Classes are on the same day for six (6) consecutive weeks

All classes are 6 week sessions, 2.5 hours per session with materials, tools and firing included in the class fee (additional clay can be purchased if needed). Students are given a 4 ft shelf to store their works in progress during each session and will be notified when their wares are ready for pickup! Come explore clay with us!

Meet the Instructors

Alexandra Barao is a potter and educator from Virginia. She received her BFA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2010, and began working with clay a few years later while living in California. Alongside deepening her own practice over the years, she has taught handbuilding and wheelthrowing classes to both children and adults, managed an artist studio space, and worked as a production assistant for other potters. She recently moved back to Virginia and spent the summer as an artist in residence at Cub Creek Foundation in Appomattox, focusing on wood firing and working with local clays. She looks forward to connecting to others through clay back in Richmond.

Carla Pillsbury was introduced to ceramics at VA Tech, College of Architecture, where she became fascinated by the process and intimacy of scale. Since the birth of her child in 2012, her focus shifted away from architecture to ceramics as a lens through which to study domestic life. From her home studio she has produced work for numerous shows and shops around Richmond and beyond. She taught basic wheel throwing and hand building at The ArtHaus in Chesterfield (2017-2020) and has attended an exploratory clay session at Penland School of Craft (2017).

Emily Wicks has been working in ceramics for 15 years. Wicks’ passion for teaching has brought her from teaching at VCUarts, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond and other community organizations to presently teaching in her own studio. Emily works in both installation and functional ceramics; making pieces that focus on the materiality of clay and fiber, the body, and ephemerality.  Most recently she created collections for Na Nin, Celladora Wines and Nothing In Between.

Jessica Cullen enjoys the simplicity and simultaneous complexity of wheel-thrown clay, and takes pride in the details of her craft. She is an organized and process-driven artist, and finds that the medium of clay allows for self-expression and constant challenge and growth. Jess specializes in wheel-thrown functional wares, electric kiln firing, and use of underglazes.

Jess Gary is a Richmond-based ceramicist and designer producing small batch tableware and homewares under the name Nunu Ceramics. Jess discovered clay in 2019 while living in Brooklyn NY and immediately fell in love with the tactile and healing properties of clay. Rooted in the belief that art exists in the everyday, her work is focused on simple, sculptural, functional objects that bring beauty to your daily rituals. Jess utilizes a mix of thrown, altered and handbuilt techniques, as well as wood and atmospheric firing processes. She has taught wheel throwing at Still Life Studios in Los Angeles and has attended clay sessions at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and Touchstone Center for Crafts.

Remy Ciuba took her first wheel throwing class after graduating from VCU in Sculpture + Extended Media. She continues to seek out learning opportunities to further her studio work and pass these new skills on to others. She attended the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in 2018 and Penland school of Crafts in 2019.