Pottery Classes Near South Jordan, Utah
The Clay Hole is a community pottery studio in Draper, a few minutes south of South Jordan. Wheels, hand building, slab molds, the glaze wall and firing, on a single 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 South Jordan
South and slightly east. If you can get to the District you can get here, and it is not much further.
- South on I-15 from 10600 South, or south on Bangerter Highway.
- I-15 to Exit 289, Bangerter Highway, or Bangerter straight to its south end.
- 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.
Roughly three miles down the grid and a few west. Ten minutes off peak. From the far west side near Daybreak it is longer, and there is a separate page for that.
South Jordan FrontRunner and the Red Line both run, but neither lands close enough to walk from. Plan on driving.
When you get here
Parking is free and shared with a few other businesses. Anything not marked reserved for one of them is yours, and it is a great deal easier than the District on a Friday night.
The man who settled this town was a blacksmith
Alexander Beckstead came from Ontario in 1859 and the street by the Gale Center still carries his name. A blacksmith is someone who makes things out of a material that only cooperates at the right temperature, which is a description a potter will recognize.
The land here is dead flat, and that is not an accident. It is Lake Bonneville sediment, laid down and levelled by a lake that is no longer there. Every other town in the valley is on a bench. South Jordan is on a lakebed.
It is also the first municipality in the world to have two temples, which is the kind of statistic a city puts on its own website, and does.
The local shorthand
SoJo is not slang somebody made up. The city government uses it, on its own festival. If a page calls it that, it is because the city does.
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.
Everything here is somewhere to buy something
The District is 120 acres and 852,000 square feet of retail across three city blocks with a twenty screen cinema. It is a good place to spend an evening and it is a good place to spend money.
What South Jordan is short of is the other kind of evening. The one where you make something instead of choosing something.
Ten minutes south there is a room with 29 wheels and a wall of glaze, and the only thing you leave with is what you made.
- 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 nothing has to come home wet.
- Teenagers 14 and over can join alongside a parent who is also a member.
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 South Jordan
We are not the only option from South Jordan. Here is what else is within reach, honestly described.
- Paint your own
Color Me Mine West Jordan
3751 W Center Park Dr, a few minutes north of you. You choose a finished piece and decorate it. Much lower commitment and a completely different thing from making it.
- Make your own
Cottonwood Clay Studio
7587 S State St in Midvale, northeast across the valley. Taught classes Monday through Friday. Their open studio is for people enrolled in a current class, which is the main structural difference from us.
- Make your own
Bella Rosa Pottery
In Herriman to the southwest. Eight week courses rather than a membership, plus shorter Clay Nights. Good if you want a fixed run with a finish line.
We could not find a studio inside South Jordan city limits where you make the piece yourself, which is surprising for a city of 77,000. If we have missed one, tell us and it goes on this page.
What people from South Jordan ask
How far is The Clay Hole from South Jordan?
About three miles down the grid from the middle of the city, ten minutes off peak. From the west side near Daybreak it is longer and there is a separate page for that.
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 no way 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 unlike most of what is sold on this side of the valley it is not a subscription to anything.
Do you take beginners?
Most of the room has been doing this for under a year. Every instructed class has instructors working the room, so a first night is a first night rather than an hour of being politely lost.
What are the class times?
Instructed classes Monday through Thursday evenings plus Monday daytime. Friday evening and both weekend mornings are open studio. Ten minutes south puts a Tuesday evening well inside reach.
Is there parking?
Yes, and free. Shared lot on Pony Express Road, and a great deal easier than the District on a Friday night.
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 South Jordan 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.