ABOUT FALL KILL
Fall Kill Creative Works runs two studio spaces in Poughkeepsie, NY: The Clay Studio and The Glebe House. Our mission is to foster creativity and community through accessible art and craft education.
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CLAY STUDIO
The Clay Studio, located at 485 Main Street in Poughkeepsie, NY, is a volunteer-run community space offering weekly classes & workshops led by local experts. It's the home of everything clay & ceramic, featuring clay classes & open studio sessions. Our bright, well-lit studio includes 10 pottery wheels, 4 hand-building tables, a slab roller, an extruder, 3 electric kilns, and a range of community tools.
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GLEBE HOUSE
Glebe House, located at 635 Main Street in Poughkeepsie, NY, is where we host most of our non-clay classes and workshops, including weaving, dyeing, printmaking, sewing, gardening & quilting, all taught by local experts. With its historic barn loom, a range of materials for weaving, sewing, dyeing, and quilting & an extensive outdoor space, Glebe House is ideal for exploring heritage crafts.
OUR STAFF
Eric Ehrnschwender: Executive Director
Annie Buchholz: Artistic Director & Instructor
Chelsea Clark: Operations Manager & Instructor
OUR INSTRUCTORS
Lena Chin
Wednesday & Saturday Wheel Lena Chin is a first-generation Ecuadorian-Chinese ceramic artist, instructor, and curator based in New York’s Hudson Valley. She holds a BFA in Ceramics from SUNY New Paltz and an MA in Museum Studies from CUNY SPS. Lena is very passionate about teaching & building community through ceramics.
Lena’s studio practice focuses on functional ceramic wares and figurative sculpture. Using vibrant glazes and underglazes, and techniques such as stencils, hand-painting, and sprigging, she decorates her work with playful patterns of ancestral & cosmic designs.
Christina Liao
Christine Liao is a ceramic artist and instructor. As an artist, she is continually exploring the relationship between form and surface, creating work that balances curiosity, texture, and intention. As an instructor, her goal is to help students gain confidence, develop strong skills, and discover their own creative voice.
Christine’s passion for clay led her to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics at Suny New Paltz, where she developed her studio practice.
Monday Handbuilding 
Printing on Clay Alexis Babian
Alexis Babian is a multidisciplinary artist and educator with over a decade of experience working with clay. In college, Alexis was a double major in psychology and visual arts, focusing on ceramics and printmaking. Alexis later went on to pursue a degree in textile & surface design from FIT.
Often featuring florals and hand painted motifs, she describes her work as feminine, whimsical and endearing. Her latest obsession is making miniatures, striking the perfect balance between form and surface design on a very small scale.
Elycia Castaneda
Elycia Castaneda is an Indigenous ceramic artist whose artistic practice is deeply inspired by a love and reverence for the earth. Her practice embraces the unpredictable nature of atmospheric firing, allowing flame, ash, and other elements to bring another layer of life to each piece.
Through a playful balance of intention and chance, Elycia crafts work that celebrates the natural world and the mysteries that emerge when clay, fire, and creativity come together.
Homeschool Clay & Teen Labs
Caty Therese
Born and raised in the Mid-Hudson Valley, Caty Therese has long relied on her surroundings for inspiration. A hike in the mountains, a walk down Main Street, a moment by the Hudson - she sees everything around us as meaningful and beautiful.
She has been working as a teaching artist in Dutchess and Putnam counties for nearly a decade and has become a well-known part of many students’ artful journeys. Her first love is ceramics and sharing the idea of molding a mound of clay into something magical.
Family Clay & Private Lessons
Handbuilidng & WorkshopsAlice Barrett
Alice Barrett is a ceramics artist who loves finding and exploring ideas of community in her work. Originally from the Boston area, she is currently pursuing her MFA in Ceramics at SUNY New Paltz.
Alice’s roots are in functional wheel-thrown pottery, but in graduate school she has been focusing on sculptural hand-built pieces that use bold color, textured surfaces, and botanical patterns. This work considers cycles of growth, change, and interconnection through imaginative ecologic forms.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Fall Kill Creative Works is overseen by a board of directors who provide strategic governance, build donor and sponsor relationships, support outreach initiatives, and serve as ambassadors for Fall Kill in the community.
FALL KILL FAQ
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We do rent kilns on a case-by-case basis. The typical time when it makes sense to rent a kiln is if you want to try a specialty glaze that needs a specific firing schedule. Please note that kiln rental is subject to availability, which may be particularly limited during our busy seasons. Email Eric for more information.
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Possibly! Email Eric, our Studio Director, to find out if your clay and glazes are compatible with our firing processes. You must include photos of your clay and glaze labels. We want to ensure that your pieces will survive and won’t damage anyone else’s work.
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Possibly! Email Eric, our Studio Director, to make sure that your glazes are compatible with our firing processes. You must include photos of the glaze label. We want to ensure that your pieces will survive and won’t damage anyone else’s work.
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Possibly! Email Eric, our Studio Director, to make sure that your clay and glazes are compatible with our firing processes. You must include photos of the clay label. We want to ensure that your pieces will survive and won’t damage anyone else’s work.
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Our Adult Classes are only open to those 17 and older.
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Classes may be cancelled due to an instructor emergency or inclement weather. If your class is cancelled you will be contacted via email. A make-up class will be added to the back end of the class series.
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For multi-week courses, up to two missed classes may be made up by attending a comparable session on a different day. Makeups are subject to availability and scheduled at the discretion of the office staff. To arrange a makeup, email Chelsea. We'll do our best to find a session that works for you, but we cannot guarantee placement in every case.
Please note that makeup classes must be at a similar level and format to your enrolled course. Contact Chelsea for more information.
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If you need to cancel your registration, please email Chelsea.
Full refunds (minus a 5% processing fee) are available for registrations cancelled 30 before the start date of your course.
Registrations cancelled 14-30 days before the start date of your course will receive a 50% refund (minus a 5% processing fee).
Registrations cancelled within 14 days of the start date of your course are not eligible for a refund.
Class sessions cancelled due to inclement weather or an instructor emergency will be added on to the back end of the series. -
You can park in the lot that is adjacent to the building, and street parking is readily available as well.
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Fall Kill’s mission is to provide affordable classes in a welcoming and inclusive environment. To ensure our classes are accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial situation, we offer a tuition assistance program.
To request assistance, please fill out this form. We will respond to your request by email within a week.
TUITION ASSISTANCE
Tuition assistance is available for all our classes. We aim to make clay classes affordable for everyone, no matter their financial situation. Just fill out the form, mention the class you want to join, and let us know what you can contribute. We’ll get back to you via email.
