Let’s Clay!

Building Community Through Clay

This is where the fun starts! Explore our list of upcoming classes, courses & workshops below to find one that is just right. We now offer classes and workshops for children and adults!

If none of our regularly scheduled group classes feels like the place you’d like to start, you might want to schedule a one-on-one or private class with friends or colleagues as a way to get started, hone your skills or simply have fun and get to know each other better.

Are you looking for a place to keep playing after your class ended or a studio to practice your craft? Check out our membership options.

Still not sure what’s right for you? Call or write to us for more information!

We want to help you find the right fit! We are firm believers in “the more the merrier” here at the Staunton Clayground!

A Brief List of Our Ongoing and Upcoming Classes & Workshops

(Listed chronologically by start date - scroll down or click the links to read the more detailed descriptions below)

Our first 2025 classes are up! More are coming!

What’s starting soon?

Polymer Clay Holiday Ornaments – A One-Day Polymer Clay Workshop: Thursday, December 19, 1:00–4:00 p.m.

(Ages 14+ – Kids ages 10+ and up welcome if working alongside an adult)

(3 hours, with hot cocoa, tea and sweet treats!)

Have you always wanted to try your hand at polymer clay sculpture but didn’t know where to start? What better place than a simple holiday ornament?

Come join us for tea, cocoa, cookies and a chance to make a one-of-a-kind gift, a holiday ornament decorated with polymer clay. Start with a 4” circular wooden base and add a bas-relief polymer clay decoration: Santa Claus, snowmen, mischievous elves or simply go where your creativity takes you! If you have fun buttons or baubles to add, bring them along! We’ll bring some, too. Local polymer clay artist Lainie Mabbitt will help you to make your vision a reality. Make up to 2 or 3 ornaments if you have time (depends on how detailed you want to make them)! Then relax and enjoy sweet treats while we wait for the clay to bake. You can take your ornament(s) home the same day to keep and enjoy or to give as holiday gifts!

 In this 3-hour workshop, we’ll talk about the benefits and fun of using polymer clay. You’ll practice techniques to create simple or complex designs that you can use for all kinds of projects at home.

Instructor: Lainie Mabbitt of Second Stories Art

PRICE: $55 per adult, $45 for each accompanying child

AGE REQUIREMENT: Ages 14 and up (or 10+ if working alongside an accompanying adult)

MATERIALS: All materials (and snacks!) will be provided. Feel welcome to bring your own buttons and baubles to use to decorated the ornaments, if you so desire!

CLASS LENGTH: 3 hours

Pottery Wheel for All-Level Beginners:

Friday evenings, Jan. 3–Feb. 28, 2025, 5:00–7:15 pm

Eight sessions (18 hours total)

with a one-week break for Valentine’s Day on Friday, Feb. 14

Come learn to throw functional pottery on the wheel. Students will try their hand at centering clay and throwing basic forms such as cylinders and bowls. The class will focus on mastering simple throwing and trimming techniques and will cover pulling handles for mugs as well as glazing techniques. First-time beginners are welcome.

Everyone will have functional food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe wares to take home by the end of this class!

Instructors: Valya Boutenko

Price: $270 (includes and all necessary materials and glazes. There is no limit to the number of pieces each student can make and fire during this class.)

Pottery Wheel for All-Level Beginners:

Saturday afternoons, January 4–February 8, 2025

3:00–5:00 pm

Six 2-hour sessions (12 hours total)

Have you always wanted to try your hand at throwing pottery on the wheel and never had a chance? Have you spent some time on the wheel but want an opportunity to gain confidence and hone your skills? Over the course of six 2-hour sessions, we will focus on setting achievable goals and making them into a reality!

The newest potters will learn the basics of making classic vessels like cups and bowls. Those with some experience will focus on gaining confidence with foundational skills such as centering, pulling up the walls, creating consistent cylinders and more. Students who are already able to create simple wares on their own will instead concentrate on design and consistency. We’ll also look at trimming and decoration, as well as how to add handles to our creations. Everyone will have functional food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe wares to take home by the end of this class!

