For nearly four decades, the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center has been more than just a gallery tucked along Highway 9 in Ben Lomond. It has been a gathering place, a classroom, a ceramics studio and, for many mountain residents, a creative lifeline.
But today, the volunteer-run nonprofit is facing mounting financial pressures as aging equipment, utility costs and building repairs threaten the future of the beloved community hub.
“There were a bunch of local artists trying to organize in 1987,” said ceramics instructor and co-chair Chris Finnie. “They were meeting all over the place.” The organization found permanence in 1997 when Barbara Thomas donated the building and property to the nonprofit. “The gallery is named The Thomas Gallery in her honor,” added Finnie.
Since then, the Art Center has evolved into a vibrant creative campus offering everything from watercolor and jewelry workshops to sewing, restorative expressive arts and an expansive ceramics program.
“That’s a lot for a very small nonprofit to handle,” Finnie admitted.
The center’s ceramics department has become one of its biggest draws.
“We have three different teachers currently teaching wheel throwing,” Finnie said, along with hand-building classes for adults and youth, soda kiln firings and open studio access for members.
“Students have told me they drive a long way to get there for two reasons,” she explained. “We offer things they don’t find elsewhere, like the soda firings, and our classes are about half as much as they’d pay elsewhere. That’s deliberate. We want people to be able to discover and enjoy art, especially kids.”
That affordability, however, comes at a cost.
“When I was on the board, I was astonished to discover that our operating budget was about the same as my house,” Finnie said. While the organization owns its building outright, expenses continue to pile up. “We do have huge utility bills, the repairs that come along with any old building, taxes and insurance.”
Inside the ceramics studio, many of the tools and kilns were donated decades ago and are now showing their age.
“Most of it was already used and it gets a lot of use,” Finnie said. “So it’s starting to break down.”
Volunteers have stepped in repeatedly to keep the studio functioning.
“One of our volunteers spent a lot of time and money repairing the burners on the soda kiln,” she said. “Another volunteer fixed the burners on our other gas kiln, and a third fixed the door latches so it would finally close properly.”
Others have contributed financially themselves.
“I paid to have the slab roller fixed,” Finnie said. “The other ceramics co-chair and her husband bought a new pottery wheel to add to the one I donated last year.”
Despite the challenges, community support has remained steadfast. “How do we do it? Generosity,” she said.
The Art Center receives annual support from organizations and businesses throughout the San Lorenzo Valley, including Redwood Mountain Faire, Art Services in Felton, Valley Women’s Club, Wild Roots and Ben Lomond Market. Volunteers are equally essential.
“They mix glazes, load and unload kilns, recycle clay, staff the gallery and ceramics studio, set up and take down events and exhibits,” Finnie said. “They are jewels beyond treasure.”
Finnie herself first discovered the Art Center by accident.
“I first discovered it when I was driving up Highway 9 and saw a sign for ‘Ceram-A-Rama,’” she recalled. “I hastily scooted into the left-turn lane with no signal and wandered into the backyard of the Art Center.”
What she found was unforgettable: “They had wheels in the yard, hay bales borrowed from Ben Lomond Feed in front of the stage for the demonstration and music, and food being sold on the deck. Kids and adults alike were covered with clay, and I’ve been there ever since.”
That annual free open house still continues today, helping introduce new families to the organization.
“A lot of people only see the gallery from the street and don’t know about everything that goes on behind it,” Finnie said.
The 2026 Ceram-A-Rama is happening on Saturday, June 13, from 11am-5pm at the center. The free event will include demonstrations by renowned artist Kevin Wahl, live music, wheel contests, food and drinks, and kids’ clay activities.
For Finnie, the center’s value extends far beyond pottery wheels and kilns. It’s about creating opportunity and connection.
“One of our youth teachers told me she’d heard one of her young students badgering his mom to make sure she’d signed him up for summer art,” Finnie said. “She said it warmed her heart to know he enjoyed it so much that he wanted to keep going.”
Those moments, she added, make every repair bill and fundraising drive worthwhile.
“When a student becomes a member, when a kid wants to spend his summer vacation making art, when we see artists doing their first show in our gallery—it’s worth all the work,” Finnie said.
To learn more about the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center, register for a class or just volunteer, visit mountainartcenter.org.
