Pottery Northwest

My wife got «date night» passes ($ 30/​person) at Northwest Pottery to celebrate my birthday. This is a 3 hour option on a Friday night (possibly other times during the weekend as well), where you get a tour of the facility (including the exhibition area) and the work areas. Our instructor/​facilitator for the day was Issac (artist-​in-​residence?).
He went about explaining the basics of pottery, and also showed us made some sample pieces to give us a taste of how to go about it (you get to keep 3 pieces — which you will then pick up 2 weeks later). We were then left at our stations (with a motorized wheel, sponge, seat and clay) to work on own. It was all great so far.
Now, pottery (like pretty much anything else) is not easy (at least not with just 45 minutes of prep), and many of us needed help. I noticed the instructor going around and helping a lot of people, but even after an hour he wasn’t near my station. After feeling certain that he was not going to come around, I had to explicitly ask him for his help, but even that didn’t get me much time/​help. For whatever reason, the instructor decided to ignore a couple of us, and that left me very frustrated. This could’ve been a nice/​fun experience, but it wasn’t for me (and might not be for you, if you’re among the few that get ignored), and hence this low rating.
On a minor note, they don’t give towels/​paper napkins to the participants. Now, that’s fine, and I would’ve got my own — except that we weren’t informed about it. I’m mentioning this so that you remember to get your own towel incase you’re reading this

I took «Welcome to the Wheel» with Liz in Winter 2015.
It would have never crossed my mind to take pottery, but someone who I admire mentioned to me that she had found pottery to be helpful to her as an artist and an entrepreneur. Ever since moving to Seattle, I’m all about trying new things, and I figured I would give it a shot.
Pottery is not a three-​hour a week kind of class, especially you are a beginner. If you want to produce work, you need to spend closer to six hours a week working on the craft. Make sure you have the time to come twice a week before you sign up for a «Welcome» class. A lot of people disappeared halfway through the semester; I think the amount of time needed was just too much for their schedules.
Despite being a «Welcome to the Wheel» class, I’d say about half of the twenty-​person class had previous pottery experience, and the other half had background in fine art. I was the exception. I had never taken art class in my life, not even when I was a child. I think we had one year of art class in the 7^th grade, that’s it. Nothing in high school, nothing in college. I was like a fish out of water.
Pottery is a difficult. It takes patience. Luckily, people who are doing their own projects at Pottery Northwest are usually generous if you ask for assistance. However, everyone has a different way they’ve learned for centering and pulling clay; in the short-​term you might be doing yourself a disservice to learn three different methods at the same time!
Liz is a good instructor — her greatest virtue is composure, she puts you at ease when she works with you. However because the class is large, about eighteen people, you might only get ten minutes with her 1-​on-​1 for help.
The way class usually worked, she’ll spend forty-​five minutes to an hour giving a demonstration on something, like how to make a plate, and then let people go off on their own to try to do it. The problem is that she is teaching to «the middle» — those in the class who are skilled enough at the basics to attempt something like a plate. For a beginner like myself, most of the lessons were far too advanced for me to attempt as I was still trying to master centering. They were fun to see, but not helpful in my near-​term development.
Class at Pottery Northwest is more like an independent study with other people. Everyone’s creating something different, it’s not a class in a traditional sense where everyone is at the same level, learning the same thing at the same time.
I think Pottery Northwest should have one class for absolute beginners, and another for people with some pottery experience, just so the absolute beginners can have more specialized instruction. There are some people who take «Welcome to the Wheel» a couple times.
Also — remember to bring an apron, even on your first class! You’ll thank me.

Overpriced. They are a for profit business that resembles the common non-​for-​profit ceramics centers that are prevalent in most other cities. You’re much better off going to the Community Centers or Seward park which certainly gives you more bang for your buck. Also when I talked to them on the phone they assured me their pricing was due to their apparent renown as a school however I hadn’t heard of them when I was attending RIT.

Brilliant community studio for novices and professionals. Very friendly and helpful and open many many hours for practice. I live for it… and love it.

What a treasure this unique studio is. They offer classes in pottery and occasionally sculpture and when you take a class you can come in anytime there isn’t another class in session and use the equipment to practice or produce pieces on your own. They host a rotating cast of resident artists and teachers. Always, clean and well organized.

Amazing studio, great environment, great teachers and free time for students to pursue their proyects. I discovered my love for Ceramics in this place and I go every opportunity I have. Must try.

Everyone needs a good pottery studio. And everyone can go to pottery northwest and look around, take classes, get dirty, meet a potter, be a sculptor… you get the idea. There are not too many community studios left like this one.
It also sponsors some pretty cool events such as lectures workshops and visiting artists. It brings people together under the general rubric that pottery is fun. Hoorah!
As a resident artist, I am quite biased, however this is a place that makes you feel good about the fact there are people still coming together to learn how to make things and practice making them better. A community of ceramic artists is a cool thing. You should come down and check it out– if just to walk around and see stuff you might not have seen yet…

Pottery Northwest is a Pottery & Ceramics School as well as a Ceramics Art Gallery.
I haven’t taken a class here, but the facilities look great and the staff was super friendly and helpful.