Sara Bookspan, a Bay Area native, and recent west coast transplant, discovered her love of clay at a very young age. Her  love of art led her to pursue a Bachelor of Art Education with emphasis in ceramics from Humboldt State University. Working with her mentor, Joel Magen of Dark Horse Pottery, she honed her skills in wheel thrown and hand built production pottery. It was there that she developed a deeper understanding of the meditative process of working with clay. Looking to pair her passion for education and ceramics, Sara went on to receive a Master of Special Education and two teaching credentials from Portland State University with the goal of becoming an art therapist.

Knowing that art truly has the power to change the human experience, Sara brought this same passion to her work in the Peace Corps where she started several small income-generating projects in her host country, Kenya. Her projects were focused on expansion of local arts within the Deaf community which included  beadwork, textiles, and of course ceramics. Taking art and education to the next level, Sara became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and uses art as part of her method to teach life skills to individuals with special needs. She founded a ceramics program at Victory Academy, a school for children with autism located right outside of Portland, Oregon. Through this program students learned the foundations of working with clay and its relation to accomplishing daily living skills while simultaneously exploring their creativity.

Now in Florida, she is actively working as a behavior analyst with the special needs community. In her free time, she continues to pursue her love of ceramics by creating primary altered wheel thrown forms that resemble components of the natural environment. She is extremely excited to be working with The Armory and cannot wait to explore the wild world of clay with her new learners. What’s to be expected in a class with Sara? Learner’s will enhance mindfulness and artistic independence through learning  the basics of handbuilding techniques, glazing, fundamentals of  wheel throwing, while of course learning to become artistic clay rebels!