Went to a past holiday sale here. One of the staff members (guy who looks like the Gordon…read moreFisherman) was being racist as hell! Telling us that we didn't belong there, that the sale was meant for a more upscale crowd, etc. It was really unbelievable because he was probably just an instructor but I'm a professional who went to the Ivy in New York City and my cousins are Harvard grads, and not the damn ceramics school FFS (law, architecture, etc.) Menial staff needs anti racism training.

If you're looking for a place to use raku kilns, soda kilns, reduction, and oxidation firings,…read moreyou're in luck. The Harvard Ceramics Program has great facilities. They also have a huge main studio area with lots of wheels (maybe 20 or so), an extruder, slab roller, and table space. Shelf space for those in classes is limited, but if you're not working big, you can usually find a spot. They also make their own glazes in the studio, and if you're advanced enough you can make some, too. Why only 3 stars? This is a very difficult studio to come into if you're experienced and want to get involved. There's red tape to be able to use the studio outside of paying $840 per semester's tuition. You pretty much have to take one of their classes until you can take the test to use the kiln and get approved for independent study (which still costs the same!). It's a very busy studio with lots of rental space for serious artists, so they're not doing any begging to get people involved. You do get free clay and a decent amount of free firings with the class, though. Bummer that you have to be enrolled in a workshop to use the soda kiln. All that said, this place is great for the serious artist who wants to invest some time and $ into a studio. If you're a Harvard student, this is the best deal out there, as classes cost next to nothing! But if you're in the general public and you have lots of time to put into a studio, get ready to pay the big bucks because this is a great studio to be a part of. You can work almost all the time (though never on Sunday evenings) and you can get a lot out of your time there. PS. no easy parking, but you can park on N Harvard St or on Western Ave and walk, it just seems a little sketchy at night time to walk through all the parked maintenance vehicles and the warehouse-y area--never had any issues, though.

my kids LOVED this place . tons of options and a great atmosphere. Highly recommend. Was really…read moreglad we stumbled on it during the heat wave!

" a great place to paint as an " adult "; relieve stress "…read more Oh wow I found this place where you can paint in the mall ; yes even adults. In the back they have a table ; adults can paint . In the front it's just for kids. The prices are very reasonable. So you purchase your ceramic for whatever the price is . Then you pay a $5.00 fee for the paint . Then you paint away . How cool is that. . It's such a stress free experience. Go give it a shot . The staff is attentive and helpful . I definitely will be back again . Very grateful for the wonderful warm welcome . I didn't want to leave but I got to go home. lol

Trudi loves what she does and it shows. She's patient, creative and keeps the classes engaging…read more Highly recommend for anyone looking to inspire a young designer! The fun factor is off the charts! My daughter has been going for years and it is the highlight of her week.

Wonderful experience for daughters birthday party. Trudi and her daughter Phoebe are both…read moreincredible hosts and humans, and would recommend with 6 stars if possible. So chill. So creative. So memorable.

The Writers' Loft is the nerve center of my writing life. The growing community is supportive, the…read moreclasses and events are relevant and affordable, and the physical writing space is serene. Membership is not necessary to participate in all of the varied offerings, but I recommend it. Sherborn, a pretty little town that borders Wellesley, is easy to access via routes 16 and 9. I frequently drive 40 minutes to go to The Writers' Loft. It's worth it.

Loved Valerie! She came to the child care center where my younger siblings go to and did a very…read moreengaging and fun activity with the children. I could see that they were all having so much fun and I would highly recommend Jumpstart Art Club to anyone looking for a great teacher. Valerie is the best!

My lucky little toddlers have the pleasure of visiting Ms. Valerie in our Child Care Center's Art…read moreStudio twice a week and boy oh boy do they love her! Valerie always has unique, creative, developmentally appropriate activities planned for children of all ages at many day care locations in the Boston area. She definitely has a creative, fun way of teaching all types of art and the children clearly love her as they ask each day if it is an "art studio" day.

