After being a member of Fire Gallery for approximately 1 year, I decided to leave and feel it is important to share my personal experience. During my time there, the owner, Leroy, regularly made sexually inappropriate comments during classes and open studio hours. Statements such as "lubrication is essential" and "saddle up and ride it like you'd ride your wife" were said openly, including during classes where minors were present. These remarks occurred repeatedly and made me increasingly uncomfortable. On one occasion, Leroy patted me on the butt. That incident is what ultimately prompted me to speak with him, as I felt a clear boundary had been crossed. Prior to that, I began coming to the studio very early in the morning around 6:00 a.m. Specifically to avoid interactions with him, since he typically did not arrive until late morning. During this time, a younger member confided in me that she felt uncomfortable due to repeated sexual comments made toward her. She told me that after she raised her concerns directly, she was removed from the studio shortly afterward. Hearing this further confirmed my decision to speak up. When I raised my concerns about the repeated sexual comments and the physical contact, Leroy accused me of taking an apron from the studio and told me to pack up my things and leave. "Can you say deflection" LOL!!! About a week prior, I had told him I planned to have an apron copied by a seamstress, and he suggested making ten. I did take the apron to explore this, but ultimately decided not to proceed after being advised that it would not be practical or cost-effective. The apron was in my car and was immediately returned. I also developed concerns about cleanliness and health. The studio was consistently dusty, including in glazing areas. Cleanliness is critical in a ceramics studio, as many glaze materials and fine dust particles can be hazardous when inhaled over time. I later learned that prolonged exposure to silica dust can be dangerous and that proper safety practices, ventilation, and education are important. These were not explained to me during my time there. If you are considering spending your money here, I strongly recommend looking at other studios as well. While they may be more expensive, they may also offer a cleaner, healthier, and more professional environment. I am sharing this review based solely on my own experience and what I personally witnessed so others can decide whether this studio is right for them. I am much happier at my new studio, which is clean, professional, and an environment where I feel comfortable and respected. read more

If you're doing a one time wheel class, spend your money elsewhere. The owner is a known sexual harraser. You can support women owned LGBTQ+ friendly establishments nearby at Four Circle and HTX clay. I was a member here for all of 6 months, during that time I got a really good introduction to pottery through other members. The lackadaisical manner which the studio is managed had some charm initially until I googled silicosis. However I didn't mind helping clean, organize, teach, and redesign parts of the website. While I was compensated for some work I was happy to volunteer most hours as a form of reciprocity. Due to mismanagement on the owners part though members/instructors were leaving/quiting, and through sharing thier experiences I better understood mine. Recontextulizing: It was clear I and many others were being sexually harassed and/or our generosity exploited. My experience was largely commentary about my body/aperance like "everything is better at chest height" while staring at mine. My boyfriend and his father were members and the owner also met my mom and little sisters.... I truly fail to see how sexualizing someone almost a 1/3 his age was appropriate?? I started January 2025, and left in August. I'd gone back and forth if I wanted to write this review but honestly it looks like others have already shared similar experiences on here. read more

Fire Gallery - Art Classes Near Me - Houston, Texas

My friend and I were celebrating our birthdays and found this pottery class and was able to book it last minute. The class was small (only 6 participants) so Stacy was able to really spend the time with each of us to make sure we knew what we were doing. We each got 3 balls of clay so we had 3 chances to make a keepsake that we could carve, paint and take home. While we were initially taught to make a bowl, she gave us the freedom to be creative and make other shapes (candle holders, plates). If you've never thrown pottery before, it's certainly much harder than it looks so I appreciated having multiple attempts. The entire class lasted about 2 hours but they made sure that everyone had at least one nice piece to leave with. Afterwards, we got to use the stamps to decorate the pieces and were told that we could come back within the month to paint them. Unfortunately with the weather and busy schedules, we weren't able to make it back to the studio within that month to complete our pieces so they were recycled, which is understandable. Leroy was very generous and allowed us to paint one of his pieces that he made instead, so I was glad that we would still had a personalized piece to take home as a memento of the experience. Overall, we both had a blast with the whole experience. If you're looking for something new to try and let your creativity juices flow, this is the perfect outlet. Everyone at the studio was really friendly and helpful. I can't wait to come back for another worksop! read more

I spent several months around this studio as both a part-time member and a visitor, as my mom was an active member for a period of time. While the pottery itself and the other members were wonderful, the overall environment ultimately became uncomfortable. During lessons and open studio time, I repeatedly observed sexual innuendos and comments directed toward women made by the owner, Leroy. At first, I tried to brush it off, but over time it felt like a pattern rather than isolated remarks. Other members also shared discomfort during conversations while I was there, including comments from partners of women who attended. My mom later shared an interaction with the owner that involved unwanted physical contact and ultimately led her to leave the studio. After she raised concerns directly, she felt the situation was handled poorly and chose not to continue her membership. Additionally, the studio was often left quite dirty. Members repeatedly raised concerns and offered suggestions in an effort to help improve cleanliness and organization. Over time, much of the responsibility for maintaining the space appeared to fall to members rather than being proactively addressed by the owner. Kilns, clay dust, and workspaces are all housed together in one enclosed area, which raised health concerns for me based on what I observed and what other potters discussed. I'm sharing this experience so others can make an informed decision. While everyone's experience may differ, I would encourage potential members to be observant when deciding whether this studio is the right fit. read more

