Anatomy in Clay® was founded in 1980 by Jon and Renee Zahourek.  But the learning systems now used by hundreds of thousands of students in more than 6,000 classrooms nationwide were in development for much longer.

In 1977, fine artist Jon Zahourek moved his family from Santa Fe to New York City.  One of his first assignments was teaching figure drawing at the Parsons New School of Design.  Jon knew that his students needed a solid understanding of human anatomy.  So he created a scale model skeleton on which he could sculpt muscles.

Jon soon discovered that he was fascinated by anatomy and became an avid student of the human body.  He also became passionate about the power of hands-on learning.  He knew that sculpting the human figure gave him a strong sense of confidence, a deep understanding of anatomy, and a grasp of the underlying structures that unite humans and other species.  He wanted to share these insights with others.

Jon resolved to bring his clay modeling methods to a broader audience, and began to develop the human and animal skeletons available today.  Renee developed a complementary consultancy to help educators use the Anatomy in Clay® learning systems to delivery powerful anatomy lessons.

Today, the company is headquartered in Loveland, Colorado and has two manufacturing facilities.  Although Anatomy in Clay® products are in daily use in high schools, colleges, veterinary schools, and bodywork training programs across the United States, each learning system is still constructed by hand to ensure the highest possible quality and effectiveness.