Dana Bechert

Designer Dana Bechert was born in Essex, Connecticut in 1990, where the Connecticut River meets Long Island Sound. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary sculpture—with a concentration on sustainability and social practice—from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2012. During the summer of 2010, she apprenticed with designer Leslie Thompson. After graduating, Bechert remained in Baltimore, and ultimately founded her eponymous ceramics studio in 2014. She's since moved to rural Pennsylvania.

Bechert’s distinctive, modern craftwork is inspired by Native American ceramics, and specifically Acoma Pueblo Native American pots, as well as examples of geometry and grid-based patterns in the environment. Her ceramics range from planters and vases to a pour-over funnel for coffee, many of which incorporate highly graphic, layered patterns. In addition to ceramics, Bechert works in a variety of disciplines to create objects of utility. Alongside her studio practice, she maintains an organic garden where she grows flowers and food and also keeps bees.