Ceramics at Art Shack in Brooklyn

For the longest time I had been wanting to jump on the pottery wheel and create something beautiful. Actually - less about the beautiful, just something jazzy and fun. The wheel has always been something I wanted to try and ironically, even though I went to art school, I only just tried it last weekend! The real reason it never materialized is that during my foundational year (‘freshmen year’ for you normies), I delved into fine arts, with a focus primarily on typography and painting. However, soon after, I declared my major, and ever since then, my life has predominantly revolved around digital mediums.

Anyways- I did a ton of research finding adorable ceramics studios in Brooklyn. Here are a few incase you’re interested: Brooklyn Clay, Gasworks, Clay House & Choplet. I settled on Artshack Brooklyn because it had a ton of versatile classes including ‘Date Night’ - the one we ended up taking. I loved that they had a cafe, that they offered late classes and were BYOB. Beyond the obvious, I was very drawn to their mission:

“We believe in the healing powers of clay! Our mission is to make ceramic arts more accessible to people of all abilities and ages.  We provide scholarships to at least a quarter of the kids in our afterschool, hold regular free community days for local residents, offer free and subsidized ceramics classes to local low income high school students, seniors, and adults with special needs.  Artshack is developing accountability as an anti-racist, queer-affirming organization that celebrates the creativity of youth and honors people of all abilities.” - Art Shack

Our session with Camila Ruiz began with an engaging exploration of pottery wheel fundamentals, setting the stage for an hour of creative free play. As the session concluded, each participant left with a cherished piece, eagerly awaiting its glazing and pickup in three weeks! An aspect of the class that stood out to me was the encouragement to recycle clay and start anew, this set us up for lots of experimentation in those two hours. By the end of the session, I had explored so many styles and techniques, feeling thoroughly satisfied with the experience. For anyone considering a ceramics class and diving into the world of pottery wheels, Art Shack comes highly recommended from me!

Take a look at their website for more info on some of their offerings including events & exhibitions. Also, their IG is cute.