At Massarella’s Firehouse Pottery our goal is excellence in utilitarian ware. We strive to integrate art and function with the beauty of ceramics.
“I am very lucky to have discovered my passion early in life” says Frank Massarella the studio potter and owner of Firehouse Pottery and Gallery.
Frank’s
love of pottery and sculpture began in a high school ceramics class.
Later, while working toward his Bachelors of Art degree, he attended
workshops and classes in ceramics, sculpture and glassblowing at UCLA
and Santa Barbara City College. He experimented with a career in make-up
artistry for the motion picture industry and various other paths apart
from ceramics. All roads led back to the world of pottery.
In 1970, Frank began serving a six-year apprenticeship with Master Ceramist
John Schulps in Calabasas, CA. During the next six years, he would become
deft in all aspects of production pottery from wedging, throwing, glazing,
and decorating to loading and firing the kilns. Frank was also responsible
for marketing and retail sales.
In 1978, Frank discovered Ojai when he showed his work at the Ojai Art Center’s Crafts Festival. He kept coming back, attracted by both the small town flavor, as well as the growing art community. Then in 1982, he moved his family to Ojai and his business to 105 S. Montgomery St., in historic downtown Ojai.
Massarella Pottery soon became one of Ojai’s many attractions, unique in it’s being open to his studio, where guests would come from all over to observe the process of production pottery. His gallery thriving, and it’s close proximity to the Ojai Art Center (just two doors down), led to the acquisition of the Landmark Firehouse located at 109 S. Montgomery St. When the building came up for sale by the city, Frank was a “shoe in”. Bidding against a local architect, a developer and a youth organization, the city council quickly granted the sale to Frank. So in 1998 he renovated the landmark, carefully maintaining the integrity of the original architecture. Also important, was to maintain the interior of concrete brick, and the garage where the firetrucks had parked became a 2000 sq. ft. gallery, still open to the studio. What had been the firemen’s dormitory became the studio with the throwing, glazing, and decorating areas open to public view. The top floor of the building had been the captain’s quarters, which Frank converted to an efficient two bedroom apartment for himself and his family. The renovation was completed in November of ’98 and he moved his seventeen-year business next door to it’s new home. Massarella’s Firehouse Pottery and Gallery, 109 S. Montgomery St., Ojai, CA.
Having received accolades from the city for an exceptional renovation, Mr. Massarella continued to expand the project. He broke ground for a home and studio at the rear of the property. The completed project received the 2005 Design Award from the City of Ojai. With his new 1,400 square foot private studio in the new building, his former studio adjacent to the gallery became his new Clay School.
Massarella stays abreast of cutting edge techniques by annually attending workshops and symposiums. He is continually experimenting with new techniques, glazes and forms, resulting in an ever-evolving unique and creative style.
Frank Massarella’s work is also exhibited in Worthington Gallery in Springdale, Utah; Clay Pigeon in Sedona, Arizona; Clay Hands in Tubac, Arizona; and Harmony Pottery in Harmony, CA.
Frank Massarella and Family at home.
Best Friend Griffin.
