‘Unassuming’ is the best word to describe the red brick building located at 2862 University Avenue, blocks from the Evansdale McDonald’s. So unassuming, in fact, that if you blink as you’re driving past you may very well miss it. That would be unfortunate because, as it turns out, there’s a small revolution happening inside.
“People are always so surprised when they come inside—it’s just not what they were expecting.” Sue Ting, local artist and entrepreneur, says people have expressed something similar hundreds of times to her since she opened the Chinese Gourmet Restaurant twenty odd years ago. But she smiles all the same. “Sometimes the best things come in plain packages.”
Eight years ago as her aspirations moved away from cooking and back to her deep love of pottery, Sue transformed a Laundromat into a fully functional Ceramic Studio (complete with electric throwing wheels, gallery, two kilns) and ZENCLAY was born. Since then, she’s expanded to include a café upstairs in the former Chinese Gourmet, a full-size walk-in gas kiln, a small performance stage, and two additional exhibition spaces. With partner and art teacher Adelaide Rusch, Sue is transforming ZENCLAY into a vital gathering place for local artists (both professional and aspiring), students, children, music-lovers and caffeine-addicts.
“To an outside observer it might seem a little chaotic, all the things we’re trying to do.” She pauses. “They might be right.”
In the last few years, ZENCLAY has invited local artists, friends, and leaders to discuss the needs of the community and the potential role ZENCLAY might play in enriching life in Morgantown. They’ve installed a new stairwell connecting the café to the studio. All of this in service of the goal dearest to Sue’s heart: the creation of a fertile space for artists and musicians and writers to congregate, share ideas and collaborate. “Art is the lifeblood of civilization. Without it, a little something dies in us all. We want to nurture it, support it, give the community access to it.”
As ZENCLAY enters its ninth year, the universe awaits. “To me it’s all about potential. Potential of a space. Potential of a community. Potential of a person.” It’s not a new idea. But it remains, at its heart, revolutionary.
