Workshops & Classes · MON 6 PM · WED 10:30 AM
Hand Building: Beginners Plus
About
A weekly clay hand-building class for adults 18 and up, with sections on Mondays from 6 to 8:30 pm and Wednesdays from 10:30 am to 1 pm. It's taught at the West Side YMCA, 5 West 63rd Street, near the 1/A/B/C/D at 59 St–Columbus Circle and the 1 at 66 St–Lincoln Center. The six-week Fall II block (Nov 2–Dec 20) is $310 for members or $380 for program members, with the Monday section full; Winter (Jan 4–Feb 28) is $355 or $420. It's one of 65 pottery and ceramics listings on our New York City calendar this month, and the West Side Y's wheel classes are listed too.
Good to know
Pick a date and tell us how many. We arrange it with West Side YMCA for you. Free to ask; nothing is charged today.
Read off West Side YMCA’s own page. Times and prices can change; the venue’s page wins.
How it compares
- After work
At $310, this sits toward the low end of the 47 multi-week pottery courses we list in New York. They run from $113 to $1,300, and the typical price is $470.
Not ready to commit to a course? 19 studios offer one-time pottery classes from $25, a cheaper way to find out if you like it.
Other pottery classes in New York
- At the Hearth: Make a Pinch Pot with Greenwich House PotteryCooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum · Upper ManhattanWED, NOV 18 · Pay What You Wish
- Beginning Handbuilding (wednesday Mornings)Greenwich House Pottery Chelsea · Lower ManhattanTHRU WED, DEC 9 · $470
- Six-week Ceramics Session: Wheel and Handbuilding (greenpoint)Choplet Ceramics Studio · North BrooklynTHRU THU, DEC 10 · $420
- All-level Wheel, 6-week CourseChoplet Greenpoint · North BrooklynTHRU THU, DEC 10 · $420
New to pottery?
Most first classes are either a wheel taster, where you learn to centre clay and pull up a cylinder, or hand-building, where you shape a mug, dish or planter with pinch, coil and slab techniques.
- Wear clothes that can get muddy and keep nails short; rings and bracelets come off before the wheel.
- Expect two to three hours for a single session. Clay, tools and firing are almost always in the price; glazing sometimes costs extra.
- A one-time class is the cheap way to find out whether you want a five- or six-week course, which is where the wheel actually starts to click.
Taking it home: Not on the day. Pieces dry, are fired, glazed and fired again, so studios usually hold them for two to four weeks.
Questions people ask
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