Located in upstate New York just 8 miles from the resort city of Saratoga Springs, SCAC’s mission is to promote the ceramic arts, to provide a place for people to explore the medium of clay, hone and develop their skills, and create a community focused on collaboration with faculty, visiting clay artists, students and visitors.

Saratoga Clay Art Center's doors are open to individuals and artists of all ages, ethnicities, races, genders and incomes and we are committed to engaging everyone in creative expression and discovery through the making and exhibiting of ceramic art.

The 13,000 square foot facility is home to 30 clay artists who enjoy private and shared studio space, a large classroom, glaze room, kiln room and the Schacht Gallery, which features the breadth and depth of contemporary ceramics by local, regional, national and international clay artists. Our classes in wheel throwing and handbuilding run year round for adults and children of all levels, and we offer private lessons, parties and events. Weekend and week-long workshops feature mid-career and established clay artists from across the country and are held on a regular basis, attracting participants from as far away as Hawaii, California and Florida.

We offer classes with experienced and recognized teaching artists, private and shared studio spaces, workshops, artists in residence, gallery space, and the latest equipment and technology to satisfy your every desire for exploration in clay, including:

Jill Fishon-Kovachick
Executive Director

Jill received her MFA in ceramics from Vermont College and her B.S. at Skidmore College with a concentration in ceramics. She spent seventeen years teaching for Special Programs at Skidmore College. Jill exhibits her work both locally and regionally and is the Founder and Director of Saratoga Clay Arts Center.

mark Tarabula
Studio MANAGER

Mark Tarabula acquired his MFA in Ceramics at Edinboro University in Edinboro, PA. He received his BFA in Ceramics from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, MI. During the years in between his degrees, he was a resident artist in several places including The Ceramic Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gallery-One in Ellensburg, Washington and with Justin Rothshank in Goshen, Indiana.  He was a SCAC 2020-22 Artist in Residence before coming on staff full time.

Leigh taylor mickelson
Artistic Director

Leigh Taylor Mickelson, a resident of Ossining, NY, is an artist and independent consultant with 23 years of experience in nonprofit arts management and program development. She has curated and organized dozens of ceramic exhibitions for galleries and organizations across the US. Since April 2019 she has been SCAC’s Artistic Director, managing communications, organizing our exhibitions and developing programs.

Meghan Murphy
Office Manager

Meghan Murphy joined SCAC in January of 2022 and interned here during the Summer of 2022. She has worked with clay for several years and Graduated with her Bachelors in psychology and a studio art concentration from SUNY New Paltz in 2020. She is currently in her Masters program at The College of Saint Rose for Clinical Mental Health Counseling and hopes to one day incorporate her love for ceramics into her clinical work with clients. 

Noah Greene
2022-24 Artist in residence

Noah Greene received is BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, Israel in 2018 and an MFA from Alfred University, NY in 2022 where he has been exploring the integration of painting and clay to create work representing Queer Theory and Identity. Drawing upon his understanding of ceramics, wood and modern technologies, Noah builds large-scale ceramic slabs that are used as canvases and painted with glazes and specially formulated underglaze oil paints to represent scenes that refer back to his own experiences as a Queer individual in today’s society. Taking from his observations as a transgender, gay man, Noah’s ambitions are to further a discourse between the viewer and himself in the hopes of creating a more compassionate, fact driven conversation about the intersectionality of Queer bodies, mental health, trauma, community and culture.

LYNDEE DEAL MARKETING & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR

Lyndee Deal is from a small town near Dallas, TX and received an MFA in Ceramics, from the University of North Texas (2019).  After graduation, Lyndee began teaching at a community college as an adjunct professor while managing her own studio practice. She has spent the past two years as a resident artist in both Columbia, MO and Saratoga Springs, NY where she is further exploring her work while supporting and engaging  with the community at Saratoga Clay Arts Center.

David kwak
2023-24 Artist In ResidenCE

David Kwak was born in Seoul, South Korea, and emigrated with his family to Dallas, Texas, in the spring of 2006. He was reunited with clay freshman year of high school at Lincoln High and pursued ceramics as a hobby until his junior year at The Catlin Gable School. He was accepted to Alfred University’s BFA program in 2017. From 2019 - 21, he lived in Icheon, South Korea as a production studio assistant and in Gangjin, South Korea, as an apprentice, where he met his teachers and learned the history, aesthetics, and skills of Koryo Celadon. David then returned to Alfred and graduated during the spring of 2023. He is now an Artist-in-Residence at the Saratoga Clay Arts Center.

Christina Riccio
2023-24 artist in residence

Christina is an SCAC resident artist for 2023–2024. She received a BA from SUNY Fredonia in 2014, a post baccalaureate in art education from Buffalo State College in 2019, and an MFA from the University of Utah in 2022. Christina creates both sculptural and functional pieces. Her work focuses around themes of neurodivergence, challenging stigmas related to mental illness, and utilizes bright colors, cuteness, and humor as an entry point to discuss difficult topics.