Our Story
We’re a retired journalist and a former Foreign Service Officer who each found our way to ceramics and decided it was a lifelong calling. We also saw that people were looking for spaces to create, but too few spaces existed. Studio 51 is our attempt at creating that kind of place in our own neighborhood: a welcoming studio where beginners can discover ceramics, experienced potters can continue to grow, and people can learn from one another. Studio 51 aims to build the kind of creative community we’ve been lucky enough to experience ourselves.
Born in Seoul, raised in Michigan, and a devoted West Wing fan, Joseph Kim studied political science and dreamed of a career in government. Never in a million years did he think he would find his passion in the arts.
After living overseas for nearly a decade, Joseph returned to the US and found a new home in ceramics. Though he had never considered himself an artist or a maker, he found a sense of place in the creation of form and function.
Over the next decade in D.C., he kept learning, teaching, making far too many pots, and occasionally selling a few on the side. Along the way, the pottery studio became more than a place to make things, it became a community. Eventually, Joe decided it was time to leave the Foreign Service, take a leap, and create another welcoming studio that would serve the neighborhoods of Northwest DC. Studio 51 is the result.
Sue Decker’s pottery journey began in her 20s when she bought a small bowl at a street fair and fell in love with the tactile feel of eating out of a homemade item.
Fast forward a couple decades, Sue’s thriving one-woman business, Four Elements Pottery, is a reflection of how water and earth can be transformed by air and fire into something lasting and beautiful. Sue’s artistic style builds on that to create vibrant, functional pieces. Each mug, bowl, serving dish, or novelty piece is crafted to fit warmly in the hand, and to bring a smile and sense of joy.
Currently, Sue is a member of the Mt. Pleasant Artists Collective and serves on the board of the D.C. Makers Guild. She teaches at District Clay Center in Northeast D.C. and teaches private lessons at her studio in historic Mt. Pleasant, including one-on-one classes for teens with autism.
"To hold a bowl or mug in your hand and know it was made by a person, not a machine. To feel that connection with your ancestors. All of those feelings in something so prosaic is just magical. My goal is to bring that same joy to others, to add a bit of brightness to the world."
