THE STORY
LeeAnn Dodde has been working with clay for over a decade. Her passion for pottery began her final year studying art at Adrian College in Michigan.
Opportunity brought her out west to Arizona where she found a home in the Grand Canyon. Since 2012 she has worked full-time for Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. A long hike, mule ride, or several days rafting the Colorado River are the only ways to access Phantom Ranch. Due to the remote location, the ranch is supplied solely by pack mules.
After finding a small pottery wheel that would fit the size and weight requirements for being transported on the mules. She has been throwing pots during her spare time after work for over 5 years in her tiny room down in the canyon.
​
She delicately wraps the extra-fragile green-ware pottery and hands them off to the skilled packers. The packers secure these delicate items to the mules and take them up the 7.5 mile trail to the South Rim. She then hikes out and meets the mules at the top to grab her precious pottery.
​
​
They are then brought to her home in Prescott where she spends her weekends glazing and firing the survivors in her rehabilitated Grand Canyon Shuttle Bus. She won this bus in an auction and has been converting into her current studio over the past year. With all of its past travels along the South Rim, she'll always have a connection to the canyon whenever she works on her pottery.
A view from the South Kaibab trail.
LeeAnn's shuttle bus studio placed in her backyard.
LeeAnn working in her small room at Phantom Ranch
You can find her work here on the site or if you happen to find yourself in Prescott, Arizona. Stop by the Arts Prescott Gallery to see some of her unique pieces in person.
