Oakland-based Atelier Dion has been in operation for less than 2 years, but has already built up an impressive list of clients and is on its way to becoming a successful ceramics production house. Owners Jay and Rie Dion are a husband and wife duo who met in 2008 while attending graduate school at California College of the Arts. After graduation, the couple realized they could use their skills as ceramic artists to create a business focused on custom fabrication. We visited the Dions in their West Oakland studio where we discussed the ins and outs of starting a business and the sacrifices and compromises they have made to get their vision off the ground.
This is the second episode of Working Title, a collaboration between KQED and Little Paper Planes, hosted by Kelly Lynn Jones of LPP and Andrew Martin Scott, co-owner of Needles and Pens. Through this program, which will include videos, interviews, articles, and essays, we will explore how local artist-entrepreneurs are re-inventing the American Dream, creating alternative economies and redefining success in the Bay Area.