Eli Portman is a terrific teacher! And both the Eliot street and amory street locations are very…read morecomfortable, with easy parking.,,

It makes me sad to write this review, especially since I felt the possibilities of a community…read moreatmosphere at the Eliot school, but I was really disturbed by the use of the words, to me in the last email by the Assistant Director, Jean - "At this point, I think we just need to part ways." (when someone who's providing a service to you says that - HUGE RED FLAG!) So, I signed up for private lessons with Joe for $65/hour. This was expensive for me, but I really needed to get a project done for a deadline. I was clear about what I wanted a small model of a house, with all mitered joints, because I was going to use it to cast a model. I even brought paper patterns. Joe met with me and said it was do-able. We did the first session of three hours, one of which he gave me an hour free, it seemed to go well. (I got the hour free - because the the machines here aren't so good - so its not your fault, his words) We didn't finish so I suggest we meet again. An hour into the next session, Joe proclaimed that the project was not do-able and too complicated, because there isn't a left-handed table saw. He even took my piece and attempting to go forward, took it the sander and wanted to sand it down to 45 degrees (yikes). Anyhow, so I decided to cut my losses and say, okay let's stop. He decided not to charge me for this hour. So I left with a pile of wood, and also broken-hearted, because I had really wanted to complete this piece. So, I wrote Jean, asking if I could get my money back, because I was clear about what I wanted in my project and felt like I should have been told that my project was not do-able from the beginning or at minimum, warned. Not have my project unfinished, after I had spent $130, 4 hours of time, and $30 on materials. And on top of it, I now need to find and pay someone to build this model. It wasn't anything personal against Joe, he was a nice guy, but more about professionalism. For example, if you had a contractor who said they could do something, they wouldn't walk away midway through the project and say it was too hard, leaving you hanging. Same concept. But instead, I got an email that from Jean that said, we are NOT refunding you, but (as if I had won a prize) we aren't charging you for the extra two hours Joe gave you, and "at this point, I think we just need to part ways."

The school is a jewel! The class size is small and therefore personal. The instructors are smart,…read moretalented and impart the knowledge needed to improve your art skills. I highly recommend this school

Suppose if you rent the place out, this is the business but for classes, not so much. Everyone…read morewho's rented or who's a resident seemed to be very happy. We did two classes so far, neither teacher was great. The glass blowing class was super hands-off. We only got to actually manipulate the glass 3 times for the cost we paid. The flameworking class was better, but we moved too fast and I don't think I took away any skills outside of just having a generic overview of it. If I went back tomorrow, I probably will have forgotten anything I got from it last weekend.

Recently several friends and I signed up for Friday Night Fun with Glass Blowing: Saint Paddy's…read moreBeer Glass with the Worcester Center for Crafts/New Street GlassWorks. Both the Center for Crafts and New Street GlassWorks are affiliated with Worcester State University. The New Street GlassWorks is equipped with a glass furnace that keeps 400 pounds of clear glass melted and ready for instant red-hot use. Three "glory holes" are cranked up as needed for glassblowers making use of the hot shop. There's also a cold shop, a mold shop, a flat shop, six rental studios and a flame working studio. The cost for our class was very reasonable (about 80$) and it was a fun way to spend a Friday night with friends. Our instructors were Caitlin , Emory and Ian. After a quick safety lesson, description of the tools and equipment, Caitlin got to work demonstrating what we would soon be doing ourselves. They regularly reminded us about safety because of how easy it is to get burned. If you are not careful with molten glass heated to about 2000 it isn't hard to see how you could get burned given how closely you are while were working with the materials. We had two options; we could make a colored beer stein with a handle or we could make a clear beer stein with a green shamrock. I decided on the clear beer stein since I didn't want a handle and I thought it would be cooler to have a clear glass to see my beer in. I went first and I was paired with Emory as my instructor and assistant. Emory had a great personality and immediately put me at ease. He made the process both fun and informative. I am absolutely going to take another class here and can't wait for my next experience.