About Laurens Pottery Co.
Our Story
Laurens Pottery Co. will open in early Summer 2026 on the Historic Square in Laurens, South Carolina.
Our founder has always had a deep love for the people in her community and recognized that Laurens was missing a creative space like this. While participating in a local fall market selling her own pottery, she noticed something surprising: nearly everyone who stopped by her booth and purchased a piece asked the same question: “Do you offer classes?” It quickly became clear that there was a real desire in our town for a place where people could learn, create, and gather around clay.
At the time, many locals were driving 30 minutes to over an hour to other towns to take pottery classes. That moment sparked an idea. Our founder believes that we all share a responsibility to help shape the communities we live in: to create the shops, experiences, and spaces we wish existed in our hometowns. With that belief in mind, she began taking the steps to bring Laurens Pottery Co. to life.
Today, Laurens Pottery Co. is a welcoming creative space offering pottery classes, open studio memberships for experienced potters, an artisan market, and a place for the community to gather — whether for birthday parties, girls’ nights, date nights, or simply an evening spent creating something with your hands.
Our Founder
Katie Sherfield-Tarver is the founder of Laurens Pottery Co.
While pursuing her undergraduate degree in Visual Art with an emphasis in Graphic Design at Lander University, Katie needed just one more art elective to meet her graduation requirements. It just so happened that there was an open seat in a pottery wheel-throwing class. Even though it was an advanced-level course, she managed to convince the professor to let her join and soon found herself learning to throw on the wheel. What she didn’t know at the time was just how deeply she would fall in love with pottery.
Today, Katie is excited to bring together her love for creativity and her passion for people by sharing pottery with her hometown of Laurens, South Carolina.
Outside of the pottery studio, Katie is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the founder of Olive Branch Therapy Services, a local mental health practice she launched in June 2024 on the Historic Laurens Square. Through her work, she supports both adults and minors who are navigating challenges such as trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, infertility, and loss. She leads a team of four licensed therapists who are committed to providing compassionate, high-quality mental health care to the Laurens community.
Katie lives in Laurens with her husband, Joshua, and their six rescue dogs (Brinly, Whiskey, June, Bear, Ranger, + Gemma). When she’s not in the studio or at the therapy office, she enjoys spending time with family, hiking, camping, being with her church family, and working in her garden.
