Join us for the 2nd Annual Red Wing Arts Pottery Throwdown
September 19, 2025
A celebration of Clay, Creativity, & Connection
Get your hands dirty and your spirits high at our 2nd Annual Pottery Throwdown! This event is hosted by Red Wing Arts to celebrate and support programming at the new Clay & Creative Center. Watch local celebrities and professional ceramic artists go head-to-head in exciting pottery challenges, cheer them on, and even create your own challenges on our mini-wheels!
Date: Friday, September 19th, 2025
Location: RWA Clay & Creative Center, 436 W. 3rd St, Red Wing, MN 55066
Schedule of Events:
6:30-7pm - Mix & Mingle
7-7:45pm - Celebrity Participant Heat
8-9pm - Professional Participant Heat
What to Expect:
Light appetizers & beverages
Raffle prizes
Mini-wheel clay challenges for all ages
Lots of cheering, friendly heckling, and fun!
Bring your dollars to vote for your favorite potter!
Meet our Professional Participants
Ryan Ball is a St Paul, MN based potter originally from southern Louisiana. As a lifelong drummer and skateboarder, repetition, rhythm and balance play a large role in his making practice. Ryan pulls from over a decade of commercial ceramics production experience, employing vibrant glazes over soft, inviting, often textural forms.
Kelly Connole is a studio artist and professor at Carleton College. Her sculptural work, addressing relationships within environments, has been exhibited nationally and is included in several publications and periodicals. She is also the recipient of numerous awards for her work. Kelly is the Defending Champion from the 2024 Pottery Throwdown!
Brian Johnson is a ceramicist living and working in River Falls, WI. Together with his wife Susan, they comprise Red Sled Pottery. Brian has been involved in pottery for 22 years, only within the past 2 years moving into the business full time. Red Sled's focus is on producing functional pottery with a decorative flourish.
Jason Kaping is the potter behind Pig’s Eye Pottery and the owner of Great River Gallery in St. Paul. "My aim is to create ceramics and functional tableware to add handmade quality to our lives at my home studio in Western Wisconsin."
Glynnis Lessing is a potter living and working in the midwest. She makes mainly functional pieces in porcelain, covering the surfaces with narrative images in black slip and colored underglazes.
Meet our local Celebrity Participants!
Andrea Hanson is the owner of Phileo Style, a boutique in downtown Red Wing. She is also the Executive Director of Red Wing Downtown Main Street.
Gary Iacco is the current Mayor of Red Wing. He has an extensive legacy of community involvement, and views his role as mayor as that of an ambassador.
Jennifer Lappegaard was raised in Red Wing and is an attorney at Speight, Anderson, & Lappegaard P.A. where she concentrates on real estate and business law.
Lee Saddler is one of the vocalists and the guitarist for the band Tennesse Stiffs. Hailing from Austin, TX, the duo re-settled in Red Wing in 2023.
Michelle Tracy is an artist, crafter, and owner of the Creative Hand gift shop in downtown Red Wing.
Andrew Rivera is a visual artist inspired by function, history, design, and culture. His wares are a reflection of personal identity and his Mexican heritage. Andrew currently resides in Hastings, MN where he makes work out of his downtown studio. He also teaches ceramics in the Twin Cities area.
Tickets
Tickets are $30 for members (use code MEMBER-10), $40 for not-yet members
All proceeds support Clay & Creative Center programming – allowing us to increase access to high-quality arts education. Thank you to Todd’s Prime and Paint for sponsoring this event.
Let’s throw some clay and build community together!
