Art for Everybody: Studio Kusi's Scholarship Fund

Studio Kusi is a small ceramic art studio in Mt. Pleasant, DC, with a big mission: to make pottery accessible to everyone and to support vital mutual aid efforts.

We offer pottery classes because we believe making things with our hands, and being in community, has the power to nourish and heal our bodies and spirits. In DC and across the U.S., pottery is often an exclusive — and expensive — art form. We’re working to change that!

To keep ceramics financially inclusive, we need your help. If we reach our goal of $9,500, we can provide about 150 half-scholarships and 50 full-scholarships, covering roughly 8 months of accessible classes. Your support means more DC neighbors can experience the joy* of working with clay — while we continue giving back.

*“Kusi” means “joy” in Quechua, one of the many Indigenous languages of the Andean region.

More information about Studio Kusi:

Founder Ariana Paredes-Vincent began teaching pottery classes in fall 2024 to fundraise for mutual aid efforts, and opened Studio Kusi’s current space in April 2025. In just a few months, we’ve grown to 9 instructors, more than 10 volunteers, and pottery classes offered four days a week. Three of our instructors are bilingual and teach in Spanish, helping us serve an even wider community.

So far, we’ve donated $13,206.88 — and with your help, we can grow that number while keeping classes affordable through a crowd-sourced scholarship fund.