After-School Pottery Program - At Studio Arts Building

Welcome to BLOC pottery & ceramics studio, focused on healing through creative experience. 

Our mission is to connect with our neighbors in love, kindness and courageous creativity. The studio is designed to be an auspicious oasis where all are welcome to slow down and get centered. We find that the practice of pottery serves as a beautiful structure for celebrating impermanence and bringing healing awareness to the present moment. 

Working with clay is a process as complex and cyclic as life itself, and it cannot be rushed. Many elements, such as water, pressure, fire and time must be brought into balance to achieve results. These elements are bestowed with a natural adamancy and they operate without desire. On the other hand, the potter's skill at directing these elements is often outpaced by their own creative aspirations.

It may be humbling when the clay does not behave - such as when the sculpture quietly falls apart again or when the ambitious vase explodes in the kiln, unwitnessed and irreversible. 

Ceramics can also be empowering, when we engender transformation and stumble upon joy. The first time a pot rises up from the wheel. The pride and sweetness when a mug made by one's own hands is raised up to one's own lips. The ancestral, childlike sensation of hands in the mud - the symbolic roots of our very creation.

Pottery, like life, is an experience that asks us to feel deeply. Slow down. When things get messy, breathe. The ceramics we create are a reflection of ourselves, of spirit in form.

At New Earth, we believe everyone can benefit from practicing with clay. The work that is asked of us we pursue both in and out of the studio - to be present and meet the world in grace and love. We strive to cultivate workshops for our neighbors in the West side Price Hill communities that serve their needs, stoke curiosity, and provide space for healing. 

Some of the life-shaping experiences we offer:

• After school open studio for Oyler school K-12 students
• Field trips to a local pottery studio
• Basics of hand building, pottery wheel, glazing and more
• Special interest classes (e.g. ceramic jewelry, birth art, sculpture)
• Adventures in the origins of clay
• Pottery as meditation and therapy
• Gallery and museum tours
• Community fundraising
• Family, one-on-one and group classes

Additionally, we offer studio space to potters and artists in the Cincinnati area who are interested in volunteering with our programs.

 For more information, contact manager Bethany Pelle: bethany.pelle@gmail.com