Letter to the editor: Celebrating Out Back Ceramics & Art Studio

When a local treasure closes, some business closures are transactions.

Others feel like the loss of a gathering place, a tradition, a little piece of community memory.

For my family, Out Back Ceramics is the latter. Like many in Yelm, our family memories are tucked into those shelves and kiln-fired creations. Birthday parties spent painting alongside friends. Latte mugs still pulled from the cabinet on sleepy mornings. A pitcher vase that still holds flowers on our table. Halloween décor that returns each year with stories attached.

And one especially meaningful memory, helping paint the Prairie Days baking contest pie plates
for winners back in 2019, a small but joyful contribution to a beloved hometown tradition.

Out Back was never just a ceramics studio. It was one of those rare places where creativity felt accessible, where generations could sit around a table and make something together, where kids, parents, grandparents, and friends could all leave with something tangible and personal.

That kind of place matters. In a time when community connection can feel harder to find, local businesses like Out Back quietly do the work of bringing people together.

After 40 years of Jackie pouring her heart into this business, she has certainly earned the chance to slow down and semi-retire. That deserves celebration, gratitude, and probably a few goodbye hugs for the kitties, too. But it is also okay to acknowledge the sadness that comes with losing a place woven into the fabric of local life.

If you’ve ever said, “We should go there sometime,” this is your sign. Go paint the mug. Take the class. Bring your kids. Make the memory.

Let’s help make these final weeks the best Out Back has ever seen, and thank Jackie for fourdecades of creativity, connection, and community. I’ll see you there.

Ashley Brooks, Yelm