Teaching Center Classes
Weekly classes for the local pottery community, perfect for beginners and pottery veterans.
Weekly Pottery Classes
Our Teaching Center (TC) offers multi-week classes for our local community. We have both wheel throwing and hand building classes, catering to a variety of different skill sets. Our classes are designed to welcome the beginner, welcome back the prodigal potter, guide an enthusiast to next steps, and offer mentorship for those wanting to explore their skills and learn from a generous community of artists.
General Class Information
Adult Classes
All of our Teaching Center classes are designed with adults in mind. That said, we occasionally welcome younger students, ages 16 and up, when it’s a good fit. However for those under 18, a parent or guardian is required to register and attend alongside them.
Before registering, both the student and guardian must meet with the instructor and tour the center to ensure everyone feels confident and prepared. Enrollment for younger students is a special opportunity, granted at the instructor’s discretion.
Limited Class size
We allow up to 12 students per class so that each student can get excellent one-on-one help from their instructor. If a class is full, you may ask to be put on the waitlist by calling our gallery.
Every class includes:
- 25 lbs of clay
- 16 hours of Open Studio
- All firings and glazes
The first bag of clay included with your class will be a standard cone 6 clay used by all Teaching Center classes.
If desired, students can purchase more clay and open studio hours through our gallery. Extra clay must be purchased through our facility. Extra open studio hours are not guarenteed and dependent on availability.
Firings
All of our TC classes will be firing cone 6 oxidation, unless otherwise stated in the class description.
We hope to offer classes with cone 10 reduction firings in our gas kilns in the future once we have have tested our kilns in the new facility.
Only work created at The Village Potters, during your class time or open studio, can be fired here.
We have a range of glazes that we mix in house for students in our Teaching Center to utilize.
Open Studio Time
Open Studio is additional uninstructed time in the Teaching Center classroom for our students to work on their projects from class.
It is only reserved for students currently enrolled in our Teaching Center classes.
You can read more about the logistics of Open Studio in each class description.
To read our Teaching Center’s Policies and Procedures in full, click the button below.
Skill Level 101/102 Classes
Skill Level 201/202 Classes
Unsure which class is best for you? No problem!
Simply check out our Skill Level Guide to see which class best fits your existing skill set.
If you’re still unsure after reading that, feel free to contact us.
Meet Our Instructors
Click on any name to read more about each teacher.
Katie Meili Messersmith
Wheel Throwing
Surface Design
Julia Mann
Wheel Throwing
Judi Harwood
Wheel Throwing
Alternative Firings
Karen Dubois
Hand Building
Surface Design
Kazegama firings
Maria Andrade Troya
Wheel Throwing
Surface Design
Kyra Pruitt
Wheel Throwing
Amanda Bragaw
Wheel Throwing
From Our Students
I really loved the class. For starters, it was the cleanest pottery studio I’ve ever been to. I also loved the set up where we each got our own wheel, and table. I loved the teacher demos and her ability to move around to each student and help them out (whether they were first timers, or working on something more “intermediate”).
These classes have the best balance of instruction and also working independently on individual interests and skill development. I’ve taken five other pottery classes in three other states (ha!) and this facility and level of instruction is the best I’ve experienced.
As someone who has literally never even touched clay or used a wheel before, I feel now at the end of the sessions that I have a good understanding of the process of pottery making and am excited to take another class to see more progress. I also love that you get open studio hours on top of the normal classes.
I’ve taken pottery classes on and off for 4+ years at various studios in and out of AVL and I’ve always hated wheel throwing with a firey passion and ended up calling myself “only a handbuilder”. My teacher was super helpful in identifying the many things I was doing to make this task impossible for myself and I’ve shown great improvements. Additionally, The Village Potter’s studio space and time management were amazing. I have never seen such a clean and well-managed studio in my life. I loved the signup process for Open Studio, and I loved the clearly set expectations for how much time you should commit each week to learn and the clearly laid out timeline for when you should stop creating new pieces to align with firing schedules.
Julia’s demonstrations were very detailed and presented in a detailed teaching manner. Julia was well prepared, patient and supportive. My favorite aspect of class was Julia’s level of encouragement and support.
Julia is an excellent instructor, who will help you develop and push your skills to the next level. I have enjoyed every class I have experienced with her.
Amanda is a great teacher – very knowledgeable, well prepared, and enthusiastic. Her demonstations and encouragement made learning the process of preparing and throwing clay so enjoyable. She was always available to answer questions, guide you to solve any problems, and provide inspiration to this first time potter!
Kyra was wonderful! She was patient and very helpful. My favorite aspect of class was learning a new hobby and being able to see personal development week by week. I learned a lot on a short period of time and it is very meditative.
Katie is an amazing, kind, and patient person and teacher! She helped me and others improve and explained things so well. I am still new to things so I appreciated the extra help and she was always encouraging and upbeat. She was also great about offering good constructive advice to help me/us improve.
Katie is an incredible teacher, one of the best teachers I have ever had in any subject. She has a great way of explaining things that make sense to me. She is encouraging and knows when to push her students, or sit back and let them figure it out. I have learned so much under her guidance, and I feel like I get a ton of value out of the class.
Katie was always prepared, she showed us a different “project” each week. Katie was aware of your progress and praised you as you improved as well as helped you when you struggled. She is an amazing potter and has the skills to teach as well. My favorite part of class was the camaraderie of the group of students and how everyone was encouraging one another.
Judi was a phenomenal teacher, I think her teaching was an awesome aspect to the class, she never made you feel like you were failing or doing something wrong, since everyone throws differently, and compared to previous instructors who preferred you to do it their way, her teaching method was a breath of fresh air. This was my first pottery class after my mom passed away (something we always did together) and Judi’s positive attitude and energy just continuously reminded me of my mom and how much we loved doing pottery together and it made me so excited for each Monday class.
Judi is a very accomplished potter. She answered all questions, and demonstrated any techniques we asked about, besides showing us how to make everything required in the class. She’s helpful, friendly, and kind.
Judi is an exceptional teacher. She is great at demonstrating technique, providing personal instruction and problem solving, and encouraging creativity. Wheel is a great creative outlet! Judi’s enthusiasm for pottery gets me excited about class and working to improve my skills. She creates a fun and supportive environment that all students seem to enjoy.
Karen is an exceptional instructor – not only is she a very talented potter, she is also patient and supportive/encouraging to those of us who are not as advanced as others. I feel I’m learning a lot from Karen and my “work” is beginning to be more interesting to me. My favorite part of class was watching Karen work her magic. She has such an endearing personality. Karen’s demonstrations are instructive and helpful. Her personal work is beautiful. She has endless patience with someone like me who has a pretty steep learning curve but loved every minute of the adventure.
I learned some new techniques, appreciated Karen’s preparation for the class, her patience, sense of humor, and her choices of projects. My favorite part of class was making new friends and learning valuable handbuilding techniques.
Get In Touch
Have more questions about our Teaching Center classes? Get in touch with us by filling out this form.