Dakota-Joan Parkinson at the trans/clay/body exhibit at Morean Center for Clay in St. Petersburg, Florida. Credit: Photo by Caitlin Blanding courtesy of Morean Arts Center

As trans youth are attacked state and nationwide, some in St. Pete are taking (clay) matters into their own hands.

Dakota-Joan Parkinson, one of the best ceramists of the Bay, has spent the last year at the Morean Center for Clay teaching 60 trans and gender nonconforming youth to connect their bodies with ancient forms like clay figurines and cave paintings. The classes were free as part of a partnership between Creative Pinellas and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For the exhibition of “trans/clay/body,” visitors are invited to make clay offerings to a kiln altar in the gallery, as the student artists did before their pieces were fired.

“In an era where increased trans visibility has been matched with increased hostility and attempts at erasure, it is crucial to allow trans people to record their own narrative,” Parkinson wrote in the show’s announcement.

There’s no cover for Dakota-Joan Parkinson’s “trans/ clay/ body” exhibition on display Wednesdays-Saturdays through Sunday, April 27 at St. Petersburg’s Morean Arts Center for Clay. Readers are invited to submit their own events to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s things to do calendar.

This article appears in Apr 10-16, 2025.