Justin Benn is a ceramic artist from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Benn found clay early in life in first grade, yet it wasn't until high school electives he was truly given the opportunity to explore clay for the first time. With a teacher who saw his creativity and passion, he was told about a local art center where he began to take classes. This is where Benn started to see the full potential of the medium and spent lot of time creating and exploring with clay. It wasn't long before he became a studio technician, a teacher and eventually joined the local potter's guild where he is currently a member. Sharing and teaching the craft with others in his community is a huge draw to the medium for him, knowing he could be the one person that changes their life through clay. The work he currently creates focuses around what he calls “functional sculptures.” The pieces he creates are made to be engaged physically and visually to elicit a response from the user. He loves incorporating found materials in the clay and also using leaves for patterns.