Rising Stars: Meet Mark Quinto of Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Quinto.

Hi Mark, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The brief story to how I ended up where I am today starts with me as a “Marine Biology” major in community college back in the fall of 2005. I eventually took a ceramics class in 2007 and fell in love with the art and the craft. I then transferred to a university and got my Bachelors of Art in 2013.

After graduating, I ended up getting hired to work for several places all relating to either ceramics or art in general. My first full time job after college was working for Bauer Pottery Company of Los Angeles in 2014 where I did glazing, kiln firings, production trouble shooting, administrative work in their offices, and sales at their showroom. I later switched to part time for Bauer Pottery to work several other jobs which included Laboratory Technician for the Ceramics and Sculpture studios at College of the Desert, Gallery Assistant for the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts, Registrar and Gallery Assistant at Shoshana Wayne Gallery, and Studio Assistant at Liz Larner Studio.

In the middle of all these careers, I also took on a side practice of DJing. I can go into more detail about that in the interview.

During my time working for these different companies and institutions, I slowly invested in my own ceramics equipment to make my own work at home.

Eventually, I started dating my partner who had moved from Tampa Florida to Phoenix, Arizona for a job. I made the decision to move to Phoenix as well when my job with Liz Larner Studio was coming to an end since Liz decided to move her studio from Los Angeles, California to Bellingham, Washington.

After having moved to Phoenix, I found Sunshine Sunflower Studio through a quick google search of ceramic studios in the local area. I sent an email to meet with the studio owners and take a tour of the studio. When I arrived there, I was greeted by two of the kindest people I have ever met, Wayne and Laurie Canfield. I chatted with them about my past work history and they were very interested in having me teach classes in their studio. That was the beginning of my teaching career in ceramics.

During that time, I also had been applying for jobs within the Phoenix metropolitan area. I also received a booking as a DJ for an event organized by PHX Takeover and Dial-In Productions. A few months down the line, I was contacted by Marjon Ceramics and was asked to come in for an interview. I then began working for Marjon Ceramics in March of 2023 and later resigned in June of 2025 in order to focus on my personal career as a Ceramic Artist and as a DJ.

I am currently working on creating my own line of ceramic dinnerware, getting bookings to DJ events and clubs in Phoenix, and teaching at Sunshine Sunflower Studio. I’m also starting a new part time job working as the Ceramics Laboratory Technician at Glendale Community College next week.

That is a brief summary of my journey so far.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Working as a ceramic artist in a capitalist society has many challenges. There are not many high paying jobs out there for people who don’t have at least a Masters degree in the Art world. I’ve had to work more than one job at a time in order to make ends meet.

I also come from a family that had always struggled with finances and that burden became part of my life when I was starting to make a living. I was also trying to help support my parents financially in the beginning part of my career. It was not uncommon in my family’s household to have utilities such as electricity, water, gas, etc… disconnected for falling behind on payment. In my family and in the eyes of a lot of people who have learned about my life struggles, I have become known as “the good son” who takes care of his parents.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My specialty as a ceramic artist is to create work that communicates my journey as it applies to the socio-political environment that I live in. I am a 38 year old gay Ceramic Artist and DJ who only came out around the age of 33. The conceptual work I make is very much tied into the struggles of having been a closeted individual for so many years and how I navigate a society that isn’t fully accepting of that.

Outside of the conceptual work I make, I am also a production pottery who makes work to sell. A lot of people know my work for it’s natural and organic quality that often leads to very unique pieces that can never be replicated again. I am known for purposely creating cracks on the surface of my pottery that look similar to seismic fractures in the earth. I’m currently making a line of dinnerware that is a representation of the desert geological landscape by applying a technique I developed to create desert mud-cracks.

I would say that the thing that sets me apart from many ceramic artists is the fact that a lot of my techniques that I currently apply to my work is specifically something I developed from my experiences working in ceramics. It creates a unique appearance that also has a certain level of refinement that comes from years of fine tuning. I can say I am very proud of that,

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My advice is to keep doing what you are doing. Keep learning, keep an open mind with your work. Ceramics is a practice that requires repetition and muscle memory. Take your knowledge and use it to refine your work. Be open to learning new techniques that you can apply to your work. Branch out from just working on the pottery wheel. Once you step away from the pottery wheel, you will discover new ways to make ceramic art. I always thought I would be making a ceramic line on the pottery wheel but now, I am producing pottery through handbuilding and sculpture techniques. I wish I had started working in handbuilding and sculpture far sooner than I did.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mark_quinto_conceptual/
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/markpaullo

Image Credits
Studio photo working on pottery at Sunshine Sunflower Studio – Photo courtesy of Laurie Canfield
Torso Sculpture – Photo courtesy of Rafalogie Studios (Rafael Santana)
Photoshoot (headshot) – Photo courtesy of Rafalogie Studios (Rafael Santana)
Platter (with human in fetal position) – Photo courtesy of S.M. Keena Photography (Shane Keena)
Platter (with green splatters and purple pebble design) – Photo courtesy of Deana Romo
Floating ceramic cups installation – Photo courtesy of Noel Claude Photography