About UsFormed & Found is a community pottery studio in Carmel, New York, built around the simple belief that working with clay can change you. Whether you’re picking up a tool for the first time or returning to a craft you love, you’ll find a calm, encouraging space here — and a teacher who’s spent fifteen years learning how to meet every student exactly where they are.
We’re a nonprofit on a mission: to make ceramics genuinely accessible to our neighbors in Putnam County and the Hudson Valley. That means warm instruction, all skill levels welcome, and a studio that feels like the kind of place you’d want to come back to next week.
Meet the Co-Founders
Stephanie Gaur - Co-Founder/Lead Potter
Stephanie has loved making things with her hands for as long as she can remember. As a child, she'd lose hours to drawing and painting — the kind of focus where time simply melts away. That same instinct followed her into adulthood: first into crochet, then finally into ceramics, where she found her artistic home. What began as a one night pottery experience grew into a small home studio, and from there into a calling to share this craft with others.
For the past 13 years, Stephanie has worked as a special education teacher — a role that has shaped everything about how she teaches in the studio. Years of meeting students exactly where they are — breaking complex skills into approachable steps, celebrating small wins, and creating an environment where every learner feels capable — have given her a teaching style rooted in patience, warmth, and genuine inclusion. She believes deeply that art should be for everyone, regardless of age or ability.
Outside the studio, Stephanie is a mom of three young children, and some of her favorite hours are the ones spent watching them discover what they love and grow into themselves. That same delight — seeing someone find a spark of joy and run with it — is what she brings to every class she teaches.
Whether you're eight or eighty-eight, and stepping up to the wheel for the first time, you'll find Stephanie there with the same steady, encouraging presence — and a contagious love for the clay.
Christopher Gaur - Co-Founder/Managing Director
Christopher is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Formed & Found, Stephanie's husband, and partner in everything they've built together.
Service to his community is at the center of how he spends his time outside of work. Christopher is a New York State certified EMT and driver with the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department, where he responds to emergency calls alongside fellow volunteers. He also sits on the board of NAMI Putnam and is a trained volunteer presenter for the organization, focusing on youth mental health education across local schools and community settings — work rooted in his belief that young people deserve real conversations, real resources, and adults who show up for them.
In his professional life, Christopher is co-founder and managing partner of Vital Care Services, a family-owned, minority-owned business enterprise based in White Plains. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Pace University and an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology, and brings that operational and strategic background to Formed & Found — handling the behind-the-scenes work that lets Stephanie focus on teaching and creating.
Outside of all of that, Christopher is most likely making music or moving. He plays drums, bass, and guitar, sings whenever he can, and is a dedicated cyclist and runner. Like Stephanie, he believes the things that ground us most are usually the ones that ask us to slow down, pay attention, and create something real.
Ready to get started?
Send us a quick note and let’s create something beautiful together.