Zachary Worstell
The Ely Chapman Educational Foundation has received a donation of ceramics, molds, paint, and kilns which has helped the ceramics program for students. This program teaches students hand building, creativity, and wheelwork. This program was not possible without the donation from Freda’s Ceramics in Ravenswood, West Virginia. As owner Freda Smith has looked to give back to the youth of the Mid-Ohio Valley as she enters retirement.
In the 1950s, Smith worked as a nursing assistant at Jackson General Hospital before she started her business. While she never went to school for nursing, Smith had a desire and the spirit to help her community. As a hobby, Smith started taking ceramic classes at a Women’s Center in Sandyville, WV. However, this hobby inspired her, and she wished to expand on this trade.
With help from her husband, she transformed her house into her business, Freda’s Ceramics. She bought equipment from a store in Logan County West Virginia to help make her hobby a lifestyle. Her shop officially opened in 1982 out of her basement. Due to a high demand from the local population, she began to teach ceramic classes in her home. Her ceramic business became so popular in Ravenswood that they named the street after her business.
Although Smith never had any employees, she still encouraged artistic expression in her household and in her community. Smith had three daughters, and while they did not enter the ceramics business, they enjoyed other creative activities such as quilting, painting, and writing. Her daughters also assisted her in her business from time to time.
Her husband often assisted her with her big orders. As she received orders from all across West Virginia and many local businesses. One of her biggest orders was a 3-foot-tall Christmas tree for a local church. Some of her bestselling items included ceramic building displays and holiday characters such as Frosty the Snowman and Jack-O-Lanterns.
Smith closed her shop in 2023 due to her health and her family decided to donate her materials to Ely Chapman to continue the art that inspired her to start her own business.
Ely Chapman’s is a nonprofit organization and has been serving the youth of the Mid-Ohio Valley since 1999. Located in Marietta, Ohio, Ely Chapman strives to provide academic and hands-on learning opportunities for the local youth. To learn more about what Ely Chapman offers check out their website elychapman.org.
