Most people know that the Portsmouth High School art department is one of the best areas in PHS, it holds a certain warm welcome to everyone and shows off the school’s creativity. PHS has many exceptional teachers that work in the art wing, one of which is Sarah Mundy, who is the ceramics teacher at our school. 

Not only is Mundy PHS’s ceramics teacher, but she also sells her pottery online. Most people just know her as an art teacher, but there is so much more. Mundy is also known to be a quirky, enthusiastic, and confident person with an affection for spicy food and she keeps tabasco in her drawer.

 Mundy loves to include art in her everyday life. She spends the weekdays working in a school teaching art classes and at home she also has her own pottery business, where she sells her work online. 

Mundy grew up in Portsmouth with two supportive parents and an older brother. Her dad was a plumber and lobsterman and her mom runs their plumbing business. She graduated high school in 2008 and from art school in 2011. Then got her master’s degree in education in 2012 at UNH.  

They first started with clay when she was 16 years old. She fell in love with ceramics and later on realized that she finds a lot of joy in sharing the love with others and watching people find peace in clay. 

Mundy hopes to one day own a private studio where she can teach classes and have a new workspace for herself since she is currently working in her basement.  She says if she was to do something other than ceramics it would be a postal service worker since she finds the thought of delivering mail to people really fun. 

Mundy has been teaching high school fine arts for eight years and before that, she was a substitute teacher for two years. She subbed in all subjects with little kids, which then taught her she didn’t want to work with little kids, which is why she started teaching at the high school. 

 She has been selling pottery since 2009 and has come a long way with her work since she first started.  She has gone through many art styles and realizes she loves using bold colors, textures, and different or interesting forms. She wants to make work that makes her think “ooh I wanna touch that.” Mundy says that she enjoys her current style of work but is always growing and liking new things. She says “I am more afraid of stagnation than change.”  

She believes evolution is a natural part of being an artist. She was asked why art is important to her and she said ”imagine life without it, what would we all wear potato sacks?” 

Many students find joy in her class and spend extra time at lunch and in flex. She is favored by many in this school since she has such an open heart. She loves the PHS art program and feels like we are good at sending art students in the right direction. 

  Her co-worker Mr. Moore, also a PHS art teacher, said she’s fabulous and does a good job sharing her passion for what she loves to do. He describes her to be vivacious, kind, spirited, and cool. 

A senior named Hermes Hoschek, who does an independent study with Mundy, describes her as someone who supports others and helps them grow. 

She shares her and her student’s art on social media, especially tik tok, where she has some viral videos, and a following of 110.9k  She posts her pottery on Instagram, and her website sajceramic.com. She enjoys creating things and loves how it keeps her from being bored.