Driftwood Ceramics

Driftwood Ceramics is a Kansas City teaching-pottery studio founded in 2018 by Ken Stanley and McKenzie Stanley, a married pair of art-school graduates who decided to open it while travelling home from a year in Australia. It is a three-address lineage inside one ownership: a first studio on Swift Street in North Kansas City, a move to 1827 Buchanan Street in the same district, and a second studio at 8018A Santa Fe Drive in downtown Overland Park whose classes went on sale in spring 2025. Its significance to the KC record is less the pottery than the model — an arts business whose product is instruction, built in the Northland at a moment when, in the founder’s phrase, people otherwise “have to drive south.” Current operating identity lives on the Registry page, Driftwood Ceramics. Drafted 2026-09-04 (Compiler) — active-business lineage; the date of the Swift Street to Buchanan Street move is not on the record.

Origins — two degrees and a year in Australia

Ken Stanley grew up in Gladstone and McKenzie in Florissant, Missouri; they met in Kansas City.¹ Both are trained artists rather than trained potters-turned-teachers: McKenzie took a BA from Truman State University with a focus in ceramics, Ken a BFA from the University of Missouri with a focus in painting.²³

McKenzie has told the story of the medium catching her in high school — “I was always the only one that wanted to deal with slip (scrap clay and water) for other students. I loved getting messy. I loved all the steps that it took to create something” — and of the question that trails a ceramics degree: “What are you going to do with a degree in ceramics?”⁴ The couple’s answer took a decade to arrive. They worked studio and design jobs in California, including graphic-design work for U.S. Soccer, then spent a year trekking across Australia. The decision to come home and open a ceramics studio in Kansas City was made on the way back from that trip.¹⁴

Chapter one — Swift Street, North Kansas City (2018)

The first studio opened on Swift Street in North Kansas City in 2018, in what had just been renamed the RiverNorth District.¹⁵ Northland City Lifestyle gave the address as 2106 Swift St; Clay County Tourism still carried that address years after the studio left it.⁴⁶

The siting was a choice, not a default. The Stanleys scouted several locations and settled on North Kansas City after attending an NKC business-council talk at an iWerx Coffee Connect. Both are on record about why. Ken: “Bonus that the business community is really supportive… welcoming. Seems like there is a lot of positive energy to get NKC to become even a more destination for families with the NKC Art Walk… Art In the Park.” McKenzie: “I love the fact that everything is walkable. Friendly. We live down the street. Just being close to everything.”¹

At one year old the studio had eight-plus wheels, hand-building tables, on-site firing in electric kilns, non-toxic glazes, a class ladder from two-hour workshops to four-week courses, BYOB “Pots ‘n Pints” nights, private parties, half- and full-shelf memberships with 24-hour access, a biannual members’ sale — and a first employee just hired to teach.¹⁴ The kiln had a name: Georgia.⁴

The division of labour was set early and has held: McKenzie runs the studio, the shop, and the teaching; Ken co-founded it and has worked outside it as creative director for the KC Comets.¹⁴

Chapter two — the Buchanan Street move

The studio later moved to 1827 Buchanan Street, a few blocks away and still inside the RiverNorth District, which is the North Kansas City address it publishes today.⁷⁸ By December 2022 The Kansas City Star’s shop-local guide was printing Buchanan Street.⁸ The exact date of the move, and the reason for it, are not on the record — no first-party or press announcement of the relocation was located this pass. Clay County Tourism’s listing was never updated and remains the clearest surviving trace of the first address.⁶

Chapter three — Overland Park (2025)

The ambition to add a second studio is on the record from the first year. McKenzie, 2020: “Hopefully, in the next few years, we can continue to expand, either in space for the studio or into another location. We love the Northland. It’s been really nice bringing something fun and creative to people here, so they don’t have to drive south.”⁴ Polly McCann’s profile the same season recorded the same wish — “maybe some day get more wheels, even a second location.”¹

Five years later they drove south themselves. Driftwood announced on Instagram that it was expanding to Overland Park, and on 28 April 2025 posted that a new website was live carrying the class list for the new studio at 8018A Santa Fe Drive in downtown Overland Park.⁹¹⁰ No grand-opening date was located this pass; 28 April 2025 is the earliest firm date for Overland Park classes being on sale.

The two studios are not clones. The membership programme — 24/7 access and personal shelf space — remains North Kansas City only, which keeps the original studio the working artists’ room and makes the Overland Park studio a teaching floor.¹¹¹² Each carries its own posted hours and its own monthly class calendar.⁷¹³

