Our Teachers
Natalie Dahl
Community Kiln Program Director
Natalie Dahl (they/them) is and educator and artist based out of Malden, MA. Natalie graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a degree in Art Education, Breadth, and considers themselves as an artist and teacher. Their personal practice primarily explores functional, wheelthrown forms with painterly illustrations, inspired by the natural world. Most recently, Natalie's work was chosen for the juried "Cup Show" at Mudflat Studios. Outside of ceramics, they enjoy spending time with their two cats and dog, hiking, birdwatching and painting.
Meghan Albee
Community Kiln Instructor
Meghan Albee (she/her) is a sculptor and ceramist from Framingham.
She has been making art and working with clay since her childhood.
She got her BFA in sculpture from the Massachusetts College of
Art and Design where she organized and was a part of multiple exhibitions with her peers. She has also exhibited work in Madrid,
Spain in 2022. Meghan currently works at Community Kiln as
the studio technician, organizing and firing the pieces made at
the studio, as well as teaching sculptural handbuilding.
Howard Gerstein
Community Kiln Instructor
Howard Gerstein (he/him) has been making art since childhood, and it continues to be a He received his B.F.A. from the University of Cincinnati and has been working in clay since 1985. Howard currently teaches ceramics at Mudflat Studio and Boston University. His work is included in the recently published Lark Book 500 Animals in Clay, and was
chosen for the juried show “The State of Clay, 2007.”
Martha Gold
Community Kiln Instructor
Martha Gold (she/her) worked as a production potter in Oregon and Connecticut from 1974 through 1987. After an eighteen year break, Martha now enjoys creating one-of-a-kind clay pieces without the pressure of production schedules. Function is still very important in her work, from kitchen and tabletop ware to Asian-inspired lanterns. Martha received a B.A. in Art History from Boston University.
David LaPierre
Community Kiln Instructor
David LaPierre (he/him) has been working in clay for more than 35 years. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Connecticut after which he apprenticed in pottery with Jim Cresswell in Milton Keynes, England. David set up a clay program for teens of the Navaho Nation in Window Rock, Arizona, where he worked for four years. He also set up a production pottery studio for a business in Curacao, where he streamlined the business creating glazes for a utilitarian line of pottery.
Back in Massachusetts, David was part of the technical support staff for Dimitri Hadzi for almost two years and has taught at Mudflat Studio since the mid-nineties. His elegant clay work is wheelthrown, using porcelain and stoneware. David works in series of variables of the same form while manipulating the surfaces. His teaching includes learnings from Zen yoga and the physics of clay.
Michelle Lougee
Community Kiln Instructor
Michelle Lougee's sculpture reflects our increasingly
precarious relationship with the environment by contrasting material
with imagery that ranges from microscopic forms to representations
of nature. Her artwork has been shown internationally and locally at the Peabody Essex Museum, Heritage Museum and Gardens, Boston Sculptors Gallery and the Wilson Museum in Manchester, VT. In addition, she teaches at Lesley University School of Art and Design and Community Kiln. She resides with her family in Cambridge, MA and maintains a studio at Vernon Street Studios in Somerville, MA.
Zachary Stuart
Community Kiln Instructor
Zachary Stuart has been involved in arts education in the Boston area for the past 25 years. With a specialty in ceramics, Photography/Film and Theatre/Public speaking, Zach has worked with artists of all ages in developing artistic practices and learning fundamentals of sculpture and pottery. Zachary trained with potters Stephen Yafee and Makoto Yabe at the MFA school and Radcliffe Studios. His influences are a combination of both modern art ceramic practices and traditional Japanese styles. He was the director of the Ceramics Department at The Creative Arts at Park Summer program and has enjoyed teaching both hand-building and sculpture techniques along with wheel-throwing with a specialty on teens in a number of schools, classrooms and community centers.
Zenuine Crosby
Community Kiln Visiting Instructor
Zen Crosby is a multidiscipline artist and educator. They currently serve as workshop/private lesson instructor at Community Kiln where they are responsible for keeping the vibes going. Zen’s artistic practice mantra has always been “the vision will evolve”. If they see or feel something that intrigues them, they will send it through their brain, take it apart, reconfigure it, rebuild it, take it apart again, and then produce a piece that has evolved through iterations; A process that brings them joy. Outside of their official position, they love birds and enjoy iced beverages.
Cheska Komissar
Community Kiln Visiting Instructor
Cheska Komissar earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Boston University. Though she has now lived on the east coast well over half her life, Arizona will always be home. The influences of the desert colors and Native American designs still influence her work. Cheska has been experimenting with creativity her whole life and has used clay as her primary medium for over 25 years. With a background in special education, Cheska believes that, given the opportunity, everyone can be creative and turn their visions into realities. She believes in using as many senses as possible and frequently stops her whistling or humming to test out the sounds of her clay.
Amy Snyder
Community Kiln Visiting Instructor
Amy Snyder fell in love with clay in high school and studied ceramics at MassArt. She is a trained pastry chef, which influences her functional, hand-built work. After many years as a high school culinary arts instructor, she is excited to begin teaching workshops at Community Kiln. She lives in Framingham with her boisterous family and two mutts.