Vanessa Beard is an interdisciplinary artist and founder of Porcelinen, a community ceramics studio in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Working primarily in handbuilt porcelain, her work merges function and sculpture through folkloric motifs, chain forms, and ornamental detailing that explore memory, material, and contemporary craft. Alongside her studio practice, Beard writes and performs music as Nancy Friday. She approaches both disciplines with an emphasis on intimacy, craft, and community.