Our staff, board of directors, volunteers, members, teaching artists, potters, and students are a creative community centered around sharing artistic experiences with each other, the Mathews community, and our gallery and event guests.

The Bay School Community Arts Center was founded in 1997 by Wendy Wells.  Wendy, a lifelong artist and educator, was passionate about her vision to have a community arts center in Mathews that could serve as a creative meeting place. Through the efforts of Wendy and committed local artists and townspeople, her dream became a reality and continues to thrive in our small rural town on the Middle Peninsula in eastern Virginia.

Originally named Mathews County School of Country Arts, The Bay School became a 501c3 non-profit organization in 1998 and moved to its present location on Main Street in Mathews Courthouse in 2001.

Our purpose is to provide art experiences to all who walk through our doors, and those we can touch through community outreach. We believe that art is a crucial means of not only expression but connection. We hope you will join us through a class, an exhibition, or an event, as together we Inspire to Create and Create to Inspire.