INDIANAPOLIS — You likely won’t ever see Rebecca Graves-Prowse drinking from a disposable cup.
“When you buy a handmade mug, it becomes a favorite,” Graves-Prowse said. “You end up with this heirloom piece that just brightens your day when you pull it out of the cupboard.”
Graves-Prowse is the owner of Gravesco Pottery(pronounced Graves-co) on Indy’s east side.
“We mindfully make pottery so that you can use that pottery to mindfully make memories,” Graves-Prowse said. “It's our goal that the handmade pottery we make will live with you for the rest of your life.”
The team of creatives at Gravesco collectively make just about everything by hand.
“I have an amazing team with just wildly talented people who all have a different zone of genius,” Graves-Prowse said. “Collaboration is always the best part of the business. When I make a mug and then I hand it off to somebody else to put on the handle, it's going to be a little different than I would do it and I love that exploration.”
The Rainbow Collection is the newest offering on sale at Gravesco.
“I only made 175,” Graves-Prowse said. “We’re not going to repeat this form, so when they’re gone, they’re gone. PipThePotter in Anderson helped me throw these and Abby handpainted the little rainbows. It’s a matte glaze with glossy rainbows. [For] anybody that has a fidget habit, it’s delightful to rub those rainbows and trace over those lines because it’s a different texture.”
It’s a hands-on approach that’s supporting Hoosiers right here in central Indiana.
“We’re not working towards immense profit margins that we want to keep for shareholders,” Graves-Prowse said. “The money is going directly into the pockets of the artisans and the artists and then we reinvest it back into the community.”
The community is encouraged to stop by Gravesco on March 16 for a sale to make room for upcoming changes inside the building at 1501 East Michigan Street.
“This space across from Arsenal Tech is three storefronts that are interconnected,” Graves-Prowse said. “We're in the process of tightening up the store to just one of these storefronts. We're going to have a huge clearance sale and It's going to be seconds and things that we've retired, tests and experiments that you never would see on our website or in the store.”
Once the inventory is reduced, Gravesco will relocate its studio into the space so customers can see the artists at work.
