I grew up in Syracuse NY, and found ceramics in my sophomore year of high school. Getting my BFA in ceramics at SU in 2000, I moved to Bennington VT while my wife Sarah Panzarella was in graduate school at Bennington College. I was an apprentice under David Gil at Bennington Potters, and then on completion went to University of Florida for my MFA, graduating in 2005. Returning to Central NY, teaching at Syracuse University and Cazenovia College, I began studio work out of our house. As the work progressed, and wholesale and gallery shows were added to my calendar, I opened the first Brick and Mortar studio in 2013, and began more making and teaching operations. I really was struck by the community that was growing up around the studio, and decided to move the studio into my wife’s gallery in Skaneateles where the first generation of Papavero Clay Studio was born. My own apprenticeship program expanded at this point, and the robustness of the studio/gallery situation grew. Now, in our second, and much larger location, Papavero Clay Studio is growing even more, and offering more opportunities to get clay into the hands of the residents of Central New York.