Pottery Classes Near Cottonwood Heights, Utah
The Clay Hole is a community pottery studio in Draper, a short run south from Cottonwood Heights. Wheels, hand building, slab molds, glazing and kiln time, all on one monthly membership.
Membership is the only way in. There are no drop-in classes and no single sessions, which is the part most people want to know first.
The drive from Cottonwood Heights
South and down off the bench. Highland Drive the whole way if you like, or over to I-15 and down.
- South on Highland Drive, or west to I-15 and then south.
- I-15 to Exit 289, Bangerter Highway.
- West on Bangerter to the 200 W exit, then right on 13490 S to Pony Express Rd.
- Past IKEA and Living Spaces. We are on the left.
Eight or nine miles, twelve to fifteen minutes. Shorter than your drive up either canyon, which is a comparison worth making in February.
Nothing that works for this trip. It is a drive, and a short one by the standards of a city where people routinely queue up a canyon.
When you arrive
Parking is free and shared with a few other businesses. Anything not marked reserved is yours. No traction law, no avalanche gate and nobody charging you to leave the car.
A mill that burned on April Fools' Day and nobody believed the alarm
The Old Mill at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon ground canyon logs and rags into up to five tons of paper a day. It burned on 1 April 1893, and a good number of people ignored the alarm because of the date. Only the stone skeleton was left, and it is still there, on the National Register since 1971.
The city is called the City Between the Canyons and the name is literal. Big Cottonwood starts where Fort Union Boulevard runs out. Little Cottonwood starts at 9400 South on the southern line. Four ski resorts are twenty to thirty five minutes up those roads.
The town is named after the Butlers only because one more Butler brother than McGee brother turned up to the meeting where they picked a name. That is the whole reason.
What it means for half the year
From December to early April, life in this city is organized around ski traffic, avalanche control closures and traction law days. Everyone who lives there plans around a road that sometimes simply is not open.
A big room, and everything in it is included
The studio runs to nearly 10,000 square feet. Membership covers the room, the equipment, the classes and the glaze. You buy clay by the bag and you pay for firing by the size of the piece. Nothing else is metered.
- Four instructors working the room in every instructed class, so nobody sits stuck for twenty minutes.
- 150+ underglazes alongside the glaze wall, plus dipping buckets on the higher levels.
- Bisque firing is free. Glaze firing is 5 cents a cubic inch, $4.80 minimum.
- Clay starts at $28 a 25 pound bag, and the discount grows with your level.
- Your own shelf to leave work on, which is the thing home potters never have.
There are eight months a year when the canyon is not the answer
From December to April the canyons run the calendar. Then the snow goes, the resorts close, and a city built around two roads up a mountain has to find something else to do with a Tuesday.
Big Cottonwood is a watershed, so dogs are banned outright. Little Cottonwood closes for avalanche control without warning. Even in season, plenty of evenings are not canyon evenings.
Twelve minutes south is a room that is open seven days a week and does not care about the traction law.
- Four instructed classes a month at the lowest level, eight at the highest.
- Open studio Friday evening and both weekend mornings on top of the classes.
- Your own shelf, so a piece waits for you instead of the other way round.
- No season. The studio works the same in February and July.
Four levels, one monthly price
Every level gets the same studio, the same equipment and the same glaze wall. What changes is how many instructed classes are included, how much shelf you get, and how much comes off a bag of clay.
| Level | Monthly | Classes included |
|---|---|---|
| Green Level | $145 a month | 4 classes a month |
| Yellow Level | $170 a month | 5 classes a month |
| Purple Level | $200 a month | 6 classes a month |
| Black Level | $275 a month | 8 classes a month |
Open studio time is on top of the included classes, at every level. Clay discounts run from nothing on Green Level up to $6 off each bag on Black Level.
The part we would rather you read now than find out later
There are no drop-in classes and no single sessions. Membership renews on the 25th of each month and canceling has to happen before the 24th. Fired work has to be collected within two weeks of the kiln being unloaded. And the cheapest level shows you a real fraction of what a busy month here looks like.
If that list makes membership the wrong shape for you, it is better to know in the first minute than in the fourth week.
When the studio is open
| When | Hours | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Monday daytime | 10:30 AM to 2 PM | Instructed class |
| Monday to Thursday evenings | 6:30 PM to 10 PM | Instructed class |
| Friday evening | 6:30 PM to 10 PM | Open studio |
| Saturday and Sunday mornings | 10 AM to 1:30 PM | Open studio |
Doors open 15 minutes before a session starts, and the studio closes for fourteen holidays a year. The full list, with this year's dates, is on the class schedule page.
Other pottery near Cottonwood Heights
We are not the only option from Cottonwood Heights. Here is what else is close, honestly described.
- Make your own
Cottonwood Clay Studio
7587 S State St in Midvale, west and slightly south, and closer to you than we are. Weekday taught classes with open studio limited to current students. The name is about the canyon, not about your city.
- Paint your own
Color Me Mine Sandy
51 W 10600 S. Pre-made pieces, you decorate, they fire. An easy answer on a night the canyon is shut and nobody wants a project.
There is nowhere inside Cottonwood Heights to make the piece yourself. If we have missed one, tell us and we will add it to this page.
What people from Cottonwood Heights ask
How far is The Clay Hole from Cottonwood Heights?
Eight or nine miles, twelve to fifteen minutes. You can run Highland Drive the whole way or drop over to I-15. It is a shorter drive than either canyon.
Can I take a single pottery class instead of joining?
No. Monthly membership is the only way in. Pottery takes weeks to finish a piece, and a one night class sends you home with wet clay and nowhere to fire it.
Do I need my own tools or clay?
No tools. Membership covers the wheels, the hand building tables, the slab molds, the glaze wall and the classes. Clay is by the bag, and none of it needs a roof rack.
Is this a winter thing or a summer thing?
Neither. The studio runs the same all year, seven days a week, and closes for fourteen holidays. For a city that plans around canyon conditions, that is most of the point.
Do you take beginners?
Almost every member started with no idea what they were doing. If you learned to ski as an adult in this city you already know how this goes, except nothing here is frozen and nobody is watching from a lift.
What are the class times?
Instructed classes Monday through Thursday evenings plus Monday daytime. Friday evening and both weekend mornings are open studio. None of it depends on a canyon road being open.
What happens if you join this week
You pick a level, sign the waiver, and turn up to your first class. Somebody shows you where everything is, you get a shelf, and you put your hands in clay the same night. Most people who come from Cottonwood Heights and join here have never touched a wheel.
- Nothing to bring. What to wear is covered on the what to wear page.
- The first day page walks through the whole first visit, in order.
- Free lessons for everything else live in Clay Hole University, whether or not you ever join.
Questions are quickest by text. The studio line is 385-241-5528. We are at 12896 S Pony Express Rd, Suite 100, Draper, UT 84020.