Pottery Classes Near Orem, Utah
The Clay Hole is a community pottery studio in Draper, about half an hour north of Orem. Wheels, hand building, slab molds, glaze and kiln time, all on one monthly membership.
There is a window in your city that took twelve years and forty three thousand pieces of glass. Membership is the only way in here, and there are no drop-in classes.
The drive from Orem
North on I-15 and over the Point of the Mountain. Orem has its own on-ramps at both ends of the city, so the only question is which one you live nearer.
- North on I-15 from exit 269 or exit 272, over the Point of the Mountain.
- Exit 289, Bangerter Highway, then west to the 200 W exit.
- Right on 13490 S, which connects over to Pony Express Rd.
- Past IKEA and Living Spaces. We are on the left.
Eighteen to twenty one freeway miles plus the streets at each end, so about half an hour when the Point is moving. At five it is longer, and everyone in Utah County already knows by how much.
FrontRunner runs from Orem station to Draper station. The Draper end is a couple of miles from us with the rail corridor in the way, so it finishes as a rideshare, but the long part of the trip is a seat.
When you get here
Free and shared with a few other businesses. Anything not marked reserved is yours. Considerably less of an event than parking at University Place in December.
Somebody spent twelve years cutting glass by hand, and it is free to go and look at
Roots of Knowledge is in the Bingham Gallery at UVU's Fulton Library. Two hundred feet long, about ten feet tall, eighty panels, more than forty three thousand individual pieces of glass. Tom Holdman and Cameron Oscarson led it, with over three hundred and fifty student artists, twenty six faculty and forty other artists.
Twelve years, from 2004 to its unveiling on 18 November 2016. Four and a half million dollars, paid for by donations and by people sponsoring individual pieces of glass.
It is free to walk in and see. That is the part worth sitting with. The most ambitious handmade object in the county is a fifteen minute drive from most of Orem and costs nothing, and a lot of people who live here have never gone.
The city is older than the university and quieter about it
SCERA was founded in 1933 and its outdoor Shell seats over four thousand on a grass slope, drawing more than sixty thousand people a year on close to a thousand volunteers. Orem was Provo Bench before it was Orem, and it took the name of a railroad president so the orchards had somewhere to ship to.
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.
A city of ninety five thousand people that got slightly smaller
Orem was the fifth largest city in Utah at the 2020 count and the 2025 estimate has it down about three percent. In a county growing the way this one is, that is an unusual direction to move.
It is not a decline so much as a city that finished. The university grew, the mall became a mixed use district, and the housing stopped. What that leaves is a lot of people whose week has settled into a shape.
Half an hour north there is a room where the shape changes every time you sit down, because the clay is a different weight and your hands are a week older at it.
- 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.
- FrontRunner from Orem station, if you would rather not drive the Point twice.
- Your own shelf, so half an hour becomes one trip a week rather than three.
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 Orem
Orem has a pottery program of its own, and Provo next door has the most real choice in the county. Read these before you read us.
- Make your own
SCERA Art Studios
In Orem, on 720 South, the arts education arm of a community arts center that has been running since 1933. Adult wheel pottery, teen wheel including a homeschool section, pottery for six to eleven year olds at $65 a month, and a monthly one night ceramics evening at $20. It is a class program rather than a studio: no open studio, no membership, and they do not fire outside work.
- Make your own
Utah Center for the Ceramic Arts
Provo, ten minutes south. Seven wheels, a slab roller, an extruder, studio glazes and two kilns, with classes, open studio time and memberships, plus hourly and daily rental for up to twenty five people. It opened in 2025. Their site blocks automated readers, so call rather than assume.
- Make your own
Throw Art Studio
Provo, on 300 South. A two hour wheel experience at $29.99 a wheel for up to two people plus the cost of the piece, and four week beginner courses that include evening studio access.
For a child between six and eleven, SCERA is in your own city and costs $65 a month. We start at fourteen, and only alongside a parent who is also a member. That is not us being coy, it is just the wrong fit.
What people from Orem ask
How far is The Clay Hole from Orem?
About half an hour. North on I-15 from exit 269 or 272, over the Point of the Mountain. Eighteen to twenty one freeway miles plus the surface streets at each end.
Can I get there without driving?
FrontRunner runs Orem station to Draper station. The last couple of miles at the Draper end are awkward because the rail corridor sits in the way, so budget a rideshare for that part. The rest is a seat and a book.
Can I take a single pottery class instead of joining?
No. Monthly membership is the only way in, with no drop-in classes and no single sessions. SCERA runs a one night ceramics evening in Orem for $20, and that is a far more sensible way to find out whether you like 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 bought by the bag at the front desk.
Do you take beginners?
Most people who join have never touched a wheel. Three hundred and fifty of the students who worked on Roots of Knowledge had never cut glass either, and that thing is two hundred feet long.
What are the class times?
Instructed classes Monday through Thursday evenings plus Monday daytime. Friday evening and both weekend mornings are open studio. Weekend mornings line up best with the train.
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 Orem 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.