Had a great date night here making a ramen bowl in a class with a group of people. Class was about twelve individuals but the lone instructor did a great job of explaining and demonstrating how to make the bowl from clay. Instructor was also available for one-on-one attention if you had questions or needed extra assistance. Fun experience in a loft workspace above the downstairs art gallery. Very busy with other classes and individuals all working on their projects. Parking is on your own. If you know downtown Seattle, then be prepared to give yourself extra time to find on street parking or a lot that's not full. Use transit if you can! read more

Pottery Northwest - Handmade ramen bowl before firing. - Art Galleries Near Me - Seattle, Washington

They butcher your Date Night pieces after charging extra to fire them. Six of the bowls we made were "trimmed" so savagely they wouldn't even stand on a flat surface. The wheel instructions given were vague and we were largely left to fend for ourselves. We made the best of the night itself, but as artists they should know how this kind of careless post processing will disappoint people who attended in good faith. read more

A lot of the reviews here are dated, so I thought I'd give some insight. I signed up for How To Throw Your Day Away during Summer Quarter 2023. Pottery Northwest gives the a possibility of free tuition for low income, BIPOC first timers, and I was lucky and grateful to be chosen. I think this is incredible to offer and I haven't heard of any other studios doing this for the community. This is my first time taking real pottery instruction at a class/studio. I used to take 3D design (handbuilding; clay without the wheel) in high school, in addition to some wheel instruction; nothing so thorough as this. The studio is approachable, the instruction is insightful and my instructor, Becca, is a delight to work with. Even though I'm quiet and introverted, she will chime in and either compliment what I'm doing, give instruction on what I can improve on, or tell me to stop overworking my piece. This feedback is essential. She checks in with all of her students and is very hands on, which is appreciated when working with this medium. She is also patient and breaks down each step in a way a beginner like me can understand, both visually and verbally. I cannot recommend her enough. There are many different instructors with their own styles of teaching. You may find that Becca may not be to your taste, or you may find the instructor you go with may not be to your taste after the fact. A friend of mine had this issue as her instructor had more of a "professor" type approach, which she did not click with. It would be wise to do your research and reach out if you can, or read their profiles on their website if you intend on taking classes. Classes are quarterly and last 10 weeks, and each class is a couple of hours. The class meets once a week. Within those 10 weeks you have unlimited access to the studio, which is something you should absolutely utilize to improve and get the most out of your classes. It is a learning curve, and can be a steep one. Those first few weeks are crucial. I enjoy the creative atmosphere of the studio and everyone I have seen and interacted with is kind, respectful of others' space, and pleasant to work with or around. It's addicting, being here. Shouldn't be hard to get those hours in. I honestly can't think of one bad thing about this studio, aside from the fact that some students/artists are cleaner than others. Which isn't even bad--just something to note. You may find the wedging table dirty or, upon closer inspection, the wheel you chose still has the bat screws on or is dirtier than it should be. I feel like these are pretty normal things to encounter when opting for a community studio, though everyone does chip in to clean their area and you get very clear instructions during orientation regarding the ways of the studio. They set the bar high for cleaning standard to minimize harmful dust and have professional cleaner come in every so often. But keep in mind, it is a community studio and it's impossible to keep spotless. Also, the area the studio resides in isn't the best. The bus stop right in front of the building the studio resides in is sketchy-- I've seen people tweaking out of their minds, full wang pissing on a pole, yelling, harassing, and screaming. I had to get between a tweaker and my then-partner as he was harassing her, speaking garbled nonsense. It was uncomfortable but I didn't feel like I was in danger, necessarily. Many places in Seattle are like this now. That's not the studio's fault and has nothing to do with the studio. I only mention this to keep in mind if you intend to take public transportation; Keep vigilant. There isn't much in the way of free parking either. On Sundays, however, the front of the building the studio resides in is free game, so if you have an early Sunday class you might get lucky with a spot to claim. Another thing to consider: this studio only allows you to work with their clay (they have a few types to choose from) and glaze. This is fine by me and it makes sense why it would be this way. You may not think so. Over all, I learned a lot, and made a few pieces I'm actually proud of. Being my own worst critic, that is saying a lot. It would have taken me a lot longer to learn everything I did on my own than in the span of a few weeks time at Pottery Northwest. I would give 10 stars if I could. I really enjoyed my time here and I absolutely love ceramics. I could one day see this being a career and would love to take their apprenticeship one day. If you're on the fence, let this be the universes way of telling you that life is short and you should absolutely go for it. Take the classes. Make all the things. And most importantly, have fun. read more

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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. read more

Pottery Northwest - Pottery Northwest from the street - Art Galleries Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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 7th 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. read more

Pottery Northwest - Two pieces I made during "Welcome to the Wheel". - Art Galleries Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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... read more

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 read more

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

Great open and big facility and I loved the additional studio/ practice time that came along with classes. Pretty reasonable class prices for the amount of studio time you got. The only real bummer is the limited amount of glazes they had, especially for the low fire. Also, parking, like everywhere in Seattle, was a bit tough some nights when there was events going on. read more

I took my team here for a team building event to get outside of the office and it was so much fun! We booked a 3 hour lesson to make ceramics using hand slab (not the pottery wheel) and our group got to let loose and get creative. The best was doing an activity called "Exquisite Corpse" where each of us had to make a separate part of the body and then we would put the whole thing together once we finished. Amazing! Our class instructor was Luke who was very helpful, knowledgeable, and funny. Price was also reasonable for a team building event. Would recommend to other teams to try. read more