Tyler Gulden received a BFA from Alfred University and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and has been a studio potter for 20 years. Former director of Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Tyler returned full time to his studio practice in 2012. In addition to his studio practice, Tyler builds kilns and teaches at Southern Maine Community College. He has conducted workshops, lectures, and demonstrations at art centers and schools around New England, and his functional porcelain and stoneware pieces are exhibited nationally and internationally.

Tyler’s work is available in SHOP Maine Craft, the MCA Online Gallery, and at the Center for Maine Craft in West Gardiner.

Shannon Richards returned to Maine in the early 2000s after receiving a BFA from Syracuse University and traveling. She started a studio soon after which melded a cooperative creative space, gallery, and workshop, out of which she designed and manufactured custom furniture and fixtures. This business grew to include interior design, architectural design services, and general contracting.

Shannon launched her current company, Hay Runner in 2019. Hay Runner is a real estate development company that provides services related to residential and commercial real estate transactions, including brokerage, project management, design, construction, and furnishing.  Hay Runner also produces design-centric events.

Goodbye + Hello: MCA Board of Directors Changes Leadership

The Maine Crafts Association bids farewell to Board President, Tyler Gulden and welcomes Shannon Richards into this organizational leadership role.

Pandemic or not, board terms come to an end! The Maine Crafts Association bids farewell to Board President, Tyler Gulden. Tyler joined the Board of Directors in 2014 and served as President of the Board from 2016 – 2020, Tyler concluded his second and last term by leading the MCA’s September board meeting on the 22nd.  Tyler’s dedication to the MCA mission and Maine craft artists was matched by his advocacy for the MCA staff and board leadership.

Tyler lead the board and MCA through the lingering impacts from our 2012 financial crisis and into stable times with new programs, funding and strategic planning. Tyler’s lead-by-example style served the organization’s fundraising efforts to match a $50,000 challenge grant from the Windgate Foundation to support the opening of Maine Craft Portland, MCA’s second retail gallery + resource center in 2018. Throughout 2019 Tyler brought experience and a steady voice to the process of joining the Maine Crafts Association and Maine Crafts Guild together. With that accomplished, MCA planned to manage four new craft shows and celebrate our successful integration with an amazing party on Mount Desert Island in July – only to be foiled by the international interruption we’ve all experienced in 2020. Instead of celebrating, Tyler shifted his focus to ensuring MCA survive the pandemic while nurturing a positive leadership transition, supporting Shannon Richards moving into her new role as president.

The MCA is grateful for the six years Tyler dedicated to our mission, members, staff, board, and community – we look forward to continuing to work with him in his other role, as a craft artist and active MCA member!

As a clay artist, my days are typically spent focused on making work in my studio; it has been a real pleasure to be part of MCA over the past six years in a different “making” capacity – making time, making opportunity, making place, making community.

The Maine Crafts Association is honored to welcome Shannon Richards as our new Board President. Shannon joined the MCA Board two years ago and has been shadowing Tyler for several months in preparation for this leadership transition. Shannon shares the values of entrepreneurship, craftsmanship, and ingenuity with the MCA and brings her skills as a small business owner, artist, board member, volunteer, and master networker to the MCA!

It’s an honor to support an organization of my peers… “Mainers” and “Makers”… Two of my favorite “M” words. – Shannon Richards, MCA Board President

The Maine Crafts Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization supporting craft artists by providing educational, marketing and retail opportunities. Our ability to accomplish our mission and help artists thrive is reliant on individual contributions.