceramics from Missouri State University. Bliss held an internship with Springfield Pottery throughout college and moved back to Kansas City in 2017 for a two-year residency at 323CLAY. She recently became a member of the Kansas City Urban Potters and teaches classes at local community studios.
Allyson George
Allyson George, was raised in Orlando by her single mother alongside her two siblings (she's a triplet). She discovered her passion for art at a young age, initially aspiring to be an animator. After earning her BFA in Ceramics from West Virginia University (WVU) in 2021, Allyson continued to expand her artistic horizons. Allyson served as an Education Assistant at the Archie Bray Foundation, where she contributed to educational programs and immersed herself in a vibrant artistic community. In the summer of 2023, Allyson held the position of Summer Studio Manager at the Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts (NISDA), overseeing studio operations and facilitating a creative environment for students. She recently completed a post-baccalaureate in ceramics at Western New Mexico University. Her artwork continues to be influenced by her childhood dreams of animating characters in the realm of pottery, reflecting a blend of humor and technical skill. George is currently a Belger Resident Artist.
Stephen Homer
Stephen Homer received his BFA in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute, and lives in the Kansas City area. He grew up in Columbus, OH on four acres surrounded by fields, trees, and ample gardening space. He enjoyed playing in the dirt and with plants, creating small gardens in rain puddles at the end of the driveway, building things from found old wood and rusty hardware, propagating and caring for all manner of plants, keeping aquariums and all sorts of pets, all of which influence his work today. Stephen currently works at Belger as a Studio Technician.
Joseph Hutchins
Joseph Hutchins has been based in Kansas City for a decade, working primarily in ceramics. He is inspired by industrial design and traditional crafts to create engaging playful objects for the home. Hutchins is interested in exploring the line between function/form and Commercial/Fine Art. He currently works at Belger as an Associate at the Belger Crane Yard Gallery.
Paul Mallory
Paul Mallory received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, MO in 1989. After graduation, he moved to Kansas City and have worked from several different studios over the years.
Carolyn Mimbs
Carolyn Mimbs has been teaching art for thirteen years in Kansas City, Missouri. She received her BS in Art Education through Missouri State University in 2008 and her MFA in Ceramics at Fort Hays State University 2020. Mimbs has been an active member and volunteer at Belger Crane Yard Studios and has exhibited her ceramic art locally and nationally including exhibitions at the New Orleans Clay Center, the Clay Studio of Missoula, Sweetwater Center for the Arts, and a solo show at the Trap Gallery in Columbus Park, Kansas City. She has been the recipient of the FHSU Graduate Scholarly Experience Grant, furthering her exploration of printing on clay. She has dreams to travel the world while creating her art and expanding her artistic community, as well as aspirations to one day work at the collegiate level, preparing future ceramic artists.
Lucky Moe
Lucky Moe is a Southeast Asian Ceramist from Rakhine, Burma. The style of her works is inspired by nostalgia for childhood memories from her time growing up in Burma. Lucky started her art career in Illustration. Her process includes transforming her drawings into figurative sculptures to tell various stories from her life. Lucky Moe received her BFA in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2023. Moe is currently a Belger Resident Artist.
Joel Pisowicz
Born and raised in a small town in northwest Indiana, Joel Pisowicz began working with clay as a hobby when he was a teenager and eventually pursued a career in ceramics. After receiving a BFA from Indiana University in 2014 Joel built a studio and made a living as an independent studio artist in Porter, IN. He shows his work at art festivals, galleries, and exhibitions throughout the U.S. In 2019 he relocated his practice to Bloomington, IN and went on to receive an MFA in ceramics from Indiana University in the spring of 2023. Pisowicz is currently in his second year as a Belger Resident Artist.
Gina Pisto
Originally from Columbus, OH, Gina Pisto (she/her) completed her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Ceramics at Grand Valley State University in 2016. Prior to the completion of her BFA, she was awarded a Leroy Niemen Fellowship at Ox-Bow School of Arts and Artists Residencies in Saugatuck, MI. Upon finishing her undergraduate studies, she then went on to complete a post-baccalaureate in Craft + Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2018. Most recently, Pisto has completed her Master’s of Fine Arts in Ceramics at Ohio University in 2022. She has exhibited her work nationally in various group and solo exhibitions and has been awarded recognition from the National Council on Education for the Ceramics Arts (NCECA) and the Michigan Ceramic Art Association (MCAA). Previously an artist-in-residence at Belger Crane Yard Studios in Kansas City, MO, Pisto’s work utilizes various materials such as clay, plastic, and flowers to explore notions of loss, memory, and permanence.
SunYoung Park
Sun Young Park was born in Masan, Korea. She is currently working and living in Kansas City. Park explores the space between imagination and reality. The use of diverse materials represents her visual language as she explores contrasting surfaces, emphasizing ceramics and mixed media. Park earned her BFA (2014) and MFA (2017) from Hong-Ik University Seoul, Korea. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally. Park was the resident artist at Clayarch Gimhae Museum in the Ceramic Creative Center (2017). She recently obtained her MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2021). She has participated in Jingdezhen International Ceramic Art Biennale, Jingdezhen, China, 7° Salon international art résilience, Musée de Peinture de Saint-Frajou, France, and participated in Women to Watch exhibition at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. She previously was a resident artist at Belger Arts Center and Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, MO.
Logan Reynolds
Logan Reynolds is originally from Colorado. He received his BFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2017. He was a Project Network resident at Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Skælskør, Denmark in 2018 and has participated in many group shows across the U.S. He completed his MFA in Ceramics from Ohio University in 2023. He works in clay to fabricate familiar material objects that are performative of a collective middle-class American memory. Reynolds is currently in his second year as a Belger Resident Artist.
Sarah Veak
Born in the southeast, Sarah Veak received her Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts (Visual Communications) with an emphasis in studio arts/painting. In 2010, life took her to Ithaca, NY, where she apprenticed with studio potter Renata Wadsworth. During this time, she learned everything from throwing pots to building and firing a wood kiln. From there, Veak has worked and lived across the country, with stops in Arizona, Denver and most recently in Kansas City, where she continually hones her craft and builds a strong clay community alongside some of that city’s best potters. After more than 13 years in this industry, Veak is eager for the “next” on this journey that sharpens her skills and shapes her style. Take a moment to admire how her ongoing growth has influenced her latest body of work.
Hannah Schelb
Hannah Schelb started working in ceramics in 2009 while attending Augusta State University. After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2012, she started a studio practice and eventually moved to Albuquerque, NM, where she worked in glaze production and taught community classes. In 2016 and 2017, Schelb attended summer residencies at Chautauqua School of Visual Arts in Chautauqua, NY, while teaching after-school programs in Cincinnati, OH, during the school year. She was accepted into the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019 and graduated with a Master of Arts and Fine Arts in May 2021. She was the director of ceramics for the summers of 2020 and 2021 at a summer camp in Harrison, Maine. Schelb became a lecturer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022-2024 and started showing work at several prominent galleries. Schelb is currently a Belger Resident Artist.