meet allison

Dancing Spider Studio is my artistic home. An East Aurora native, I returned to Western New York in 2024 to raise our children. Before returning, I tumbled through Maine, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Minnesota, chasing opportunities, collecting studio mates, and learning a craft with an eager heart and nimble fingers. All the while, I longed for the first place I ever called home, a town of familiar faces and trees I couldn't get my arms around.

I make handmade pottery in my basement studio: mugs, bowls, jars, teapots, vases. I'm not alone down here. Spiders keep me company, diligently spinning their own delicate worlds alongside mine. My baby's room is right above, so we work quietly. We are home makers. My husband suggested the studio name, and it felt right.

You can find me walking, sewing, sorting through paint chips, and tending to our house as though it were an art installation. There is a baby on my hip, a preschooler by my side, and a granola bar in my pocket. A playpen and baby swing share the studio with my potter's wheel, and my son has a small workbench of his own. Care and labor have always been my materials.

I received my BFA from Alfred University in 2010, where I took my first ceramics class and became enchanted by clay. I went on to earn an MFA from The Ohio State University in 2017. As a graduate student, I made 10,962 porcelain thimbles and knotted them together into a ceramic blanket. I pulverized handmade afghans and turned them into bricks. I soaked porous clay vessels in salt water, creating effervescent scum. I made many things, but pottery was always on my mind.

Making is in my bones. My mother studied ceramics at Buffalo State, and my father is a woodworker. They spent thirty years restoring our old house one hardware store trip at a time. They studied the house's guts and then stitched it back together. Mom made curtains and stained glass. They showed me how to use my hands.

I've taught ceramics and sculpture in university, community, and nonprofit settings. I'm especially drawn to intergenerational studios. I managed one in Madison, Wisconsin for two years. Homeschooled second graders, retirees, and tattooed twentysomethings crowded around huge canvas-covered work tables. They shared tools and took each other seriously. Everyone has important work to do.

My work has been exhibited throughout the country, including at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. Still, I'm proudest of the pots that have found their way into cupboards and drip trays.

Warmly,

Allison Gailey — formerly Allison Craver