The Melrose Messenger

Paper and Clay Celebrates 2nd Anniversary

This week, Paper and Clay, the local artisan gift shop and community crafting hub that has quickly become a community staple, is celebrating their second anniversary. After two years of experimentation and change - including three moves - Paper and Clay has settled into its role as a staple of the Melrose art scene and an exciting new destination in the revitalized Franklin Square.

The passion project of Melrose-based potter and herbalist Lesley Keegan, Paper and Clay is an artisan co-op, where local crafters (about half of whom are from Melrose, with others from adjacent towns or farther up the North Shore) can sell their goods, including paintings, handmade pottery, jewelry, wooden ornaments, and much more.

Initially, Paper and Clay started in 2023 as a pop-up shop on West Emerson Street, before it moved last year to Main Street near the intersection with the Lynn Fells Parkway.

In September, the shop moved again, into what Keegan calls a more permanent space in Franklin Square. Along with longstanding anchors like Gray’s Appliance and Melrose Oriental Rug, visitors to Franklin Square can now enjoy stopping into Paper and Clay, as well as the new and immensely popular Peppino’s Italian Market. “It’s amazing,” Keegan said of the new location. “The foot traffic here is great.”

In addition to selling artisan goods of all kinds, Paper and Clay offers pottery classes and workshops to anyone, from complete beginners to potters with years of training. “We have to have classes to be sustainable as a brick-and-mortar store,” Keegan explained, “but I also just love teaching.” The classes have become popular, with people coming not just from within Melrose but also from the surrounding towns to attend classes and workshops. Keegan also offers paint-your-own-pottery workshops, where the pottery is premade in interesting shapes and designs.

You can read more about Paper and Clay's different pottery class offerings here or book a class here.

Paper and Clay is not only a store and workshop, but a place for local artists of all kinds to display their work. Several familiar faces from the Melrose art scene have their work on display, including Deb Corbett’s abstract mixed-media pieces, Lorrie DiCesare’s jewelry and encaustic paintings, Jacqueline Sokol’s nature paintings, and Ellen Azeredo’s woodworking. Artists who sell their work at Paper and Clay have the option to work in the shop in exchange for keeping a higher percentage of their sales, Keegan explained. “It’s like having their own little store,” she said.

Most of the artists whose work is on display at Paper and Clay have been working with Keegan since the store first opened. And while visitors can expect some of the same products to be on display anytime they visit - Keegan’s 02176 mugs, for example, are always popular - they can also enjoy seeing how the co-op’s artists’ work grows and changes over time.

Stop by Paper and Clay this week to celebrate their second anniversary, or visit their website to sign up for a class or workshop.

Posted January 7th, 2024