In January, Mary Carroll Ceramics and Alexandria Cummings Ceramics relocated their shared production studio to a long-vacant storefront at 6900 NE Glisan Street. The corner storefront allows the partners to expand their businesses to include a membership-based multi-use space and retail storefront to sell homeware alongside their creations. Taking the new business name from the signage of past tenets at the location, Fine Things Studio and Ceramics Shop will open in phases as the team fills into the ground floor of the 1911-era mixed-use building. They anticipate completing work in late spring with the opening of the storefront selling pottery made onsite alongside accessories, gifts, and women’s and kids’ clothing.

Mary Carroll and Alex Cummings began sharing studio space two years ago, each having six to eight years of prior ceramics experience. In 2024, with their studio lease ending, they decided to explore ways to expand beyond ceramics production to include a retail space for their work and other complimentary products while making space for other ceramicists. They embraced the concept from Alex Cummings’s past workspace and Carroll’s long-held dream for a shop. Before co-locating with Carroll, Cummings ran a small community ceramics studio called Hey Studio in Northeast Portland on 42nd Avenue. Reimagining that prior space was a way to assist others needing studio space and provide a retail opportunity for creators. In her 20s, when planning her adult life, Carroll had envisioned running a vintage store and coffee shop. As she began working in ceramics, the vision became a pottery-vintage-coffee-shop. Now, her shop idea centers on ceramics but with various homeware products from an array of creators, including products from their community ceramics studio members.

In this new building, Carroll and Cummings want to create space for up to 28 potters to work on ceramics and store projects, sharing the studio’s resources. To start, they will limit the facility to 15 members, ensuring participants have enough tools and workspace during peak times. The owners geared the community ceramics studio toward people who have progressed beyond the basics but have not moved to production-level ceramics, where they would require more studio space than is available to members. They will not offer any classes and anticipate that people will know enough to work independently. However, people don’t have to be seasoned pros to become members. “Honestly, if they’ve never had a class but they’ve watched YouTube videos, and they’re able to come in and just throw and make things ready for the kiln, that’s fine,” said Carroll. The studio staff will take care of firing pieces for members, so people need to understand clay types and the firing process enough to communicate with kiln operators. Each member has a bank of racks to store their work in progress, and people can rent extra rack space if they need additional capacity regularly. The studio may also have the capacity for people outside the ceramics community who need creative space.

Finding the storefront on the western edge of Montavilla materialized quickly for the partners after seeing a Craigslist posting for the affordable storefront. “It happened fast,” said Cummings. “September, we looked at it, and a week later, we were like, ‘We have to jump on this because we don’t want to lose it,'” recalled Carroll. They were thankful to find this location because other places they looked at prohibited the mixed-use vision they shared. “The terms were weird. We couldn’t have a retail component, or we couldn’t have a community component,” said Cummings. “To find all three is super tough,” explained Carroll. To build the space, they launched a Kickstarter funding campaign and had to develop branding and information within a week. That was a challenge, made a little easier by signs still hanging in the window. Carroll and Cummings visited the property and looked through the windows, which displayed a stylized Fine Things decal. They looked at each other and agreed to keep that part of the former tenet’s, Di Orios Fine Things & Sharons Dolls & Bears, business name. The name felt right for their business, and it respected the work of the companies that came before them.

With the help of supporters, Carroll and Cummings have made the first two phases of their storefront come to fruition. Half of the available slots at the community ceramics studio are in use at the east end of the building. Both owners have established their ceramics businesses in the center of the main floor, and soon, they will open the retail space at the western corner of the property. Guest shopping at the store will have a view into the production studio to watch the speckled clay creations take form. Each function of Fine Things is viewable behind large windows along the NE Glisan Street sidewalk.

Until the Fine Things retail shop opens, people can purchase items online at Mary Carroll’s or Alex Cummings’ websites. Although they both use the same type of clay, they present differing styles of ceramics. “I like to make things that I hope people would use every day. Lots of dinnerware that’s colorful and playful but also feels pretty utilitarian” explained Cummings. “I like being playful, but it’s very important to have crisp, clean lines. Most of my work has some type of circle or geometric shape or straight lines but still has that really fun, handmade vibe to it,” said Carroll. They hope people will enjoy seeing their work created and displayed at the shop alongside the talents of studio members and other local artists. People can track their progress on the Fine Things Instagram account.