“Don Hunt taught the first ceramics class at Bethel Horizons in 1982 in the dining room of the Barn Retreat Center,” shared his widow, Kathy Hunt. “Don’s dream was to create a studio where anyone could come and learn to throw a pot.”

“After that first year, they moved Don’s ceramic class from the Barn to the picnic pavilion in the campground at Horizons. Don increased the number of workshops he taught for the next few summers. He partnered with UW Platteville to offer credits to teachers and college students. Don discovered that a lot of time in the smaller school districts, teachers had very little, if any, experience with clay. He wanted to provide a place for teachers to learn ceramics and get continued education credit. He had no idea how it would turn out, but these workshops became extremely popular. Teachers who attended loved being able to spend one week out of the summer learning, working, and being creative at Horizons.” 

This grew into “Communing with Clay,” where teachers that Don knew in the Madison area would bring out their high school students. Don championed multi-generations working and learning together. He believed that everyone had different techniques to share and that learning from many different teachers had real value for the students and adults in attendance.”

We are so excited to be welcoming back some of Don’s early teachers from Communing with Clay. Geof Herman, Phyl Lyons, and Kathy King will be sharing their history and the benefits of workshops that Adamah provides teachers during “A Night At Adamah Art Studios: Educators Making Connections” coming up on April 11 – 12, 2024.

To look back at those early days and see Don’s vision grow from just a few workshops in the summer to almost 40 creative workshops annually is just incredible. His passion and belief in coming together and learning in community touches everyone who attends a workshop at Adamah.