Co-founded by the Italian sculptor Paolo Porelli, and the American art-historian, Lori-Ann Touchette, the cultural association CRETA Rome promotes the ceramic arts, but also the visual arts through events, demonstrations, lectures, seminars, courses and workshops, exhibitions and artist residencies. c.r.e.t.a. rome was created to serve as a point of encounter for international exchange between artists, collectors, donors and the public. The Italian word for clay “creta” also serves as an acronym for our main activities: ceramics, residencies, exhibitions, teaching & the arts.

Since its foundation in 2012, CRETA Rome has hosted more than 140 international artists from all over the world. The short-term residencies conclude with an exhibition of the works produced during the residency period.

The center is located in the mid 16th-century Palazzo Delfini in the historical center of Rome, just blocks from the Capitoline Hill on one side and the Jewish quarter on the other. The area is filled with museums, art galleries and artist ateliers. The studio is equipped with several electric high-fire kilns, wheels and a slab-roller. The center also has a second studio in the countryside near the lake of Bracciano that is ideal for collaborative projects and/or artists who want to bring their partner/families. The countryside studio equipment includes low- and high-fire electric kilns, low-fire gas kilns for larger works and reduction firing plus wheels and a spray booth.