Founder. Artist. Educator.
Leah Grear is an artist and educator with more than twenty-five years of experience teaching painting, drawing, and printmaking. She is the founder of Sterling City Studio, where she directs workshops and the residency program.
Grear received her BFA in Painting and Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFAIA from Goddard College. She grew up in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in a renovated dairy barn where art-making was part of daily life. Her father, graphic designer and RISD professor Malcolm Grear, introduced her to an early understanding of discipline within creative work.
Now entering her fifth decade as an educator, Grear has spent over twenty-five years teaching at The Wheeler School in Providence and has also taught at RISD and the Portland School of Art.
At Sterling City Studio, she continues this work through providing hands-on instruction and by supporting artists in residence seeking focused, independent studio time.
The Studio’s History
The barn that now houses Sterling City Studio sits on 4.5 acres in Lyme, Connecticut. It was originally purchased decades ago to preserve the land and its quiet character. Over time it held animals, hay, and tools — a working agricultural structure at the center of daily life.
For many years it stood mostly unused.
The building was reworked in 2022 into what is now Sterling City Studio. It now operates as a net-zero space, powered by solar energy and insulated with natural fiber materials. The Studio has cultivated its landscape with native plants grown by Michael, Leah’s partner, to support pollinators and the ecoregion. Its effort to remove invasive plants have ushered in the restoration of its brook.
Today, where farm equipment and animals once lived, easels, printmaking materials, kilns, wheels, and tables now sustain artistic practice.
Studio Equipment + Shared Resources
1875 Gorham Agate Press
Historic letterpress, the only known press of its kind currently in active use.
Hamilton Print Cabinet
Forty-eight drawers of lead type for hand-set composition in the letterpress studio.
Press Furniture Cabinet
Traditional type storage containing sorted spacing material for hand composition.
Electric Pottery Wheels
Four dedicated stations for wheel throwing, practice, and instruction.
Hand Building Table
Open workspace for shaping, carving, and assembling clay by hand.
Kick Wheel
Manually powered pottery wheel that slows the throwing process and emphasizes control and rhythm.
Slab Roller
Used to produce even clay sheets for handbuilt forms, tiles, and larger constructed pieces.
Clay Extruder
Creates consistent coils and forms used in both structural and decorative ceramic work.
Screen Printing Facilities
Lightbox exposure, inkjet transfer, drying lines.
How the studio works
Sterling City Studio is a residency and working visual arts space with a teaching program built around deep engagement with material.
Teachers and visiting artists are invited based on the strength of their practice and their ability to guide others through process. Demonstrated commitment to a personal practice is more valued than formal credentials.
Open Studio days extend learning beyond class time, allowing students to work and explore independently.
Assistance + Exchange Program
Sterling City Studio occasionally offers limited exchange arrangements based on specific studio needs and mutual alignment. These opportunities are application-based, discretionary, and vary depending on timing, scope, and capacity.
Exchange arrangements are separate from the residency program and are considered on an individual basis. Availability is limited.
Inquiries may be submitted through the contact form.
UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS
Sterling City Salon
Details Coming Soon
82 Sterling City Road
An informal evening for artists and curious neighbors to share work, questions, and ideas in progress.
Bring something to discuss or simply listen.
Small group, limited seating.
Artist Talk
Details Coming Soon
82 Sterling City Road
A visiting artist shares their practice, process, and the decisions behind the work.
Presentation will be followed by open discussion.
Intended for working artists, serious learners, and anyone interested in how art work gets made.