Our Story
Studio 4 Potters was founded in 2007 when three students, studying ceramic arts at Worcester Center for Crafts agreed to come together to form a potters’ collaborative. The potters, Steve Landry, Fe Fandreyer, and John Bennard first rented space in an old fire station in Templeton, Massachusetts. Three years of creative joy and continued learning took place in the building that once housed local firefighters.
In 2010, the need to move our studio gave us a reason to recreate ourselves. Turning our challenge into an opportunity, we found the perfect space in Downtown Gardner, at 4 West Lynde Street, with a storefront for a gallery and workshop in the back rooms. The birth of Studio 4 Potters & Gallery coincided with Gardner’s struggle to revitalize its downtown. We were very much welcomed by other downtown businesses and the community as a whole.
Studio 4 has become our version of a pottery cooperative. Managed by Steve and Kristin Landry, it operates as a fully functioning studio space for several potters who create, fire, display and sell their work. In addition to the studio space, our storefront gallery is a retail shop. While our regular hours are limited, you are likely to find potters at work in the studio most days who will open the shop for by-chance shoppers. We generally welcome studio tours and occasionally a spontaneous demonstration for our customers who take interest in what we do.
Potters Who Have Crossed Our Path
Over the years, our studio has been home to a number of different potters. For various reasons and due to the circumstances of their lives, some have moved on. All have added to the unique and varied history of Studio 4 Potters & Gallery.
Laura LeBlanc
John Bennard, one of the founding partners, creates inventive, sometimes surreal forms hand-built from clay slabs. He often remarks that he has especially been inspired by his walks along the seashore of Prince Edward Island.
Fe Fandreyer,from Templeton, Massachusetts, one of the founders, looks to nature for inspiration. Her beautiful, classic forms are created on the potter’s wheel. Her work is accented with sculpted or stamped images of animals, insects, leaves and flowers.
Along the way, Marion Lyon, from Hubbardston, Massachusetts, a well-respected and prolific potter, joined Studio 4 Pottery. Her decorative style is unique and connected to nature. She combines wheel thrown classic designs with hand-building, adding carved or stamped elements onto the surfaces, creating embossed or relief designs. Many of her pieces have asymmetrical edges and may be decorated with birds, flowers, and elements of nature. Marion retired from Studio 4, but some of her pieces are on display and can still be purchased in the shop.