Energy Exchange
The Energy Exchange Program is currently full!
Our Energy Exchange Program is an opportunity for you to actively contribute to our studio while enjoying the benefits in return.
As an essential aspect of our studio, energy exchanges hold great significance, and we want to express our gratitude through this program. If you have some spare time in your weekly schedule, we invite you to participate in our time-for-time energy exchange. Ideally, we recommend committing to a 3 or 4 hour shift per week, which will grant you an equal amount of time in our studio. You have the option to purchase clays from our studio at cost or bring your own. We offer complimentary firing services for your creations, and if you wish to use our studio glazes, we provide an affordable monthly glaze and materials subscription.
As part of the energy exchange, your responsibilities will encompass various studio maintenance tasks, such as clay collection, reclamation, and wedging. Additionally, you may assist in things like creating test tiles for new glazes, preparing slabs for workshops and ensuring general studio upkeep and cleanliness, and contributing your skills in any other areas you desire.
Becoming an exchangee in our studio presents a fantastic opportunity to deepen your understanding of pottery processes, forge new friendships, and become an integral part of our creative community.
If you're intrigued by the prospect of joining this program, please check back in the future for openings!
Founder and Instructor
Dana Dallal
Dana, the Founder of Parkdale Pottery, is an accomplished ceramic artist working in both handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques. Her expertise lies in surface design, where she seamlessly incorporates her fashion and textile design background. Her work is characterized by layered florals and botanicals, creating unique and captivating ceramic pieces.
Administrative and Marketing Coordinator
Alassandra Rojo
From a young age, Alassandra has always been captivated by the arts and would frequently find herself dabbling in a diverse array of crafts and hobbies. Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Craft and Design, specializing in ceramics at Sheridan College, was a natural choice for her. Crafting mark-making tools is her joy and she often uses handcrafted stamps to create floral compositions and blooming patterns on all her work, producing detailed, embossed surface design. No matter where she goes, Alassandra will always intertwine her love for the arts within her day-to-day life.
Instructor
Mariana Bolaños-Inclan
I am a Mexican sculptor based in Toronto. My body of work is based on the stories of where I come from and who I am as a woman and as an immigrant. I use references to pre-hispanic symbols and Mexican popular culture to represent these stories in figurative sculptures. Focusing on art with a social purpose, I work as a facilitator in community programs with children, women and newcomers around Tkaronto and the GTA.
Instructor
Emma Bickers
Emma Bickers seamlessly melds illustrations with substantial earthenware vessels, crafting poignant visual narratives. Initially drawn to illustration, she serendipitously discovered ceramics through an introductory course. Today, a recent graduate in ceramics from Sheridan College's Craft and Design program, Emma thrives as a full-time resident artist at Harbourfront Centre.
Instructor
Valentina Guevara
Valentina moved from Toluca, Mexico over a decade ago, however she still maintains a deep connection to her Mexican roots. She has earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Concordia University (2006) in Montreal, specializing in painting and ceramics. Valentina went on to further develop her skills while working at Mosaika Art & Design. After working for 15 years in Montreal and more than 9 years doing ceramics in public art, Valentina decided to move to Toronto, to work on her passion in a fresh new environment. She is currently working as a pottery instructor and studio technician, for several studios located in Toronto.
Instructor
Zsuzsa Monostory
My inspiration comes from architecture, nature, all things living. The human and animal form, their behaviour and relationship are the most intriguing to me. These are the features that I try to express in my narrative pieces.
Instructor
Natalie Waddell
Natalie Waddell is a Canadian ceramic artist and educator based in Toronto. Her practice is driven by the love of process and the exploration of heritage and memory through clay.
A student of the Sheridan College Ceramic Craft and Design program (2003), she is known for her functional and sculptural work and active participation in local ceramic and arts communities and associations. Natalie was invited to participate as a judge in the CBC tv show The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down.
Instructor
Darren Cross
Years after graduating from OCAD University and earning a degree in Philosophy at the University of Toronto, Darren rediscovered his passion for the visual arts in the form of pottery. Darren’s earnestness and enthusiasm is evident in the style of his instruction and his desire to help foster a community of potters. As for Darren’s playfulness, he strives to embody an old adage: “maturity consists in having reacquired the seriousness one had as a child, at play”.
Darren currently teaches 2 hour wheel throwing classes and multi-week wheel throwing classes