Sunnyvale’s Open Pottery Studio

This place is great! I was/​am definitely a beginner when it comes to pottery. The teacher here was always really helpful. Prices are reasonable and facilities are just fine. Great little hobby to try out for a season and then become more of a regular if you really like it.

Very nice folks, when I needed clay at the last minute they opened up and sold to me even though the studio was closed that day. Very nice facility. I wish Fremont had something even half as nice…

A friend found this place when she took a pottery class with Danny Sheu. If it wasn’t for her and the Open Pottery Studio, I wouldn’t have known of the place. It’s a great place to discover the art of pottery. You don’t even have to be a master at making pottery because everything comes out like a work of art. All the tools and equipment are there for you to use with a small fee and purchase of clay (3 types of clay available — B mix, T2 and porcelain). For Sunnyvale residents, there is a discount. Danny is very good at assisting anyone who needs help or has questions. He is a great resource for learning more about the world of pottery and makes the whole experience very entertaining.
Open studio is open only a few times a week (Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays). I try to go every Tuesday or Saturday and have never had a problem getting access to a wheel or any of the tools. The energy there is great with all of the drop-​ins through out the day. The combination of the people, the easy access to supplies, glazes and equipment make this a great place to spend the afternoon.

I’ve been working at the Sunnyvale’s community clay center for about 6 years. Even though I have my own home studio, I prefer working here so that I can take advantage of better equipment, high-​fire gas kilns and a wonderful community of potters.
As other reviewers have mentioned, the studio is fully equipped with all the tools and clay anyone would need to create wonderful clay art. I particularly enjoy the wide range of high fire glazes they offer. The instructors are all very knowledgeable and are always willing to offer assistance and advice.
Besides a variety of classes for adults and children, they offer open studio time in 4 hour periods several times a week, including some evening hours. It’s a great opportunity to work with other enthusiastic clay people!

Knowledgeable and supportive staff, beautiful cone 10 glazes, oxidation and reduction firing, fully equipped facility with wheels, slab roller and extruder, not to mention the comradery of potters. This is a great place for novice and seasoned clay lovers!

I started taking pottery wheel lessons here about a year ago. On Saturday mornings at open studio, I’m pretty sure there’s no where else on the planet I’d rather be. The studio is a great place to spend a four hour chunk of your life — good light, about 15 electric potter’s wheels (I’ve never had to wait for one), a plaster wedging table, a slab roller, and most of the tools you could ever need. You can choose between three high fire clays (porcelain, B-​mix, and brown); each is $ 16 for a 25 pound bag. With its high fire gas kilns and beautiful glazes that make even slightly wobbly bowls look artistic, it’s about as close as the general public is likely to get to a professional studio.
Instruction is casual and provided on an as-​needed basis. The main teacher is Danny Sheu, who is terrific on the wheel and a great instructor, too. Unlike other pottery teachers I’ve had, he won’t waste time telling you that you have ‘an interesting technique’ if you’re doing it wrong, but he’s always happy to show you how to do it right. Just catch his eye if you need help. Beginners might prefer his more structured six week classes, but if you’re a quick learner, you can just show up at open studio and ask for a lesson in the basics of centering, opening, and compressing.
Some of the open studio regulars are professional or near professional potters, but everyone is friendly and willing to lend a newbie tools and advice. That said, no one is there to socialize, so there’s plenty of space and quiet to concentrate on your own project. I consistently come out of open studio covered in clay and beaming. Cheaper and better than therapy any day!

The city of Sunnyvale offers a great open pottery studio for anyone to go in there and work on creating masterpieces from clay. I’ve thrown clay in high school and enjoyed it a lot. Hubster found this place and we promptly put it on our calendars and poked our heads over to check out the open studio.
The studio is supervised by Danny Sheu who was an amazing instructor. It is an open studio so he supervises but he gave us a quick lesson on the basics of using the pottery wheel, centering, opening, and compressing. He also taught us how to temper our clay to the correct wet consistency to work with. Half an hour later, 64 dollars poorer, we were on our way to making bowls and more bowls. The studio atmosphere is extremely relaxing and the other people in there are helpful.
It isn’t as supervised as a class but Danny is extremely helpful in going around and helping anyone that’s having problems. He genuinely cares for the people attending to succeed so during his crash course he really focused on the basic techniques so that we could make the basic shape to start making other crafts.
Highly recommended! It’s a great date/​bonding activity to do. Prices are $ 20 for Sunnyvale residents, $ 24 for non-​residents. You need to buy the clay from the studio which is $ 16 for 25 pounds of clay.
Remember to wear your old grubby clothes cause you’ll get really really dirty!
Open studio hours are:
Tu 10:00am-10:00pm
Th 10:00am-2:00pm
F 2:00pm-6:00pm
Sa 9:30am-1:30pm