Meet Manu Garcia | Community Teaching Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Manu Garcia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Manu, what inspires you?
I am endlessly inspired by people and the unique stories that shape them. Each of us carries our own experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds, and it’s in these differences that we find the threads that connect us. My work is deeply rooted in narrative storytelling where i want to capture voices, share experiences, and foster understanding across many communities.

Engaging with people from all walks of life fuels my creativity, pushing me to explore new ways of teaching, creating, and exchanging stories. Every encounter is an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to build connections that go beyond boundaries. I thrive in new environments, meeting different people whose journeys expand my own understanding of the world. Equally important, I also cherish and nurture the relationships I’ve built along the way who inspired this ceramics journey.

Above all, I believe in honoring those who have supported me, the people who have shaped my path and given me the strength to pursue this lifestyle. Ceramics is an ancestral medium to keep things alive for thousands of years. Using clay paired with storytelling is not just about sharing what I make but it’s about listening, learning, and ensuring that every voice, every experience, is seen and valued.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, and moved to Los Angeles during my last years of high school. My life was filled with financial struggles and family hardships that shaped much of my early years. No one in my family was an artist except my aunt, who always encouraged me to be myself. But the path to finding my artistic voice was anything but straightforward.

After years of switching majors and searching for a career that truly fit, I found clay… and that’s when everything changed. I was studying International Relations at the University of Boulder, Colorado, but after a major life shift, I returned to LA to be with my family. That’s when I finally admitted to myself: nothing would ever feel right unless I pursued art.

In January 2020, I took my first ceramics class at Glendale Community College. The first time I touched clay, my life truly began. I made a promise to myself that, from that moment on, whatever I did had to be connected to clay. While the world came to a halt during the pandemic, I didn’t. I took Zoom classes, practiced on the wheel at local studios, and experimented with glazes, carving, and hand-building techniques. I immersed myself in the craft, eager to learn and grow. A college class that truly inspired me was my first Raku class, where fire and clay came together in an unpredictable, thrilling process and I couldn’t get enough. Handbuilding class changed the course of how I wanted to use clay, it opened up millions of possibilities aside from just making pots. I wanted to learn it all!

One of the most defining moments in my journey was working with Liz Navarro, a DACA teaching artist whose work highlights the resilience of desert animals—an allegory for the struggles of undocumented migrants. As her teaching assistant, I realized that I wanted to teach ceramics, to help others experience the same transformative connection to clay that I had.

That realization led me to the Infinite School, where I was awarded a scholarship to take a class on building large sculptures. For my first big piece, I sculpted a horse which was an homage to a horse I had rescued in Colorado and a reflection of the struggles I had overcome. This experience solidified my desire to tell stories through clay, to create pieces that express emotions and narratives beyond words.

I started showcasing my work, from student galleries to vending events. But selling my work at markets never felt right. It was too transactional, too disconnected. I craved deeper connections with people through my art, and that’s when teaching became my true calling.

My teaching journey began at POT LA, where I went from student of one of their workshops to main instructor, creating a space where people could learn, create, and connect. I wanted to be the teacher I had needed when I was starting out, someone who made learning accessible and inspiring. With Spanish classes, kids classes, anything I could sign up to teach!

Through teaching, I found my community. I started playing soccer with Dyke Soccer, a queer soccer group in LA, and started offering pottery workshops for my teammates. These classes became a way to build a third space, a place outside of bars and nightlife where queer people could gather, create, and share experiences. Now, I teach monthly workshops at POT LA, focusing on creating a welcoming space for my queer community.

I am also part of The Lavender Collective, a mutual aid group focused on giving back to the community. We’ve hosted pottery fundraisers to support kids without presents during the holidays, Printmaking for Palestine fundraising events and organize monthly burrito distributions at MacArthur Park for our unhoused neighbors. For me, clay isn’t just about creating art—it’s about building connections, fostering resilience, and giving back to those who I meet and connect with. Doing this type of work, inspires my work to speak up through my art.

My most recent work, *Tentacle Lungs*, was inspired by a passage in a book where a character describes feeling suffocated by emotions, as if tentacles were wrapped around their lungs. That visual resonated with me deeply, and I translated it into sculpture; turning emotion into form.

I’ve learned so many lessons on this journey. One of the biggest ones was that success isn’t about fitting into traditional molds, it’s about carving your own path. I used to think being an artist meant just selling at markets or putting your work in the gallery system. But now I know that my place in the art world is as a teacher, a storyteller, and a community builder.

I want the world to know that clay changed my life. It gave me a voice, a purpose, and a way to connect with others in a way I never thought possible. And now, through teaching, I get to pass that feeling on; helping others find their own connection to clay, to art, and to themselves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Places I would take them to : POT LA to take a ceramics class that is 4/20 friendly, Nova Community Arts for a random workshop like making a mini quilt or riso printing, Art Space HP for paint and cafecito night and meet really good people, Espacio 1839 for some powerful merch, DA Poetry Lounge to have their soul shake!

Food to eat: Sabor Colombiano for the best colombian food in LA, ESCALA for that Korean/Colombian fusion I need, Season Thai in Burbank for really good thai food and Portobanco for Nicaraguan food and a good atmosphere.

Places to hang out: Eastsideluv for a mariachi show by Las Catrinas, The Football Boutique to go watch a soccer game, Bar CDMX to have a fun night with friends, go to the Peace Awareness Labyrinth and draw and meditate,

Things we would do: play soccer with my friends at Dyke Soccer, any CiclaVia, The Library Coffee house in Long Beach for a nice date, walk on York and get some coffee at Highland Cafe and get some books at POP Hop and finish your night at Nativo, get some plants from Latinx With Plants for their home.

Nature related: Hike to the observatory for beautiful views at sunrise, hike to Gabrielino Trail to be with some water cool off, Vista Hermosa Park for the sunset pictures, Alamitos Park to chill and play cards, go apple picking to Oak Glen, Joshua Tree for meteor showers, 123 Farms for lavender everything!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to shoutout Liz Navarro, for teaching me how to be a great ceramics teacher. I go to her anytime I need help. I started as her TA and now I am teaching my own workshops around the city.

I also want to shout out POT LA for giving me the first chance to work at a studio and teach what I love the most in the world. They have been an incredible support in this journey and without them I wouldn’t where I am in my career.

Nova Community Arts for taking a chance on me and my classes!

Art Space HP for believing in my vision to provide free workshops for a community who needs this type of programming now more than ever.

And lastly to the Lavender Collective for being my anchor to build a community hive of connections through mutual aid in Los Angeles.

Without community, I am nothing.

Instagram: @manudelmarceramics

Image Credits
Wendy Cubillo