Why it belongs in the Wiki

Kansas City’s ceramics record runs mostly through makers — Irma Starr’s 17th-century English slipware, Convivial’s West Bottoms production floor, Back Door Pottery’s four decades on St. John Avenue. Driftwood is a different species in the same clay: a business whose output is students. Its arc — art degrees, a decade away, a deliberate return, a Northland siting chosen for walkability, and an expansion that finally crossed the state line — is a compact case of the pattern the Registry keeps finding in KC independents, and it is documented here rather than in a Registry page because the addresses have moved and the Registry records only the current one.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Polly Alice McCann, “NKC Ceramics Studio for Art Lovers: Reprint of article in Northlandia Magazine,” 8 January 2020 (updated 5 July 2020) — Confirms: the studio’s Swift Street location in the newly named RiverNorth District; that the writer met the Stanleys “a year ago the week they opened”; Ken raised in Gladstone and McKenzie in Florissant; meeting in Kansas City; California work and the year-long Australia trek; the decision made on the way home; the iWerx Coffee Connect and the NKC siting choice, with both owners quoted; 8+ wheels; on-site firing; non-toxic glazes; workshops, four-week classes, Pots ‘n Pints, private parties, half/full-shelf memberships with 24-hour access, biannual members’ sale; Ken as creative director for the KC Comets; McKenzie running office, shop, and teaching; the “even a second location” ambition. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Driftwood Ceramics — “About Us.” (accessed 2026-09-04) — Confirms: founded 2018 by husband-and-wife Ken and McKenzie Stanley; McKenzie’s BA (Truman State, ceramics) and Ken’s BFA (University of Missouri, painting); “a studio for art lovers and admirers”; class range; memberships at the NKC location only; electric kilns, cone 04 bisque and cone 5 glaze. ↩

3. RiverNorth District — “Driftwood Ceramics.” (accessed 2026-09-04) — Confirms: district membership; the husband-and-wife founding; both degrees; the “studio for art lovers and admirers” line; Pots & Pints BYOB on select Friday and Saturday nights; memberships. (Its posted hours conflict with first-party and are not used.) ↩

4. Rachel C. Murphy, “The Potter’s Wheel,” Northland City Lifestyle (photography by Aaron Leimkuehler) — Confirms: the couple as owner/operators celebrating their first year; the “What are you going to do with a degree in ceramics?” line and the high-school slip quote; the Los Angeles stint and U.S. Soccer design work; Ken as KC Comets creative director; the class and membership range; the kiln nicknamed Georgia; the first teaching employee; the address 2106 Swift St, North Kansas City, MO 64116; and McKenzie’s “expand… or into another location… so they don’t have to drive south” quote. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

5. “Explore Kansas City’s ceramics scene with these pottery classes and artisan shops,” KCUR, 23 December 2023 — Confirms: “Driftwood Ceramics in North Kansas City opened in 2018”; then-current month-long prices ($140 wheel, $125 hand-building); kids camps; Pots & Pints Fri–Sat 6–8pm at $40. ↩

6. Clay County Tourism — “Driftwood Ceramics.” (accessed 2026-09-04) — Confirms the first address as a surviving stale listing: “2106 Swift St, North Kansas City, MO 64116.” Not used as a current address. ↩ ↩²

7. Driftwood Ceramics — official site home page (accessed 2026-09-04, HTTP 200) — Confirms: both current addresses (1827 Buchanan St, North Kansas City MO 64116; 8018A “Sante Fe” Dr, Overland Park KS 66204); separate posted hours per studio; classes by appointment outside those hours; separate North KC studio / Overland Park studio and NKC shop / OP shop pages. ↩ ↩²

8. “Treat your loved ones to uniquely Kansas City experiences this holiday season,” The Kansas City Star (KC City Guides / Shop Local) — Confirms: “Driftwood Ceramics is located at 1827 Buchanan Street in North Kansas City.” ↩ ↩²

9. Driftwood Ceramics on Instagram (@driftwood_ceramics) — “Coming soon! We’re expanding to Overland Park! Stay tuned for class updates and our Grand Opening announcement.” — read from the search index only; the post was not fetched (Firecrawl declines instagram.com). ↩

10. Driftwood Ceramics, Facebook photo post, 28 April 2025 — “Our NEW WEBSITE is live! Check out our list of classes at our new Overland Park location. New studio address: 8018A Santa Fe Dr, OP, KS 66204.” — read from the search index only; the page was not fetched (Firecrawl declines facebook.com). Date and text as indexed. A companion post, “Did you know we’re opening up a SECOND LOCATION in Overland Park ??!!”, is indexed at…/1253513956774569/. ↩

11. Driftwood Ceramics — “Memberships.” (accessed 2026-09-04) — Confirms: “MEMBERSHIPS NKC LOCATION ONLY”; $130/month full shelf and $65/month half shelf; 24/7 access; personal shelf space; own clay/glazes permitted at cone 5–6; glaze firing $1/lb, bisque free; prior studio experience required. ↩

12. ClayFinder — “Driftwood Ceramics,” Overland Park, KS (accessed 2026-09-04) — Confirms: 8018A Santa Fe Dr, Overland Park KS 66204; the two-location structure with separate hours; classes by appointment; an online shop at both locations. ↩

13. Driftwood Ceramics — Overland Park October class shop (accessed 2026-09-04, HTTP 200) — Confirms: the Overland Park studio running its own live class calendar (October 2026 Pots & Pints sessions, $50, 7–9pm). ↩