ABOUT THE EVENT
This workshop and ramble are offered for free only to members of our Rabun County community— others may join for a small fee.
Join us for Pinched Clay Instruments and Sound Hike on Saturday, October 31, 2026 from 4:00-7:00pm at the Antinori Pottery Studio Hambidge, followed by a sound hike on Cove Trail at sunset.
Join us at Hambidge for a hands-on clay instrument-making workshop led by ceramic artist Ife Williams, where participants will explore the playful intersection of clay, form, and sound. Using traditional pinch-pot techniques, participants will transform simple balls of clay into unique handheld instruments, including flutes and rattles. Designed to encourage experimentation, curiosity, and creative expression, the workshop invites participants of all skill levels to discover how sculptural forms can become instruments for making music.
Through guided demonstrations and step-by-step instruction, participants will learn foundational hand-building techniques to shape, construct, and refine their clay instruments. Time will also be provided to embellish each creation through carving, texturing, and the addition of sculptural elements, allowing instruments to take on the character of animals, insects, or imaginative abstract forms. Emphasis will be placed on exploring the relationship between shape, touch, and sound while embracing the unexpected possibilities of working with clay.
Following the 90-minute workshop, participants will join Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Kebbi Williams for a 60-minute sound hike, extending the experience beyond the studio and into the surrounding landscape. This guided listening experience invites participants to tune into the sounds of the natural world, discover new ways of listening, and consider the connections between handmade instruments, music, and the environment.
ABOUT KEBBI WILLIAMS
Grammy Award–winning tenor saxophonist Kebbi Williams is an Atlanta-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, arranger, and educator whose adventurous approach defies categorization. Blending genres through improvisation, his performances and compositions are unmistakably his own. Williams earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Jazz Studies from Howard University and received DownBeat magazine’s Jazz Instrumental Soloist Award while still in college. He has performed and recorded with artists including OutKast, Donald Byrd, CeeLo Green, Mos Def, Meshell Ndegeocello, Betty Carter, and Jeff “Tain” Watts. An original member of the Grammy Award–winning Tedeschi Trucks Band, Williams continues to tour and create work rooted in experimentation and collaboration.
ABOUT IFE WILLIAMS
Ife Williams, born in Atlanta, currently serves as Deputy Director of Hambidge. Williams has maintained an active studio practice in stone and ceramics while also serving in a range of arts leadership roles. As an artist, she was the inaugural Sculptor-in-Residence at the Paul Abrams Endowment Project in Miami, where she developed a teen apprenticeship program, led workshops for Florida arts educators, and created original works using traditional stone carving techniques. A 2014 residency at Hambidge marked a pivotal transition from stone to clay. Over the past decade, she has refined a distinct visual language through thrown and altered vessels and hand-built figurative forms, incorporating a codified glyph system and elements of acoustic sound.
Her extensive administrative experience includes serving as Executive Director of the Hudgens Center for Art and Learning (Duluth, GA), Museum Curator at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (Miami), Development Consultant for Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (Miami), Assistant Collections Registrar at University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery (Seattle), and Director of Fulton County’s Department of Arts and Culture (Atlanta). Williams is a Hambidge Fellow.
ELLIGIBILITY+ ABOUT COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
On the 4th Saturday of each month, Hambidge offers a free creative workshop to our local community. The workshops cover a range of inspiring topics, from making ceramic luminaries, to journaling, to dyeing fabric with indigo. Visit our Events page to find listings for upcoming workshops and register. All attendees must register. Space is limited.
ELIGIBILTY: Your primary address must be in Rabun County in order to attend our Community Workshops for free. Upon arriving, you will be asked to show ID with your address. Those not in Rabun County may join for a small workshop fee.
If you don’t live in Rabun County but would like to attend a community workshop for a small fee, email the Hambidge Office at office@hambidge.org.
Our free Community Workshops are supported in part by the Lake Rabun Foundation.