Welcome to
Cider Creek Collective
Artists and educators Jess Thompson and Nick Schwartz have been hosting artists, visitors, and students at their property since 2002. Their first home and artist residency facility, known as Flynn Creek Pottery, was a few miles from the Mendocino coast in the redwood forested hills of Comptche, CA.
Over two decades it hosted ceramicists, circus performers, musicians, farmers, and many other creative hardworking folks. Their new home, a 160 year old coastal Victorian homestead, was once a beloved retreat center called “Hearts and Hands at Cider Creek”. Like Flynn Creek Pottery, Hearts and Hands nurtured idealism, creativity, and growth for a lot of people, so it’s fitting that it’s now giving this family of creative people a place to grow. Hence it has evolved into the “Cider Creek Collective”.
The artists of Cider Creek predominantly work in ceramics, though many have diverse bodies of work that include music, painting, and mixed media sculpture. Nick and Jess focus on clean, ecologically responsible practices that work in tandem with land stewardship, like atmospheric firing with wood and digging native clay from the land.
The Cider Creek farmstead has extensive heirloom gardens and orchards, so the community of artists is collaborating to grow as much of their food as possible, and produce farmhouse ware in tandem with the food crops.
Ceramicists must use some industrial materials, but Cider Creek’s artists use as few, locally sourced, and non-toxic as possible. CoOwner/Director Nick Schwartz is known around the world for his expertise in anagama-style wood firing and kiln building. Many residents and visitors seek him out specifically to learn those crafts.
Cider Creek Collective houses 5-6 long term Resident Artists and a rotating cast of short-term visiting artists. The growing community operates largely by word of mouth: friends invite friends, visitors return for firings, and if everyone discovers they like working together, stays can be negotiated averaging anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years.
Artists live here, make their own work, and work together on building projects, teaching classes, childcare, gardening, kiln building, and generally supporting each other to nurture the creative life of Cider Creek and the local community.
