ARTS ALIVE! St. Pete Catalyst's Bill DeYoung: St. Pete Ceramics Beth Miranda & Ethan Fielder

A fire in the wee hours of January 28 did serious damage to the studios of St. Pete Ceramics, on the south side of the Arts Xchange campus in St. Petersburg’s Warehouse Arts District.  Artists and business co-owners Beth Miranda and Ethan Fielder join Bill DeYoung  for Arts Alive! today, to talk about the night in question, the suspected cause, the damage done and the way forward.

First and foremost, Miranda and Fielder are effusive in their gratitude to the community for contributing to the GoFundMe created to help them re-make their two-year-old facility (the 1,800-square-foot building itself was insured by the Warehouse Arts District Association).  More than 240 donations have been received, totaling nearly $30,000 towards the established goal of $50,000. The community creating, firing and painting facility lost its kilns and other equipment, and is currently operating, on a temporary basis, out of nearby 5 Deuces Galleria.

Once she finished “melting down,” Miranda explains, “I realized that what I cared about, really, was the fiscal, emotional, mental health of our clay community in Pinellas County.”  There are many, many such artists here.  

In 2024 she established the Clay Collective, bringing all the clay artists together for shows, discussions, planning and more. “Going back to the space, it will still be St. Pete Ceramics. We are not focusing on the community studio aspect; we are keeping our family, that is now our studio, but the Clay Collective is our primary goal.”

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