Pottery Classes Near Herriman, Utah
The Clay Hole is a community pottery studio in Draper, east across the valley from Herriman. Wheel work, hand building, slab molds, glaze 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 Herriman
You come down off the bench and head east. Herriman sits at about 5,000 feet, the highest of the valley floor cities, so the first part of this drive is downhill.
- East on 13400 South, or out to Mountain View Corridor and then Bangerter.
- Bangerter Highway southeast to its south end at I-15, Exit 289.
- Take the 200 W exit, then right on 13490 S over to Pony Express Rd.
- Past IKEA and Living Spaces. We are on the left.
About six miles as the crow flies and further by road. Call it fifteen to twenty minutes depending which side of Herriman you start on, and longer when Bangerter is busy.
Nothing that gets you here. Herriman is a driving city and this is a driving trip.
When you pull in
Parking is free and shared with a few other businesses. Anything not marked reserved is yours. Nothing like the Blackridge situation, and no neighborhood permit zone to read the signs for.
Eighteen inch walls, chiseled by hand, in 1879
The Pioneer Rock Church was 40 feet by 60, with walls a foot and a half thick made of rock cut by hand, and a wood-carved pulpit under red velvet. The marker is on Pioneer Road. Fort Herriman went up in 1855 and was abandoned in 1858 when Johnston's Army came west.
Herriman also sits against the Oquirrhs rather than the Wasatch, which is the opposite backdrop from almost everywhere else in the valley. Butterfield Canyon climbs up behind the town to 9,180 feet and closes from November to June.
The town went from 1,523 people in 2000 to over 63,000. That is not growth, that is a different town. And the thing a town builds last is somewhere for adults to go.
The honest part
No pottery history here either. Herriman's making-things record is hand-chiseled stone and, more recently, an enormous amount of new construction.
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.
Blackridge is full, the canyon is shut, and it is Tuesday
Herriman's best free thing is Blackridge Reservoir, and everybody in the valley knows it. Sandy beach, natural water, no lifeguard, gate locked at ten, fifteen dollars to park at weekends and a neighborhood permit zone around it because of what happens when it fills up.
Butterfield Canyon is closed more than half the year. The Ice Ribbon runs December to February. Towne Days is one week in May.
Between those, Herriman has the largest households on this list, at 3.38 people, and very little that is only for the adults in them.
- 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.
- A shelf of your own, which is the thing nobody has at home.
- Open seven days a week, so it survives a week that falls apart.
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 Herriman
Herriman is one of the few cities on this list that has its own place to make pottery, and it is a genuinely different model from ours.
- Make your own
Bella Rosa Pottery
In Herriman itself. Eight week wheel and hand building courses, shorter Clay Nights and summer camps for kids. If you want a fixed course with an end date and you want it in your own city, start there rather than here. We will not pretend otherwise.
- Paint your own
Color Me Mine West Jordan
3751 W Center Park Dr. Pre-made pieces you decorate and they fire. The easiest option on this list and the one most likely to work with small children in tow.
- Make your own
Cottonwood Clay Studio
7587 S State St in Midvale, right across the valley on the other side. Weekday taught classes with open studio limited to current students. A long way from Herriman for what it is.
If you want a fixed eight week course with an end date, Bella Rosa is in your own city and we will say so plainly. If you want a room you can keep coming back to, that is what we are.
What people from Herriman ask
How far is The Clay Hole from Herriman?
About six miles in a straight line and fifteen to twenty minutes by road, depending which side of Herriman you start on. Bangerter Highway runs to the exact freeway exit we use.
There is already a pottery studio in Herriman. Why drive here?
Bella Rosa runs eight week courses and Clay Nights, which is a good fit if you want a fixed start and end. We are a monthly membership with instructed classes and open studio on top, a large glaze wall and four kilns. Different shapes for different people, and theirs is closer.
Can I take a single pottery class instead of joining?
No. Monthly membership is the only way in. For a single evening, Bella Rosa in Herriman runs shorter Clay Nights.
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, so a session does not start with a shopping list on the way down Bangerter.
Do you take beginners?
Nearly everyone starts from zero. In a city that went from about 1,500 people to over 60,000 in twenty five years, nearly everyone in the room is new to something.
What are the class times?
Instructed classes Monday through Thursday evenings plus Monday daytime. Friday evening and both weekend mornings are open studio. Seven days a week matters in a city whose canyon is shut for half the year.
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 Herriman 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.