This is the final post in a three-part series on Scott McClellan, head of ceramics at the Seattle Artist League. The first post looked at the grounded physicality of his pots; the second, at the structures—musical, material, and cultural—that shape his thinking. Now we turn to the studio he built: how his quiet pragmatism and clear decisions shaped a ceramics program that makes room for difference and stays open to change.
Built from Clay
Scott McClellan earned his BFA in ceramics from Utah State University, then worked as a studio tech at Edinboro University before completing a long-term residency at Taos Clay. He went on to earn an MFA from the University of Missouri, with a minor in sculpture, followed by a two-year wood-fire residency at the Clay Studio of Missoula, where he conducted most of the glaze research that would shape his later work.
McClellan designed and built the ceramics program at the Seattle Artist League, where he now teaches and serves as head of ceramics. His teaching is clear and pragmatic. His professional practices class includes a demonstration where he boxes a pot and throws it across the room—to show the packing works. There is no performance, only proof.
The Studios He Built
McClellan’s work reflects the values at the Seattle Artist League: process over polish, presence over perfection, curiosity over certainty. Like the school he helped shape, his work invites attention, encourages variation, and holds space for uncertainty.
It’s an ethos of attention, adaptation, and making that stays responsive—always adjusting, never formulaic. It leans into friction. It finds structure in process and honesty in imperfection
McClellan doesn’t teach students to throw like he does. He built a space where they can throw how they want—with attention, with edge, without apology. What he shaped at the League isn’t a style. It’s a studio built for staying in motion.
Stay tuned—there’s one more post on the way, marking a major milestone for the League’s ceramics studio and the community it’s grown.
Contrary to popular belief, the round topped brush was actually designed in the late 1800s by Dr Philbert Bristle and was not named after a nut but instead named after the doctor himself, thus the proper name for this brush is “Philbert.”
Another collection of favorites from the personal inspiration files of Carlos San Millan. At first glance, this looks like a figurative study with the figure divided into abstracted patches of flat color. For some of the areas, paint has been scraped away, so that the color underneath can be seen through the top layer. San …
Welcome to the SAL Challenge Every day for the month of January, I’ll send out a creative challenge prompt. This series of challenges will be based on unusual vocabulary words. I’ll send out a word for the day, and you respond. Materials are artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, collage, sculpt your food, anything you …
Tuesday is Memory and Imagination day in our 30 Day Challenge. Dreams are today’s topic. I’ve collected artworks with dream imagery, or at least artworks that were stirred up when I searched Google for artworks with “Dream” in the title. Your challenge today is to recreate a dreamscape. You can draw, paint, print, collage, assemblage, …
Scott McClellan: The Studios He Built
This is the final post in a three-part series on Scott McClellan, head of ceramics at the Seattle Artist League. The first post looked at the grounded physicality of his pots; the second, at the structures—musical, material, and cultural—that shape his thinking. Now we turn to the studio he built: how his quiet pragmatism and clear decisions shaped a ceramics program that makes room for difference and stays open to change.
Built from Clay
Scott McClellan earned his BFA in ceramics from Utah State University, then worked as a studio tech at Edinboro University before completing a long-term residency at Taos Clay. He went on to earn an MFA from the University of Missouri, with a minor in sculpture, followed by a two-year wood-fire residency at the Clay Studio of Missoula, where he conducted most of the glaze research that would shape his later work.
McClellan designed and built the ceramics program at the Seattle Artist League, where he now teaches and serves as head of ceramics. His teaching is clear and pragmatic. His professional practices class includes a demonstration where he boxes a pot and throws it across the room—to show the packing works. There is no performance, only proof.
The Studios He Built
McClellan’s work reflects the values at the Seattle Artist League: process over polish, presence over perfection, curiosity over certainty. Like the school he helped shape, his work invites attention, encourages variation, and holds space for uncertainty.
It’s an ethos of attention, adaptation, and making that stays responsive—always adjusting, never formulaic. It leans into friction. It finds structure in process and honesty in imperfection
McClellan doesn’t teach students to throw like he does. He built a space where they can throw how they want—with attention, with edge, without apology. What he shaped at the League isn’t a style. It’s a studio built for staying in motion.
Stay tuned—there’s one more post on the way, marking a major milestone for the League’s ceramics studio and the community it’s grown.
Related Posts
Philbert, a correction
Contrary to popular belief, the round topped brush was actually designed in the late 1800s by Dr Philbert Bristle and was not named after a nut but instead named after the doctor himself, thus the proper name for this brush is “Philbert.”
Sterling Shaw
Another collection of favorites from the personal inspiration files of Carlos San Millan. At first glance, this looks like a figurative study with the figure divided into abstracted patches of flat color. For some of the areas, paint has been scraped away, so that the color underneath can be seen through the top layer. San …
SAL Challenge 1: UBIQUIT
Welcome to the SAL Challenge Every day for the month of January, I’ll send out a creative challenge prompt. This series of challenges will be based on unusual vocabulary words. I’ll send out a word for the day, and you respond. Materials are artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, collage, sculpt your food, anything you …
30SAL Challenge: Dream
Tuesday is Memory and Imagination day in our 30 Day Challenge. Dreams are today’s topic. I’ve collected artworks with dream imagery, or at least artworks that were stirred up when I searched Google for artworks with “Dream” in the title. Your challenge today is to recreate a dreamscape. You can draw, paint, print, collage, assemblage, …