Convivial

Convivial (also styled Convivial Production) is a handmade-ceramics design-and-manufacturing studio in the Historic West Bottoms of Kansas City, founded in 2013 by lead designer Chentell Shannon (née Stiritz). The studio produces clean, minimalist functional pottery and garden wares — plates, cups, bowls, vases, planters — cast, carved, glazed, and fired in-house at a rate of roughly 2,000 pieces per week, with national wholesale reach (including West Elm) and a Crossroads retail offshoot, Verdant.¹²³

Description

Convivial is a ceramic design-and-manufacturing company located in the Historic West Bottoms of Kansas City.²⁴ The studio makes a small, deliberately curated line of clean, modern, geometric pieces “for home, table and garden” — plates, cups, bowls, dinnerware sets, vases, and planters — characterized by minimalist form and matte/subtle glazes.¹²³

Everything is made from scratch on-site: the team casts the initial forms, then handles cleaning, refining, carving, glazing, firing, packing, and shipping.¹ By the early 2020s the operation had scaled from a garage to an entire ~8,000-square-foot floor in the West Bottoms, employing roughly 25 people (a predominantly women team) and producing on the order of 2,000 pieces per week, sold primarily online and wholesale.³

The name “convivial” — an adjective for a lively, sociable gathering — reflects the founding intent: to “encourage beautiful, thoughtful hospitality through the use of functional ceramic wares,” i.e., the joining of people to eat, drink, and be well together.¹⁴ In 2020 the company opened Verdant, a botanical retail concept in the Crossroads pairing houseplants and fresh flowers with Convivial’s planters and ceramics; Verdant operates as a retail extension while Convivial remains the parent maker.³⁵ The brand’s primary e-commerce now runs under the Verdant storefront, with Convivial retained as the production/maker brand and studio.⁵

Ownership and history

Convivial was founded in 2013 by Chentell Shannon (née Chentell Stiritz), who serves as founder and lead designer.²³ (Some secondary sources date the founding to 2014, likely the year of formal incorporation or first wholesale; the founder’s own narrative and the studio site cite 2013 as the start.¹² —)

Shannon developed a commitment to ceramics during her high-school years on the Hawaiian island of Maui, then earned a degree in Community Art and Urban Studies from Wheaton College outside Chicago before relocating to Kansas City in 2013 — her husband Stephen Shannon’s hometown.¹³ She began producing and testing the market locally, moving through several early/garage locations before establishing the substantial West Bottoms studio.²³

The studio scaled rapidly, adding national wholesale accounts — most notably West Elm — and producing custom and stocked ceramics for Kansas City establishments including Ibis Bakery, The Campground, Fox & Pearl, and The Antler Room.³ In 2020 the Shannons launched Verdant in the Crossroads as a complementary botanical/retail concept.³⁵

Links

• Official (maker): https://www.convivialproduction.com/
• Official (retail / e-commerce, Verdant): https://shopverdant.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/convivialproduction/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/convivialproduction/

Sources

Disputes

None at this time. (Minor founding-year discrepancy 2013 vs. 2014 noted above; not a dispute.)

Footnotes

1. KSHB 41 News — “Convivial Production, Verdant bring joy to Kansas City customers.” https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/convivial-production-verdant-bring-joy-to-kansas-city-customers — asserts: founded 2013 by Chentell Shannon; Maui upbringing; ~2,000 pieces/week made from scratch in West Bottoms; Verdant as garden-line retail extension; convivial = sociable gathering / hospitality mission. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. MIKCexplore — “Profile: Convivial Production.” https://mikcexplore.com/home/2018/6/21/profile-convivial-productions — asserts: ceramic design-and-manufacturing company in Historic West Bottoms; founded 2014 by founder & lead designer Chentell Stiritz; multiple early locations before West Bottoms studio; Verdant ceramics designed/handmade by parent Convivial. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. KC STUDIO — “Simple, Clean Lines Propel Speedy Growth of West Bottoms Ceramics Studio.” https://kcstudio.org/simple-clean-lines-propel-speedy-growth-of-west-bottoms-ceramics-studio/ — asserts: founder Chentell Shannon; founding 2013; studio at 1026 Hickory St; Hawaii native, Wheaton College (Community Art & Urban Studies), relocated to KC in 2013 (husband Stephen Shannon’s hometown); ~8,000 sq ft / ~25 employees by 2021; West Elm wholesale; custom work for Ibis Bakery, The Campground, Fox & Pearl, The Antler Room; Verdant opened 2020 in Crossroads. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

4. shopverdant.com — “About / Ceramics” (formerly shopconvivial.com, 301 redirect). https://shopverdant.com/pages/ceramics — asserts: Convivial is “a ceramic design and manufacturing company located in the Historic West Bottoms of Kansas City”; all Verdant ceramics designed and handmade by parent company Convivial. ↩ ↩²

5. Startland News — “After expanding production, Convivial shaping Crossroads botanical concept.” https://www.startlandnews.com/2019/02/convivial-verdant/ — asserts: Convivial as parent maker; Verdant as Crossroads botanical/retail concept pairing plants with Convivial planters. ↩ ↩² ↩³