meet the staff
Meet our QCC family. Queen City Clay relies heavily on a wonderful staff of instructors, residents, and co-ops; along with a few key folks that work to hold it all together. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find links to our instructors’ personal websites.

Ben Clark

Chrissy Trout

Beth Suellentrop-Barkey

Jon Stein

Jess Thayer
The west side of Cincinnati is a ride or die type community. They make their roads so complicated that once you get in there, you never find your way out. Jess Thayer, who runs our youth programming and special projects division, was adopted by the west side in a way most outsiders only dream of. Jess moved to Westwood with her family and worked tirelessly to revive the Westwood art show; a street fair that brings community and art together. She was so successful in bringing this neighborhood back to life that a billboard size sign on the side of a building saying “THANK YOU JESS” was displayed. What do you need to make things like this happen? Well, just the heart of a lion, an undergrad degree from UC in Urban Planning, a grad degree from Clemson in Landscape Architecture and badassery, your own clay business, and mother two boys and 10,000 bees. NO BIG WOOP! We love having Jess here and even though she has moved to another part of Cincinnati, she brings that ride or die west side spirit to Queen City Clay and every amazing class she designs for our youth. We thought it was illegal to move out of the west side but apparently it’s ok as long as you get a WS tattoo on your lower back. OOOPS, I wasn’t supposed to say that.

John Fowler

Reem Barakat
Reem Barakat is our retail director. She graduated from the University of Toledo and came to Cincinnati after running an art supply shop up north. After bringing her on, we quickly learned that she rules with an iron fist. Well, I guess if the iron fist was covered in cotton, then bubble wrap, then feathers, then velvet and anyone could use the iron fist to make their day better, then the saying would be accurate. Reem comes from a close family that runs a Lebanese restaurant together. This means that Reem was basically born with a better cooking ability, more refined taste, better work ethic, and higher stamina then the rest of our staff. Because of this (and the fact that the rest of us are real tired) we have given Reem A LOT of responsibility! Get in here and meet her. She is a wonderful addition to the team!
P.S. Generally she is a homebody but if anyone has a timeshare in Dubai, let her know because that is her DREAM TRIP!

Cori Crumrine
Cori joined the retail team and has been tasked with inventory, online sales, teaching classes, and giving us a lot of street cred. See, Cori was a clay rock star before she ever got to QCC. She became a Resident Artist here a few years ago, did a quick stay as a professor in Kansas, and came back to the Queen City to join our team. She makes beautiful sculptures that have surface treatments so luscious you want to eat them…..BUT DON’T! Every time we have a show with her work, it sells out faster than a peppermint stick sale at an old fashioned candy shop. BUT HER SCULPTURES ARE NOT CANDY! Cori has an amazing work ethic and a lot of clay knowledge so make sure to meet her. AND, if you see some of her work come up for sale, gobble up the opportunity to buy one! Your sweet tooth will thank you. What am I saying????I’m confused now.

Kelly Johnson
Be our Special Events Coordinator they said! It’ll be fun and relaxing they said! These are the things that run through Kelly Johnson’s head on a daily basis. After retiring from the fast paced world of big company graphic design, Kelly thought she would slow down, play some golf, and work for a fun-loving pottery studio. Well, we ARE fun but Kelly stepped into a huge job and is incredible at it. We are lucky she loves roller skating because that’s the only way she can get through the building fast enough to organize all these classes and parties! She’s a true artist at heart and her two boys followed suit. So now that you know who she is, email Kelly and get your party pants on! Make sure they can get dirty though.

Andy Overton
You know those people that learned to make bread during the pandemic…….that wasn’t Andy. He took up pottery instead! He came to us straight from the fast paced world of TV news where he was a camera man and assignment editor. He has the look of a metal head that got lost at Woodstock on accident. Come to think of it, that explains his temperament too! He is very chill, can handle chaos quite well, and is ready to rock any project we give him. Andy started as our special events coordinator but has transitioned to a retail position because he can’t stop talking about commercial glazes. He is an amazing sketch artist so ask to see his doodles sometime….they are really good! Why did that just sound inappropriate? Andy is married and has two amazing boys that have acquired his art talent. So grab your comic books, put on some Queen and get over here to talk glazes with ANDY!

Beth Lanman
Beth is a thrill seeker. She rides horses, scuba dives, and generally feels comfortable around fire. So, when we needed a little help in the retail shop before NCECA in Cincinnati, she seemed like a perfect fit. We figured, she’s fine with sharks and 1000 pound animals, she can handle working with our staff. (We are a little unruly!) Boy were we right. Beth is an amazing addition to the staff and aside from running the show on Sundays, she is working on her teaching skills. If you hang around retail too much, she might yell “Giddy Up.” That’s your cue to head out!

Kirk Mayhew

Phil Taylor
We actually don’t want Phil to work at all. We just want him to cook all day and night so he can bring us leftovers. Phil’s brisket is AMAZING…and to be honest…so is his glass work. Mr. Taylor joined the program a few hundred years ago and we couldn’t be luckier. He started out teaching a glass program and is now in charge of mixing, formulating, and testing all of our cone 10 glazes and helping to maintain this massive building. We think he should be living in Portland Oregon because he puts birds on all of his pots, but we love him anyway!

Andrew Osterburg
Meet our Teachers!!!
Besides the regular studio staff, we have some amazingly talented instructors here at QCC that deserve to be highlighted! Those who’ve decided to share their websites or social media handles are listed here. Click on the links to see what your teachers are making!
Looking for our residents? Find them on the RESIDENCY page.