Our Story

It all began with the dream of owning a pottery studio!

Babett
Babett opened Squeaky Wheel Pottery in the spring of 2022, bringing her love of clay to the heart of downtown Hastings. Born and raised in Germany, and now rooted in Minnesota for over 25 years, she finds joy in creating pottery that fits into daily life—whether it’s a favorite coffee mug, a planter pot filled with a cutting from grandma’s houseplant, or a bowl that takes centerpiece when hosting family and friends.

For Babett, pottery is both creative and grounding. Clay has taught her to slow down, let go of control, and enjoy the process—even when things don’t go quite as planned. She is continually inspired by experimenting with new textures, shapes, and glazes, and she delights in the stories that each handmade piece carries.

Along with her talented team, Babett teaches workshops, multi-week classes, kids’ clay sessions, and private group events. Her vision is to keep learning, keep creating, and keep building a welcoming community for anyone who shares a love of handmade pottery.

Meet the team!

Sam

Sam has worked with clay from a young age, taking his first wheel class at 5 years old. Art has been a constant throughout his life and ceramics his preferred medium in recent years.
Sam enjoys the creative process as much as the final outcome. He values his time in the studio, whether making or teaching. These experiences are therapeutic and provide a necessary balance in his life. Sam teaches our Friday night 2 hour workshops.
You can find Sam's work on Instagram @firethaw and occasionally at galleries in the metro area. He also sells his work, primarily in the Squeaky Wheel Pottery store.
Jules

Jules has been a potter since her college days. She has her own studio in Hastings, Minnesota where she makes functional pottery with a splash of whimsy. Jules brings a relaxed and compassionate atmosphere to our classes, encourages exploration and helps our students to “get out of your comfort zone”. She has a very relatable, no-nonsense approach to teaching and will make anyone feel welcome in our studio! Jules teaches our 2 hour workshops, 4 week Beginner classes and Private Group sessions.
When not making pottery, you can find her outdoors with her Golden Doodles or being a pastor at the All Saints Lutheran Church, ELCA in Cottage Grove.
Brian

Brian has been working with clay since childhood, starting with abstract sculptures at age six and moving into functional pottery as a teenager. His style shifts between the two—sometimes calm and practical, other times spontaneous and abstract—what he calls “Automatism,” creating without overthinking.
Outside the studio, Brian finds inspiration in music, painting, writing, and athletics, where he views movement as another form of art. With over a decade of experience mentoring and coaching through the military and fitness, he brings a unique teaching style to the studio.
At Squeaky Wheel Pottery, Brian leads two hour intro workshops, multi-week classes, handbuilding classes, and private group sessions, encouraging students to discover their own creative flow.
Molly

Molly’s ceramic journey started in high school and remained with her into college. Though, in childhood she did a few kids pottery classes as a Red Wing Native. Molly is a current Squeaky Wheel Pottery studio member enjoying the experimentation and unlimited learning pottery has to offer. Hand building is one of Molly’s favorite things as the hands-on smoothing and building brings her tranquility.
She slips (lol) in studio time between her active and full-time job teaching special education at an elementary school. Molly teaches many kids classes and hand building classes in our studio. She loves the creativity and self-assuredness kids bring to pottery and sharing her enjoyment of hand building with others.
Rhiannon

Rhiannon started throwing pottery back in college and was hooked immediately.
She's been worked as a production potter for 5 years and enjoys throwing really big pots. Starting her art career as a painter Rhiannon found a new kind of canvas in ceramics and has a deep love of underglaze. You can find her around the cities at craft fairs selling her work. When she's not working with clay you can catch her playing Dungeons & Dragons with her friends or hang out with her Leopard Gecko Jerry.
Lexie

Lexie’s journey with clay started back in her last semester of college with an intro to ceramics class. As the only non art major there, she was by far the worst one, but she loved it right away.
Many years later she picked it up again, the obsession took over, and now she lives and breathes all things clay related. She was one of the very first studio members at Squeaky Wheel and has now graduated to instructor.
She prefers brightly colored glazes and funky shapes and designs, and can be found on the weekends selling her fares around the cities at pop-ups and art fairs under the name Gimme Gimme Pottery.
Andrew

Andrew received his BFA in Ceramics and Sculpture from The University of Minnesota-Duluth, completed the MN NICE certificate program at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN, and is pursuing his Master of Arts in Graphic and Web Design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He completed a long term residency at The Clay Studio of Missoula and is currently working out of his studio in downtown Hastings. You can find him teaching ceramics in the Twin Cities area and our Squeaky Wheel Studio. Inspired by function, history, design, and culture, his wares reflect on personal identity and his Mexican heritage.