Instructor: Mary Tuttle

Price: $180 (includes materials and all necessary glazes. There is no limit to the number of pieces each student can make and fire during this class.)

Handbuilding a Kitchen Suite – A Four-Day Intensive Workshop: 9:00 am–12:00 noon

Tuesday through Thursday, January 7, 8 & 9, with glazing on Thursday, January 23

No prior clay experience necessary!

Have you ever wished your kitchen ceramics pieces matched each other? Or even better, that they were customized to your kitchen’s colors? Now’s your chance!

Over the course of four 3-hour sessions we will create several unique functional pieces using slab building techniques. Possible projects include a butter dish, spoon rest, pitcher, sponge holder and napkin holder (all food, microwave and dishwasher safe).

Instructors: Cary Dahl

Price: $225 (includes materials and all necessary glazes) – Open to adults (age 14+ or 12+ if working alongside an accompanying adult).

Intermediate Wheel Throwing

Tuesday evenings, 5:00–7:15 p.m., January 7–February 25, 2025

(18 hours total)

This is an intermediate class for students who are already comfortable with working on the wheel. The class is a good fit for students who can throw and trim complete vessels, with handles, unassisted. In this class we will practice throwing plates as well as elegant, rounded vases. Together, we will be tackling the more challenging forms and incorporating design elements that add interest and make our work shine.

Everyone will have functional food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe wares to take home by the end of this class!

Instructors: Valya Boutenko

Price: $270 (includes and all necessary materials and glazes. There is no limit to the number of pieces each student can make and fire during this class.)

Pottery Wheel for All-Level Beginners:

Wednesday evenings, January 8–February 12, 2025

6:00–8:00 pm

Six 2-hour sessions (12 hours total)

Have you always wanted to try your hand at throwing pottery on the wheel and never had a chance? Have you spent some time on the wheel but want an opportunity to gain confidence and hone your skills? Over the course of six 2-hour sessions, we will focus on setting achievable goals and making them into a reality!

The newest potters will learn the basics of making classic vessels like cups and bowls. Those with some experience will focus on gaining confidence with foundational skills such as centering, pulling up the walls, creating consistent cylinders and more. Students who are already able to create simple wares on their own will instead concentrate on design and consistency. We’ll also look at trimming and decoration, as well as how to add handles to our creations. Everyone will have functional food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe wares to take home by the end of this class!

Instructor: Mary Tuttle

Price: $180 (includes materials and all necessary glazes. There is no limit to the number of pieces each student can make and fire during this class.)

A Tulip Vase With A Hydroponic Tulip Bouquet: A One-Day Handbuilding Workshop in January 2025 – A Partnership With Quince & Burdock

Choose from one of 3 workshop times:

Sunday afternoon, January 26, 2:30–5:30 pm

Tuesday evening, January 28, 5:30–8:30 pm

Wednesday morning, January 29, 9:00 am–12:00 noon

 Pick-up for all three sessions, with tulip tips with Erin Wright of Quince & Burdock and bouquet pick-up, will be on Wednesday, February 12, at 5:30 pm.

Get ready for the profusion of spring tulips by creating a vase especially designed around the graceful curve of tulip stems. Over the course of 3 hours, through a combination of slab and sculpture, you will build and decorate your creation with handmade flower motifs. You will choose a glaze color from several options, and pick up your glazed and fired vase, complete with tulips, in time for Valentines Day! Erin Wright of Quince & Burdock will be on hand at vase pick-up to provide you with your bouquet, talk about tulip care and answer questions about hydroponic gardening. Vase is dishwasher safe.

Instructors: Cary Dahl and Erin Wright

Price: $95 for workshop plus $30 for a bouquet of one-dozen tulips, also available in our web store at this link, exclusively for workshop participants – Open to adults (age 14+ or 12+ if working alongside an accompanying adult).

Handbuilding Basics – A Four-Week Workshop

Thursday evenings, 5:30–8:30, January 30–February 20, 2025

No prior clay experience necessary!

