Nestled in her sunlit and airy studio, Maria Dondero puts her head down and molds clay for hours a day.
Born in Yaounde, Cameroon, into family that loved art and food, Dondero made a career out of her art. Dondero recalls when her family would eat meals cooked by her dad on pottery dishes which he collected across the world.
Dondero discovered her love for pottery while living in Mexico.
“I started when I was 19,” Dondero said. “It’s a really therapeutic process. It’s magical when you sit at the wheel and turn a lump of clay into a cup and then later put heat to it, and you can put liquid in and drink out of it.”
Dondero completed her MFA degree in ceramics at the University of Georgia in 2008. She has taught at multiple universities and for the Cortona, Italy, trip that UGA students take. In 2009, she opened her own studio in Athens called Marmalade Pottery.
In 2016, Dondero created Southern Star Studio, a collective pottery studio that rents work areas to multiple potters and artists. In a city known for music and creative culture, Southern Star Studio has become a local hub. The studio has hosted over 35 potters since its inception, fulfilling Dondero’s vision of a collective pottery studio.
“I think it’s really great to work around other artists,” Dondero said. “You’re in conversation with people while exploring interesting themes and making incredible stuff. That pushes you and everybody pushes each other to get better. Making art in community is much better.”
Sophie Cargill, a current studio member and former studio manager at Southern Star, makes pottery full time and focuses on ceramics.
Cargill said she started working at Southern Star a year after she graduated and said she found a community through the studio.
“Maria did a really wonderful job of welcoming me in and encouraging my art, answering any questions I had and doing critiques of my work to help me improve,” said Cargill, a graduate from UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. “Everyone here is friends. I know I can come here and put my head down and get work done, but at the end of the day, be around people I enjoy and people whose opinions I really value.”
Today, Dondero continues balancing pottery, motherhood, teaching and running the studio.
“I hope it makes someone happy,” Dondero said of her work. “That’s the nicest feedback I get.”
Claire Thomas is a junior majoring in journalism and minoring in law at the University of Georgia. This semester, Thomas is covering small businesses and historic preservation in Athens-Clarke County.
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