On a chilly, sunny afternoon outside City Park Recreation Center, Westminster’s Pottery Studio Coordinator Shannon Long moves his hands with the deliberate rhythm of a craftsman. He butters refractory mortar onto a yellowish brick, setting it, tapping it true with a mallet, then checking the line with a level. On some joints he deviates from the exact science and applies an artist’s touch, solving for a slightly uneven patio floor.
“You can kind of see here, there’s almost an inch and a half of mortar down here,” said Long. “Boy, that was a learning curve, but now it’s all beautifully level,” he added, looking over the bed of bricks he built for a new kiln’s fiery heart.
Long is hand-building a hybrid wood-gas soda kiln, a rare tool for a public studio and the latest chapter in Westminster’s expanding pottery program. Soda firing is a different kind of alchemy, one usually reserved for high-end private studios and artists selling their ceramic wares. An accomplished potter and artisan himself, Long said the new soda-fired pieces coming out of Westminster’s pottery studio will have a “life-like” texture and finish, and he can’t wait to see how residents use this new tool.
Recreation Supervisor Matt Hess watched the pottery program’s evolution over two decades as a Westminster employee and said studio offerings are continuing to grow in popularity.
“Over the last 10 to 12 years, and especially the past five, the studio’s momentum has accelerated,” Hess said. “Classes filled quickly, and waitlists grew. We just had more demand and needed to expand our capacity.”
The pottery program’s expansion can be traced back to a package of 2019 Capital Improvement Project (CIP) funds. While revenue from classes and an operating budget keep supplies on the shelves, the CIP funds have been carefully spent on building necessary infrastructure for future classes.
Among the upgrades were expansion measures such as moving the old kiln outdoors and building a shade structure with room to grow. Additionally, the City also invested in additional pottery wheels and two electric kilns, increasing throughput and raising class caps while protecting the student experience.
“It’s just a unique and rather well-planned program and facility that residents won’t get anywhere else in the area,” Hess said. “With this capital improvement, we were able to take our time and do it the right way.”
City Park Recreation Center has established a pottery pathway for adults and youth, anchored by “Pottery All Levels” classes, intermediate/advanced workshops, and “Pottery Open Time Slots,” affectionately abbreviated to “POTS,” for enrolled students with strong skills to practice independently. Adult classes include 25 pounds of clay, glazes, and two firings, and POTS provides studio time with glazing and firings included (clay sold separately). For families, “Create with Clay” (ages 8–12) and “Pottery on the Wheel” (ages 13–17) add creative skills building and social connection to the mix.
Hess emphasized how the City’s ceramics classes have been shaped by the community, and residents are getting more than just art skills out of the program.
“We’re serving the public by building a comfortable space to be creative in,” Hess said. “It’s rejuvenated peoples’ well-being. We even have one student who is physically limited from an accident, but has found this program and said that the cognitive connections, his brain rewiring because of this process, has been extremely therapeutic for him.”
Much as the students have greatly enjoyed Westminster’s pottery offerings so far, Long is finding joy in building up the future of the program brick by brick. He expects to have the new kiln completed this spring, which means new opportunities and classes are already being molded.
“We’re going to build programming specifically for this kiln,” Long said. “We’ll focus on creating works designed to take advantage of the sodium atmosphere. We’re offering an opportunity for more advanced artists to come in and sit next to our regulars, and then everybody elevates. Everybody bumps up. Everyone benefits.”
Heat and vapor will soon race through the chamber that Long has been building so meticulously. The soda will bloom onto clay, and Westminster’s ceramics community will benefit from a hand-built “forever tool” that stands as a symbol: craftsmanship, creativity, and access to the arts — all forged into one.
How to Join Westminster Pottery
ADULTS (18+)
- Pottery All Levels – Day or evening sessions offered year-round (Includes 25 lbs of clay, glazes, and two firings)
- Clay Explorations & Specialty Workshops – For intermediate/advanced artists: Majolica, Clay Saggar Firing, Marbled Clay
- Pottery Open Time Slots (POTS) – If you’re currently enrolled in a session and have solid skills, practice independently with POTS (Glazing/firings included; clay purchased separately)
YOUTH
- Create with Clay – (Ages 8–12) Handbuilding and wheel throwing basics in a supportive studio setting
- Pottery on the Wheel – (Ages 13–17) Learn throwing techniques and make functional/decorative pieces
FEES
Session Fees
- Resident: $160–$185
- Non-resident: $175–$200
POTS Practice Fees
- $20–$25/session, for currently enrolled students with well-developed skills
Visit westminsterco.gov/191/Art-Classes to see current offerings and to register.