Charlie firing the hybrid wood/soda/gas kiln he built at his home in Little Compton.
Located in the historic Four Corners arts district of Tiverton, Rhode Island, Arch Contemporary Ceramics is a fine craft ceramics gallery, retail shop and private studio specializing in unique handmade pottery and sculpture.
Gallery owner Charlie Barmonde, a dedicated father of three— is a professional potter, ceramic sculptor and arts advocate living in Tiverton, RI. After receiving his BA in Ceramics and Art History from Marlboro College in Vermont in 1999, he worked as a studio assistant and production potter throughout New England and Florida before settling in Rhode Island in 2005 and establishing his own ceramics studio in Little Compton. His work has been represented in galleries in New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida and Vermont and is included in numerous private collections nationwide. Charlie opened Arch Contemporary Ceramics in Tiverton, RI in June 2014 as private studio and retail shop which has grown to include a gallery with a rotating schedule featuring national recognized ceramic artists and residency program that has hosted over twelve notable artists from across the country and abroad.
Gallery director and curator Shauna Cahill launched the retail shop at Arch when Charlie first founded the studio in June 2014, and established the curated exhibition gallery and residency program the following year. Born, raised and currently residing in coastal Massachusetts, Cahill is a formally trained ceramic sculptor with a deep passion for craft history that drives her pursuit to source and exhibit masterfully crafted, technically superior and thoughtfully designed handmade ceramic objects and functional pottery. Acting as gallery director, studio manager and in-house photographer & graphic designer, Cahill manages all aspects of the business for both our brick & mortar store in Tiverton and our online shop and website. Charlie and Shauna have been working together since they first met in the ceramics department at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2009, while Charlie was doing a one-year post-baccalaureate program and Shauna was completing her BFA degree before heading to Indiana University for a post-baccalaureate program in ceramics and museum studies.