Pottery Studio

THE Y POTTERY STUDIO

CREATIVITY FOR ALL

The Y opened the Corning Inc. Foundation Pottery Studio and Jean Cairns’ Arts and Crafts Studio on January 17, 2011.  The two rooms, located within the Y Center, provide community members an opportunity to express ideas, to communicate beyond the limits of language and to discover creative talents.

Pottery Classes Offered:

Wheel Thrown Pottery

Wheel and Hand Building

Hand Building 

Sip N Spin - Give the Potter's Wheel a Spin

The Y offers numerous pottery classes and workshops for all levels, from beginning to advanced students.  If you enroll in a class, you can use the pottery studio during open studio hours as long as your class is going on.

Y Pottery Studio Passes

Membership to the pottery studio requires taking a 6 or 8 week pottery class before signing up for a membership, regardless of prior clay experience. Monthly membership is $45/month with longer term membership discounts available. Only a few memberships are available at any one time, and usually there is a wait-list to gain access to a membership, so a class is the best way to gain immediate access to the studio. We fire to cone 6 and requires that your clay be purchased from the studio (no outside clay allowed). Clay can be purchased new in a 25lb. bag or recycled. With membership, you will get your own 2' x 2' shelf, and gain access to wheels, hand building tables, shared tools, glazes and more. Studio passes offer an affordable alternative to the set up and maintenance costs of individual studio space and provide a community of artists for learning, inspiration and companionship.  Studio membership dues can be deducted by automatic payment or can be paid yearly.  Please contact mlaroche@vtymca.org for more details and/or to be added to the waiting list.

Studio Hours and Location

The studio is open from 9am to 7pm (same hours as the Thrift Shop) Monday-Saturday and Sunday 12pm to 5pm, except for times when there is a class in session.  Please check the calendar next to the studio door for weekly information about open studio hours, or give us a call at 540-961-9622.  Please use the front doors of the building to enter and exit the studio and leave the studio before the building is locked and the alarm set.
 

Pottery classes will be held at the Y Center (1000 N Main St, Blacksburg VA)

Pottery Studio Calendar

Meet the Instructor

MICHAEL LAROCHE

Michael LaRoche manages the Pottery Studio while making functional stoneware pottery for Michael LaRoche Dirtworks Pottery, showing his work throughout Virginia. He has been a member of the Blue Ridge Potters Guild since 2012, and has been teaching pottery at the YMCA since 2008.