Clay by the Bay, a pottery studio that for 12 years taught thousands of amateur potters and was buoyed by a pandemic-era surge in ceramic-making, has closed. Its founder, Rebecca Olbright, sent an email to some customers on July 6 saying the studio had shuttered.
Olbright wrote in the email that the studio, near Fort Mason at 747 Beach St. since 2024, closed because of her declining health. It appears there were other issues as well. The studio’s landlord filed to evict the studio on May 11, citing unpaid rent starting in February.
Olbright did not respond to requests for comment.
The studio was founded in 2014, opening first a little more than a mile away near North Beach at 1242 Mason St. From 2016 to 2024, they occupied a 6,000-square-foot space on Pacific Ave. and then ended up on Beach Street, which is more than 10,000 square feet.
Its closure caught potters by surprise. Panicked potters posted about the closure on Reddit, writing that they were worried about retrieving their work from the shuttered building. It subsequently opened up to allow users to pick up their work on Saturday and Sunday.
Crimson Cashman, who worked at Clay by the Bay in different capacities from 2021 to 2024, returned in the spring of 2025 as a manager but stepped down in February of this year. She said she left after what she called frustrations over worker pay.
For her part, Cashman said her experience from 2021 to 2024 was “the best job she ever had.” The pay back then, she said, made it possible to work as an artist in San Francisco. “I’m so sad mostly for my memories back then,” Cashman said.
Andrew Higginson, who signed up for a beginner course this year, was hoping to buy a membership before discovering that the studio was closed.
“I was starting to appreciate this big community that I could be a part of,” Higginson said.
Judy Mai, another student, happened to go by on Saturday to glaze her pieces, and found a security guard at the entrance, a sign-in sheet and frantic potters retrieving their items. She said everything had seemed normal up to the end.
Higginson and others are now searching for a new studio. And some former competitors are capitalizing on the opportunity to gain new customers: SMAart Gallery & Studio’s homepage on their website reads, “Lost your studio? You Haven’t Lost Your Practice.”
Cashman said she is sure people won’t go wrong choosing between many of the pottery studios in the city — just choose one in your neighborhood, and you should get a good deal. Cashman had picked up some of her tools already and was practicing at Dusted and Blue, located at 1242 Mason St., where Clay by the Bay was founded.
GoFundMe fundraisers have started for some of the former pottery teachers.
