Clay Associates is a non-profit community ceramics studio on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights, San Diego, founded in 1983 when associates Eric Woods and Jerry Thiebolt purchased the equipment and student roster from Rhoda Lopez's Clay Dimensions studio, which had operated at 1735 Adams Ave since 1969. The group incorporated as a federal 501(c)(3) non-profit in 1989 and moved to the current location at 3667 Adams Ave in the 92116 ZIP in 1993, undertaking extensive renovations that included custom-built decking, handmade brickwork courtyards, and a dedicated kiln yard. The studio currently enrolls roughly 110 adult students in multi-level wheel-throwing and handbuilding classes, producing work across functional pottery, sculptural forms, and decorative tile — original ceramic pieces also exhibited at gallery spaces such as Impression Studios in adjacent North Park. Associate members — all active ceramicists — manage operations, teach courses, and maintain the grounds, with a year-round gallery displaying finished work and annual spring and winter pottery shows that open the building to the public alongside participation in the San Diego Pottery Tour. Clay Associates contributes to Art Around Adams and the Adams Avenue Street Fair, two annual events that pull foot traffic through the Normal Heights corridor. Community programming has extended beyond the studio walls — a 2016 partnership with High Tech High brought ceramics curriculum to charter-school students, and a 2015 group exhibition installed work at the Mission Valley branch of the San Diego Public Library, part of the same system that runs the Kensington-Normal Heights Branch Library on Adams Ave. The property includes succulent and native-plant gardens maintained by founding member Thiebolt, a small cottage converted to a photo studio in 2020, and the courtyard kiln yard behind the main building. The kiln yard fires both electric and gas pieces across functional and sculptural formats for the full associate and student body.