Pottery near Salt Lake City

Pottery Classes Near Salt Lake City, Utah

The Clay Hole is a community pottery studio in Draper, about nineteen miles south of downtown Salt Lake City. Wheel throwing, hand building, slab molds, glaze and firing, all on one monthly membership.

Salt Lake City has good pottery studios of its own, several of them closer to you than we are.

See membership The drive from Salt Lake City
An overhead view of clay being opened on a pottery wheel in Salt Lake City, Utah, the wet slip radiating across the wheel head like the city street grid
Getting here

The drive from Salt Lake City

It is I-15 south almost the whole way, and then one exit and three turns. The last stretch runs past IKEA on the frontage road.

  1. I-15 southbound to Exit 291, 12300 South.
  2. West off the ramp to Lone Peak Parkway, also signed 125 West.
  3. South on Lone Peak Parkway, which runs into Pony Express Rd.
  4. We are at 12896, about a mile down. IKEA sits further south, so if you reach it you have gone too far.

About nineteen miles from downtown. Twenty-five minutes when I-15 is behaving, and a good deal longer when it is not. If you work downtown and want pottery on the way home at five thirty, look at the studios in town first.

FrontRunner stops at Draper station, about two miles from the door. The walk from the station is nearer thirty minutes because the rail corridor is in the way, so it is a rideshare at the end or nothing.

When you get here

Parking is shared with a few other businesses in the lot. Any spot that is not marked reserved for one of them is yours, and it is free. We are the next building north of Living Spaces, just down the frontage road from IKEA.

Full directions and map
What is actually here

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.

29pottery wheels
650+brush on glazes
248slab molds
4kilns
  • 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.
Walk through the 360 tour See the Mold Room
What it costs

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.

LevelMonthlyClasses included
Green Level$145 a month4 classes a month
Yellow Level$170 a month5 classes a month
Purple Level$200 a month6 classes a month
Black Level$275 a month8 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 membership rules

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.

See membership How membership works
The week

When the studio is open

WhenHoursWhat it is
Monday daytime10:30 AM to 2 PMInstructed class
Monday to Thursday evenings6:30 PM to 10 PMInstructed class
Friday evening6:30 PM to 10 PMOpen studio
Saturday and Sunday mornings10 AM to 1:30 PMOpen 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.

The rest of the field

Other pottery near Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is the best served pottery market in the state. Several of these are closer to you than we are, and some of them will suit you better. All of them are worth your time.

  • Make your own

    Salt Lake Pottery Studio

    965 E 900 S. Wheel and hand building, kids, one time experiences, multi week courses, memberships and private events. The broadest offering in the city.

  • Make your own

    Workshop SLC

    153 W 2100 S. One time pottery nights, beginner wheel and hand building, continuing ceramics, and a membership with recurring weekly hours.

  • Make your own

    Art Haus

    177 E 900 S. Adult wheel and hand building classes.

  • Make your own

    Pottery Night SLC

    181 W 1700 S, which is South Salt Lake rather than Salt Lake City. Single session wheel classes where you make and glaze in one night and collect the piece a week later.

  • Make your own

    Studio 1396 at The Front

    1396 S 400 W, inside the climbing gym. Wheel and hand building, included with a Front membership or on a ten visit pass. Orientation and a waiver first.

  • Paint your own

    Color Me Mine Salt Lake

    2725 E Parleys Way. You pick a piece that is already made and paint it. Different thing from making the piece yourself.

If one of those is a better fit, go. Making pots somewhere beats talking yourself out of it over a drive.

Compare 14 Utah studios
Nearby

The rest of the Salt Lake Valley

Same studio, same shelves, a different starting point. See every city in the Salt Lake Valley. Or by county, every city in Salt Lake County.

Questions

What people from Salt Lake City ask

How far is The Clay Hole from Salt Lake City?

About nineteen miles from downtown, almost all of it I-15 south. Twenty-five minutes with the road clear, and longer in rush hour. From Sugar House it is nearer seventeen miles, and from the University of Utah nearer twenty-two.

Why would I drive to Draper when there are studios in Salt Lake City?

Scale and open time, and nothing else. This is a large studio with a big glaze wall, a room of wheels, hundreds of slab molds and four kilns, and membership includes both instructed classes and open studio. If what you want is one evening on a wheel, a studio in town is the better answer and we will say so.

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. For a single evening, Pottery Night SLC and Workshop SLC both run one night classes in the city.

Can I get there on public transit?

FrontRunner stops at Draper station, roughly two miles away, but the walk from the station takes about thirty minutes because of the rail corridor. Plan on driving, or a short rideshare at the end.

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 studio, and firing is charged by the size of the piece.

What are the class times?

Instructed classes run Monday through Thursday evenings, plus Monday daytime. Friday evening and both weekend mornings are open studio.

Starting

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 join here from Salt Lake City have never touched a wheel.

See membership Read the FAQs

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.