Yes, we all love the movie Ghost, but pottery is so much more than just the wheel!

Over the course of four 3-hour sessions we will explore some of the essential techniques of handbuilding, making several unique functional pieces to take home. You will build confidence working with both soft and leather-hard clay, and explore a variety of surface texturing and glazing techniques. Possible projects will include a serving dish, an angular vase, and a utensil caddy (all food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe).

Instructors: Cary Dahl

Price: $200 (includes materials and all necessary glazes) – Open to adults (age 14+ or 12+ if working alongside an accompanying adult).

Pottery Wheel for All-Level Beginners:

Sunday afternoons, February 9–March 30, 2025, 3:00–5:15 pm

Eight sessions (18 hours total)

Come learn to throw functional pottery on the wheel. Students will try their hand at centering clay and throwing basic forms such as cylinders and bowls. The class will focus on mastering simple throwing and trimming techniques and will cover pulling handles for mugs as well as glazing techniques. First-time beginners are welcome.

Everyone will have functional food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe wares to take home by the end of this class!

Instructors: Valya Boutenko

Price: $270 (includes and all necessary materials and glazes. There is no limit to the number of pieces each student can make and fire during this class.)

Pottery Wheel for All-Level Beginners:

Saturday afternoons, February 15–March 22, 2025

3:00–5:00 pm

Six 2-hour sessions (12 hours total)

Have you always wanted to try your hand at throwing pottery on the wheel and never had a chance? Have you spent some time on the wheel but want an opportunity to gain confidence and hone your skills? Over the course of six 2-hour sessions, we will focus on setting achievable goals and making them into a reality!

The newest potters will learn the basics of making classic vessels like cups and bowls. Those with some experience will focus on gaining confidence with foundational skills such as centering, pulling up the walls, creating consistent cylinders and more. Students who are already able to create simple wares on their own will instead concentrate on design and consistency. We’ll also look at trimming and decoration, as well as how to add handles to our creations. Everyone will have functional food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe wares to take home by the end of this class!

Instructor: Mary Tuttle

Price: $180 (includes materials and all necessary glazes. There is no limit to the number of pieces each student can make and fire during this class.)

Handbuilding Basics – A Four-Week Workshop

Wednesday evenings, 5:30–8:30, February 19–March 12, 2025

No prior clay experience necessary!

Yes, we all love the movie Ghost, but pottery is so much more than just the wheel!

Over the course of four 3-hour sessions we will explore some of the essential techniques of handbuilding, making several unique functional pieces to take home. You will build confidence working with both soft and leather-hard clay, and explore a variety of surface texturing and glazing techniques. Possible projects will include a serving dish, an angular vase, and a utensil caddy (all food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe).

Instructors: Cary Dahl

Price: $200 (includes materials and all necessary glazes) – Open to adults (age 14+ or 12+ if working alongside an accompanying adult).

Pottery Wheel for All-Level Beginners:

Monday evenings, February 24–March 31, 2025

6:00–8:00 pm

Six 2-hour sessions (12 hours total)

Have you always wanted to try your hand at throwing pottery on the wheel and never had a chance? Have you spent some time on the wheel but want an opportunity to gain confidence and hone your skills? Over the course of six 2-hour sessions, we will focus on setting achievable goals and making them into a reality!

The newest potters will learn the basics of making classic vessels like cups and bowls. Those with some experience will focus on gaining confidence with foundational skills such as centering, pulling up the walls, creating consistent cylinders and more. Students who are already able to create simple wares on their own will instead concentrate on design and consistency. We’ll also look at trimming and decoration, as well as how to add handles to our creations. Everyone will have functional food, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe wares to take home by the end of this class!

Instructor: Mary Tuttle

Price: $180 (includes materials and all necessary glazes. There is no limit to the number of pieces each student can make and fire during this class.)

Get in touch! We’re happy to answer your questions.

“Every time I center the clay on the wheel, I feel like I am centering myself. Creativity comes from a place of inner stillness and joy.”

Come and clay!