Margie Zavoico, student
The Village Potters Clay Center in Asheville’s River Arts District offers educational opportunities for aspiring potters of all skill levels. From Beginning Wheel and Handbuilding classes to Competitive Throwing and Ceramic Jewelry Making, the center provides instruction in both workshop and weekly class formats.
“Our classes are a way for residents from the Asheville area to set aside time for themselves to tap into their creativity and decompress from their busy lives,” says The Village Potters owner, founder and resident potter Sarah Wells Rolland. “Many potters who study with us touched clay for the first time here at our center and are now working toward full-time professions in clay.”
In addition to longtime favorites like wheel and handbuilding classes, instructors at The Village Potters continually work to provide new experiences for students. One of their latest offerings is Wild Clay with instructor Tori Motyl. Appropriate for all skill levels, the sessions begin with a field trip to find and collect clay in nature. Students then construct their own drying boxes, process the clay, make a variety of pots for test pieces and fire them.
“I am focused on having students leave my class with all of the tools and skills to immediately start digging their own clay and using it in their own work,” says Motyl. “I am planning a spinoff class that will be all about making pottery with wild clay and exploring the unique properties that it offers.”
The Village Potters teaching facilities include two equipped pottery classrooms, 13 kilns, a full glaze kitchen, a fully equipped studio dedicated exclusively to an Advanced Studies Program and another dedicated to hands-on workshops and a Master Series demonstration program.
The Village Potters Clay Center is located at 191 Lyman Street, Suite 180, in Asheville. Learn more at TheVillagePotters.com.
