Alyssa Mopia ✌︎ Storyteller + Creative Producer 🇵🇭

TBH, I want it all. A big life. Financial freedom. The ability to invest in my community. And I want to see what happens when I go all in—unashamed and with AUDACITY. Can I do it? We’ll find out. Welcome to ✨ Building Without a Blueprint ✨ a series about building a sustainable multi-hyphenate creative life without picking a “NiChE”. I’m a filmmaker, ceramicist, and community builder refusing to choose. And I’m taking you behind the scenes of what that actually looks like. The real stuff. The messy stuff. The figuring-it-out-as-I-go stuff. Because life is too short to not live it fully expressing who we are. This is your reminder that your multitudes are your power. Come along on this journey as I build as I go 💃🏻💫🤓

We each have a role to play in this moment—even when we don’t have all the answers. Real talk… It’s been hard to show up. It feels tone-deaf to post about my work when people are suffering. It feels selfish. Wrong. But what I’ve learned when people demand we “keep politics out of our business,” they’re telling on themselves. That demand only comes from people whose bodies and families aren’t the ones being targeted. For many of us, our existence is already political. We didn’t choose this—the system did. I’ve lost followers for speaking up about ICE and I remember the times I felt like I couldn’t speak up about Gaza and the terror that is happening around the world. Some people get angry. Some unfollow immediately. But beyond that, I’m also finding my people—people willing to have hard conversations, people willing to grieve together, people showing up without all the answers, people refusing to be complicit. Because the truth is playing small saves no one. Staying silent saves no one. It only protects the status quo. We have more power than they want us to remember. And we don’t need all the answers to show up. Read the full piece on @substack on why “keeping politics out of it” is a privilege, what community power actually looks like, and how we show up instead—imperfectly, messily, together. ABOLISH ICE 🧊

What a gift to see my pottery travel across the country. Who would’ve thought that three years later I’d still be showing up for this craft—and now I’m packing up a piece and sending it all the way to Alaska. One of the first pieces I’m sending out, going to a place I’ve never even been. 🏔️ I’m so excited to see it find its new home. 🫶🏽 (Shoutout to you, Emily)! There’s something so special about being an artist and creative, about making something with your hands and your heart, and then watching someone else connect with it in a way that’s entirely their own. That’s the part no one really tells you about creating. It’s not just about the making. It’s about the moment something leaves your hands and starts to belong to someone else. That unspoken little connection between a maker and a stranger feels like everything. Here’s to more pieces finding their people. ✨🥹 #pottery #handmadewithlove #potteryofinstagram #makercommunity #functionalart

Reporting from my mandatory week long hibernation after a market and a busy two weeks to show proof of life and share I am alive and well and back in the studio 🫡🌟 Idk about you, but I NEED at least 4-5 business days to process big events and busy seasons 😮‍💨 Spent this past week decompressing, waking up without an alarm, treating myself to my favorite things, and enjoying my rent. Sharing a few markets I’ll be at later this month! New cutie patooties in the making, shoutout to everyone who supported me at @goldenguideorg Makers Market 🫶🏽🥹 Hope to catch you at the next ones ~ 🌱 May 22 // @organicaunplugged Fundraiser Showcase Series at @mujeresbrewhouse from 4-9:30pm 🍷 May 23 // @closwineshop Clos Bazaar from 2-6pm

@alyssamopia 🇵🇭 Alyssa is a ceramic artist based in San Diego who first picked up clay as a hobby and quickly fell in love with it. Over the past 3 years, she has been honing her craft alongside her career in video production. She specializes in colorful and bold functional pieces like mugs and matcha bowls made to bring a little more joy to your everyday rituals. support aanhpi makers, artists and independent businesses at golden makers market II at @brick.828 and @monikergeneral in liberty station on sunday, may 3.

There’s a reason you keep coming back to certain places. The coffee shop that feels like yours. The room where conversation just happens. The afternoon that stretches longer than you expected because no one really wants to leave. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg called these our third places, not home, not work, but the spaces in between that hold us together. And somewhere along the way, we started losing them. We wrote about what we’re seeing come back, in San Diego and beyond, and why we think building these spaces matters more than ever. New on @substack 💌 subscribe to get our newsletter straight to your inbox. What are your favorite third places?

Leaving Sacramento with so much love and admiration for everyone working in arts advocacy. The @caforthearts Arts and Culture Summit reminded me why this work matters—and made me want to deepen my own even more. Now arriving back to San Diego with a busy calendar ahead! ~ 🗓️ Here’s where you can find me: Saturday, April 25 // 🏺 Popping up for @kubocoffeesd ’s 2nd anniversary celebration with @goldenguideorg mini market // 10am - 3pm Sunday, April 26 // @url_to_irl 🍵 Afternoon Tea Lounge with @drinkeste // 12pm - 3pm Thursday, April 30 // Speaking on a panel about navigating the film circuit for @womenincinema.sd 🎬 // 6pm Sunday, May 3 // 🏺 Popping up at @goldenguideorg Golden Makers Market // 11am - 4pm ~ Come for one, come for all. Whether you want to unplug and zen out with tea, check out my latest pottery collection, or hear me speak about my journey as a producer navigating film festivals—there’s a little something for everyone. Excited for this busy season ahead. 🫶🏽 ✨ And this is also a reminder that arts and culture are *essential* to our economy. Not a luxury for the rich, but a tool for healing and connection for our communities. When arts funding gets cut, we lose access to opportunities like this. We lose spaces for creativity, storytelling, and gathering. We lose what makes us human. ✨ So if you can—show up. Support local artists. Advocate for funding. Remind people that art isn’t optional. It’s survival. See you out there. ✨

This is what it means to slow down. 🍵 Join us for our first gathering of this season, Afternoon Tea Lounge, a phone-free afternoon with @drinkeste this Sunday, April 26th!✨ More info and RSVP link on Partiful. 🔗

Latest kiln haul ☺️ which is your fave? Testing out a new yellow and I’m in loooove! 💛 I’ve also been experimenting with new vase shapes, mug shapes, and bigger bubble plates and it’s been so much fun! Super proud of how these cuties turned out! 🥹✨ Been busy in the studio and with tons of markets coming up! Hope to catch ya at the next one 💖

This is your reminder to ✨ savor the moment ✨ and come find me tomorrow at Sidro Saturday: Girl Power Community Art Market! I’ll be sharing some new pieces I’ve been working on and especially excited for these mugs ☕️ Free tacos, coffee & good vibes — 12–5PM at El Salón Theatre in San Ysidro. Can’t wait to see you there! 💖

I remember when I first took a ceramics class three years ago. I never expected to fall in love with it the way I have, especially because pottery has given me something my career in digital media never could. A reason to slow down. To create something with my hands. To feel the weight of something real. So when I walked into the Boundless exhibition at @mingeimuseum , I was in complete awe. 🥹 Not just of the work itself, but of the recognition. These mid-century artists turned to clay for the same reasons I did. In a world moving too fast, they needed to reconnect with their hands, the land, and themselves. And seeing those pieces displayed against the backdrop of our own Southern California landscape? It made the whole thing feel personal. Like the land was part of the art too. The glazes, the shapes, the artistry. It all left me a little speechless. But mostly it reminded me why I keep showing up to the studio. Clay has a way of finding you when you need it most. And I think it found me right on time. Thank you @mg_diaz for the tour and letting me explore this exhibit ✨ This exhibit is on view until the end of May, you should def check it out if you haven’t already! I know I’ll be back 💖