Creative Clay’s giant folk art festival will celebrate 30 years in St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG — Stephanie Parr dabs red underglaze onto her ceramic ornament, a palm-sized creature with bulging eyes.

“It’s a demented elf,” said Parr, a 37-year-old artist at Creative Clay. “I get so happy when I sell one of my pieces.”

It’s a little after 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, and the artists at Creative Clay are hard at work. Some color with pencils, gel pens and markers, making birthday cards and filling sketchbooks. Others, like Parr, work hard on holiday gifts to sell. There’s always time for hugs and laughs, another joyful sound on top of the tambourine shakes and guitar strumming that drift from down the hall.

Creative Clay may reference pottery in name, but all kinds of art is celebrated at the St. Petersburg nonprofit — as well as all kinds of artists.

“Our mission is to help people with disabilities achieve full and inclusive lives by providing expressive, educational and vocational experiences in the arts,” reads the colorful mural in the hallway.

Creative Clay will celebrate 30 years with the return of Good Folk Fest. On Sunday, Nov. 16, the nonprofit takes over the Coliseum with live music, make-and-take art projects and more.

“It’s to celebrate all the people that have helped Creative Clay through the years,” said board president, Sean Kennedy. “But also for people who’ve never heard of Creative Clay to come and experience the joy that emanates from it.”

Creative Clay was founded in 1995 with a $1,000 grant from the Knights of Columbus. Programming has expanded to include painting, theater, videography, music, fiber arts, sculpture and mixed media. Teaching artists, or professional creators in the community, spend time mentoring clients.

The festival is a celebration of resilience.

“When I was first part of the organization, the state had cut the reimbursement for Medicaid, which was at the time the large amount of how we were funded,” said Kennedy, who has been president of the board since 2016. “That got cut in half.”

At the height of the pandemic, Creative Clay shifted to online classes.

“The state wouldn’t recognize online classes as something,” Kennedy said. “And sure, online classes aren’t as good, but for people who have nowhere else to go, like nothing going on in their day, like folks in group homes, it was a really joyful experience to get online with your friends and create art.”

Locals stepped in to help, providing donations to keep the organization afloat. This has helped Creative Clay weather other challenges, like continued cuts to art funding. Funds are also raised from the on-site Good Folk Gallery, which stocks art from Creative Clay artists, and Creative Thrift, the pay-what-you-can art supply thrift store.

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater gave the group an ad at the St. Pete-Clearwater airport, Kennedy said. Black Crow Coffee, which has a Creative Clay mural in the Grand Central location, donates beans for the nonprofit to sell on-site. Each bag is decorated with original work by Creative Clay artists.

“Even when we have these big swings in geo-politics, whatever, St. Pete kind of gathers around us,” Kennedy said.

Artwork from Creative Clay clients, including greeting cards, can be purchased in gift shops at the Dali Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Dunedin Fine Art Center and other local museums. Creative Clay even has a global partnership with a similar nonprofit in Takamatsu, Japan — St. Petersburg’s sister city. For years, the two groups have mailed artworks in progress back and forth, so clients can work together long-distance to complete original pieces.

Creative Clay participates in St. Pete’s second Saturday Art Walk. Every first Friday, the organization’s parking lot turns into an art market. Creative Clay follows a typical art gallery split, with 50 percent of profits sold at its gift shop, online store and monthly events going back to the artists.

“Our Art Link program pairs a professional artist with one of our member artists, one on one, to work on creating a body of art together and learning the business of being an artist,” said Kim Dohrman, Creative Clay’s CEO. “They work on an artist statement, artist resume, learn how you price your work.”

A client named JJ, who has been at Creative Clay for over two decades, created a colorful, geometric piece of artwork that the Vitale Brothers painted as a mural on the building. At Good Folk Fest, Creative Clay will unveil a NASCAR vehicle wrapped with an image of that mural. Armani Williams, the first NASCAR driver with autism, will drive it.

Collaborations with St. Pete Opera and the Museum of Fine Arts, including an original play written by Sheila Cowley for Creative Clay, have helped clients get inspired by new mediums.

“For a lot of our artists who might struggle with expression beyond the visual arts, that was really powerful,” said Dohrman, noting that St. Pete Opera also donates tickets so clients can attend with their families. “We really feel supported and embraced by the arts community. We’re a part of it. We’re not separate from it. And that’s wonderful for the artists.”