Today we’d like to introduce you to Deanna Ranlett and Daphne Dail.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Deanna and Daphne. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
Daphne and I met in the ceramic program at Georgia State University. We owned a retail ceramic supply company for five years and met the owners of MudFire and became friends. When they were ready to retire, we took over their studio and gallery in Decatur GA.
We decided to take a program in existence at the studio as a studio tech work exchange and turn it into a full-scale residency and mentorship program. We work with young artists with a focus on young women and especially women of color who are traditionally left out of the field of ceramics. Academic programs are heavily male-focused, as are spaces in residency programs, and presenters at conferences.
We’ve seen women struggle to take up space, build the necessary ego to sell their work (in essence themselves), and we wanted to change that. In our program, women find companionship, friendship, and the necessary space and time that an artist needs to dedicate to selling their work. We talk business and also work with them to build the skills to fix kilns, mix glazes, and make pottery.
In addition to our residency program, our studio features an open access membership styled after a gym membership and date night (for friends, family, partners, spouses – whomever you want to bring) as a one-time 2-hour session to get to know clay. Our studio offers a $99 trial month so you can see if you fall in love with clay as deeply as I did in college.
Has it been a smooth road?
No – we’ve definitely hit bumps in the road. Our first major hurdle was the failure of our supply store. We didn’t have the deep cash reserves necessary for the ups and downs in retail, and we weren’t able to compete with larger vendors with more money or access to capital.
Another hurdle is working together with the person you go home with every day because the lines between home and work become blurry. We made a policy to talk less about work at home, and to try to have a planning session with each other before we get to work and things get crazy.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We specialize in pottery and ceramics. We make work for film sets, individual commissions, wedding registries, collectors, and restaurants. We are known for glaze development, supporting local makers, and working with our clients to craft an amazing end result.
Our studio is one of the very few places that have 56 open hours a week for people to work without having to attend a class. We use free-range style instruction in that instructors are here when you need them and if you don’t and you just want to hang out and work that is fine too.
I am most proud of our diversity both in membership and work-exchange teammates. We struggled after the 2016 election with how outspoken to be about being part of the LGBTQ community and whether to share our personal politics with the studio.
We decided to take a group of women to the Women’s March in DC and haven’t looked back, we have clear diversity signage and community in groups about protests, political actions, registering voters, and creating an inclusive space where we can talk about racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and other social and political issues with openness and honest.
What good is mentorship and community without actually doing the work?
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes – Atlanta has a large, diverse, population and a lot of jobs with expendable income.
Our city could do better in support of small businesses in the form of capital lending and grants, quelling gentrification and inflated housing costs, and making sure children have access to quality education. Leisure businesses like ours do well here because there are people that are making a good wage, but we need to pay attention to those below the poverty line as well.
Right now, Atlanta is a blue spot in a red field, but I think Georgia has the potential to change politically and continue to evolve to be a welcoming place for everyone. It is important for us to continue to develop language and business practices that are supportive and inclusive.
Pricing:
- $99 Trial Month, $149 each month after
- $100 Date Night for 2, including instruction, glaze, firing, and clay
- $1548 for a full year, Regular price is $149 per month, a savings of $240
- Pottery ranges from $5 up to $300+ depending on what you are looking for – contact us for details.
Contact Info:
- Address: 175 Laredo Drive, Decatur, GA 30030
- Website: www.mudfire.com
- Phone: 404-377-8033
- Email: info@mudfire.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/mudfire
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/mudfire
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/mudfireclay
Image Credit:
Lizzy Johnston, Conner Dwyer, Deanna Ranlett, Meredith Bradley
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
