Kevin Nguyen

It takes three days to fire up a kiln.  The first day, the kiln operator cleans out the kiln and places the pre-heated clay pieces in it, filling up the space inside the kiln as best as he or she can, the second day, the kiln is fired up, the clay pieces cook and gain structural integrity and the third day, they are left to cool.

Every step of the process is demanding. An error can destroy irreplaceable work, countless hours of artistry can lost.

Kilns are also expensive, and this makes clay workshops valuable commodities. Kevin Xiem Nguyen, founder and proprietor of the Xiem (pronounced “sim”) Clay Center in Pasadena has created an all-encompassing clay arts facility, with classes to teach, a studio to create and a gallery to experience.

Nguyen, 36, was born in Vietnam and moved with his family to southern California when he was 14.  He studied at Cal State Long Beach and later at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Design.

“He worked with clay as an industrial designer,” Suzette Munnik, the Xiem Center’s education director says.  “Some people like it, others don’t.  He happened to like it a lot.”

And so in October 2003, the Xiem Clay Center opened with “state-of-the-art” equipment. 

Membership is required for the use of the facilities, but not for the gallery shows and workshops that the Center hosts, including the recent exhibition “Broken Boundaries: Transitions to Expressions,” by artist Patrick S. Crabb. 

The Xiem Gallery will host its first national exhibition, “Clay: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth,” juried by visionary artist, teacher and author Paulus Berensohn, from October 13 to November 24. 

The exhibit will also be the Center's contribution to the tri-annual Pasadena Festival of Art and Ideas. This year’s festival theme is skin.

For those that want to create pottery, the use of the facility is available through memberships.  The premiere membership includes full use of the facility any time, “24 hours a day, seven days a week,” about four cubic feet of kiln space per month and discounts on the exhibits.

The Xiem Center is located at 1563 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena.  For more information and inquiries, contact Suzette at (626) 794-5833 or see www.xiemclay.com