While initially a fun event, it grew into a disappointment. Very disorganized. We surprised a friend w pottery class, and this was one of the cheapest ones we found with good reviews and what seemed like freedom to make what we want. I wanted to meet the infamous Leroy in all of the customer testimonials but he wasn't working the day we came. They overbooked the hour (as I'd seen in some other reviews) so for about 40 minutes we were stamping/carving and painting a premade coaster while the other group made their bowls. A lot of the paint was dry and I had trouble finding colors I wanted to use. Then it was our turn to do the pottery session for about 40 minutes. The teacher's voice was low so a lot of us couldn't hear what she would say and she didn't make anything, only mimed the motions of what we would theoretically do, so a lot of our bowls (we didn't have the freedom to make anything else) became pretty disfigured (one looked like a gravy boat). We had no time to fix them because the next group started coming in and the instructor ended up fixing as much as she could (which kind of defeated the purpose of making your own). I really wanted to finish painting my coaster but there was no time. They said we could come in during the week to do that but this location is too far. Now is where it gets worse. They took a long time to fire our pieces and actually lost some (and eventually found them). The first time we came after they notified us that the bowls were ready, they had us look through their stuff to find our bowls and they ended up not being ready so we had to come back again to retrieve our items (reminder it's a far commute for us). My friend's bowl ended up breaking in their kiln. Several of our pieces didn't have glaze on the outside of our creations. We had no control over the color of the trim on top of our bowl because they use it to identify their batches. While I'd say you get what you pay for ($55 if I remember correctly), the whole firing and retrieval process put a bad taste in my mouth. Surely they'd offer some sort of refund or other pottery piece after a bowl breaks in the process?! I don't understand how some weren't glazed either. That seems like the bare minimum. Ample parking. read more

I took my wife for my birthday and we really had a good time. Love to learn new and creative skills for our birthdays. The only con I had was the host can be a little interactive and open with an introduction about the art. Maybe an ice breaker but she was still very good and helpful. We would love to come back. read more

See all

We did a pottery class for my daughter's 15th Birthday and had an amazing time. Leroy is a fun, hilarious and wonderful teacher! Great memories we will always treasure! read more

This place was awesome. We went in as beginners and LeRoy really helped us learn. We are excited to go back and we'll bring a bigger group!

Let me preface this by saying I have not actually been to the studio. This review is purely based off of the fact that twice I have booked classes with them and twice they have overbooked me. I've tried months apart to schedule classes for my significant other, and I, each time they tell us at the last minute that they are overbooked and ask us to reschedule. I will not try again, this place does not deserve my business, they are so unorganized. read more

Well. What I thought was going to be a good day today was absolutely ruined by Fire Gallery. I came in to finish the paint/glaze step of our pieces. Only to be told that they have been discarded. I was told that we would be contacted when they were dried and ready to glaze. No one called. Then I called and was told to come in. Thanks for the notification they were ready huh?? Then we settled on a date to come in. Only we were not able to due to a family emergency. I notified them. Was told to come in once everything was good again. So I emailed and said we were ready. Again, made an agreement to come in today. I show up ready to glaze our items. Only to be told they were discarded. Yep. Nothing. I was told I could take something from their shelves that was already completed. NOT THE POINT! Ruined. We now do not have our keepsakes from our day of laughs and wonderful memories. Why tell me to come in? It never crossed your mind to look for our items? Our phone numbers were in them. They could have taken two minutes to call us before tossing them. Nothing. Completely heart broken. read more

I came in with my teenager to get him out of the house. We had a great time it was an awesome experience. I would like to come back again. Leroy was very informative. read more

Purchased date night for valentines day for my significant other and I. Went in with 0 pottery knowledge and came out wanting to start it as a hobby. LeRoy is a great instructor and we will be returning for more sessions! read more

Took a class with Leroy for date night and he was fantastic! He really took the time to explain and teach us from the beginning. He kept the class fun, engaging and entertaining! read more

If A Catfish Date Would be a Business this would be it. The photos on listed on Google and Yelp are very misleading on where the class actually takes place when we went very recently early in the month and picked up our end products last week. The establishment is very very hot inside and lacks proper Air Conditioning Units so you'll be sweating up a storm. My Wife and I are new to pottery we arrived to our session we were heavily disappointed, although we were early, we were distraught when we arrived by the whole experience. The Business lacks a sense of smooth direction or instructions for its practices, such as not having a front desk, the whole experience is very awkward. Although advertised as a Family Friendly Establishment and Non Date Night Class. Our Instructor constantly made inappropriate jokes and many sexual innuendos that made my wife feel very uncomfortable. I personally like a good laugh and don't have a problem with that humor. But his instructions reached a point, that even I somehow felt violated which had me questioning if the things he was saying was appropriate and began asking questions about how I finger my wife, Our Instructor I bekieve was Le Roy, to my own fault of not realizing the way he was speaking to my wife because i was concentrated on my clay. he grew irate at my wife constantly targeting her, because she had difficulty understanding the instructions and talked her in such a condescending way that made her feel very unintelligent. Just no. Take Your Money and Time Somewhere Else it is not worth the experience read more

Several friends and I had a girls night with LeRoy as our pottery instructor. While I enjoyed creating the pottery and the company of friends which made the fun, there were several problems. Initially I requested a 6pm but Leroy stated because of the 3 hours it takes 5 pm would be best. We agreed to the 5pm only to arrive and another group were in the space and we had to wait 45 minutes. Secondly, it felt rushed. It would have been nice to have an information on benefits of the clay, cultures that use clay, and how LeRoy got started. Also, when I asked about adding another person to it group of 6, he said no problem. Although the person did not show, there are only 6 wheels and he uses 1 for demonstrations. Which meant 1 person in our group could not do it with us. Lastly we were not provided an option of what to make as mentioned in the description. Overall, LeRoy is a good instructor and nice read more