I've been doing ceramics here since Feb 2025 and it's now June. I absolutely love it. I started right after the new owner Shannon started and it's such a chill, welcoming atmosphere. My class is taught by Abby on Wednesdays, who is really patient, an excellent instructor, and an incredible potter herself. The other teachers are great too - I've admired all their work on the greenware rack and have heard good things from other students. As for price, it's very reasonable - $480 for 6 weeks and you can do benchtime if you need or miss a class. For me it's totally worth it to have a little refuge in my neighborhood to hang out and make things. I've already replaced a bunch of my bowls and mugs with handmade bowls and mugs and my friends are now asking me to make them things since I've gotten a lot better since I first started. If you're thinking about signing up - DO IT! It's so worth it. read more

I've created pottery in 4 different studios around the country. I love the creative, down-to-earth vibe I've found in pottery studios and Earthworks Pottery is the only studio I will not return to. First, they're more expensive than most other studios in New York City. Earthworks is also more tight and cramped than others. There is little room to move around and no place to set your toolbox that is not in someone's way. WORST of all it's a very uptight place with strange, unnecessary, rigid rules and strict, odd policies. There is a high-strung vibe in this studio and you can feel it when you walk through the front door. There is a new owner and a fish stinks from the head. And why post images on social media of beautiful work that was NOT created or photographed in this studio? They steal images from the internet and post as their own. What does that tell you? There are other studios in the city. PLEASE don't come here. read more

I absolutely love Earthworks! I started when Sarah was the owner and I'm so grateful this place exists. (It nearly closed when thankfully a new owner stepped up this year!) It has opened a whole avenue of life for me doing pottery. I was job searching when I started and am forever grateful for the creative outlet and flow states that wheel pottery has provided! I go to class every week and I love the community at this studio. I know someone who went to a 24-hr membership place and while the convenience sounds great, she didn't connect with anyone and people didn't want to be bothered for advice/questions. Not the case at Earthworks where we happily share ideas & welcome new people. I've had 3 different teachers here (due to my schedule changing) and have learned something different from each of them. Special shout out to Stella who has really encouraged me - it can be hard when you're starting out and it takes a while to learn/master many things. That is one thing I really love about pottery - you are always learning! I can't say enough good things about this place and the community. It's a much needed third-space and passion for me. Long live Earthworks! read more

Earthworks Pottery - Art Classes Near Me - New York, New York

took my team here for a team building / social outing - great experience. We made pieces (some better than others !). The instruction was helpful, the owner was accommodating to our varying levels of experience and the studio was well kept. Great gem on the UES. I'll go back individually, or do another team event ! read more

Love this studio so much. The teachers are excellent and the community vibe is very supportive and encouraging for potters at all levels. The new owner, Shannon, is dedicated to maintaining that vibe while also making the studio much cleaner and more efficient. Stella has been my teacher since I started a couple years ago and she's outstanding! I love the process of continuing to learn and grow in this craft and couldn't have picked a better studio in which to do it. read more

Total beginner here. The instructors are great and it's a very chill environment. Loving it so far and would absolutely recommend!

Great pottery studio. The instructors are excellent, and the atmosphere is very fun and friendly.

A gem in this Yorkville neighborhood! I love the relaxed environment with freedom to make whatever you want. Never had an issue where I felt rushed or judged. Communication with Sara (the owner) has been fantastic as well. Usually I email with questions, and she would answer it quickly and thoroughly. As for skill, I would still consider myself a beginner as there are a bunch of seasoned veterans in the studio. Earthworks is great place to hone your ceramics and hand-building skills! I have since moved, but do miss the camaraderie and the environment of Earthworks! read more

I am experiencing some dissonance with starting my review writing with a negative summary. As a generally upbeat and positive person, I have reconciled these feelings by knowing I may prevent other similarly positive people from having a negative experience. I can also make myself feel a tab bit better by starting with the positives, which include: 1. The evening hours of this location are great. 2. You can make up missed class time by substituting studio hours (and get an extra hour to compensate for lack of instruction. 3. During your class time, you can and will learn solid techniques. 4. Many of the students are very friendly and it is a diverse group. Now the downsides: 1. Classes are shorter than other studios in the area (for example, the 92Y offers a 3 hour class rather than a 2 hour session). 2. In the evening class, the instructor will strongly (and sometimes borderline rudely) suggest that you begin to clean up 30 minutes before the end of your class- leaving you with only about 75 minutes of instruction given the set-up time. 3. There are a lot of long time students in the class and it can be difficult to get one-on-one instruction at times depending on the teacher because these students and the very beginners often monopolize time. 4. If you are looking for someone to step in and show you on your piece what you are doing wrong, you are not in the right place. I adjusted to this and it actually helped me in the learning process but this certainly would not be the best atmosphere for most beginners. 5. During studio hours, if you were to show up even a minute early, the owner would leave you waiting outside in the cold with other students until the studio technically opened. There were several times she and the other instructor had coffee and read the newspaper while we shivered outside. On other occasions, they were late to open and never were apologetic. 6. Do not expect any instruction during studio hours. At my old studio, if an instructor was on-hand, you could ask opinions and they were more than happy to help. Customer service at this facility was among the worst I have experienced in NYC. Lastly, to demonstrate the customer service point, I decided to re-register despite points 1-5 above. The skills I was learning were solid and I made friends in the class. The registration fees were not due for over a month but I thought it might help the studio, given the tough economy, to have the money over the holidays. I suggested this to the owner and she proceeded to charge my credit card. The next day, during studio time, the one instructor who occasionally answered my questions informed me he would not be doing so anymore because it was not class time (although I did of course pay the hourly fee they charged students). As a person who goes above and beyond for my clients regularly, I knew I could no longer support an organization that took this approach to customer service. I asked the owner if we could speak. After a very frustrated sigh of "what do you need", I requested a refund for the class. She obliged without asking if there was anything she could do or learn from the experience. She also proceeded to charge me a $20 inconvenience charge even though I had just paid for the class less than 12 hours before and no one else had been precluded from entering the class (since dues were not for well over a month and I had been the first student to pay). A very nominal portion of this went to cover the credit card fees (I believe it was between 1-2). This I was fine paying, the other, only reconfirmed my feelings about the decision. This interaction, in combination with the many of the months I took classes there, left a bad taste in my mouth. I was very worried that perhaps my studio experience in a smaller city (Pittsburgh- check out Pittsburgh Center for the Arts) had spoiled me. Fortunately, I have since joined a class at the 92Y and have found I have not only been exposed to more advanced techniques, but also, that the staff and students couldn't be more welcoming and friendly. I highly recommend this facility as a great alternative. It also has even more flexibility in the hours of classes and caters well to the working woman. I only hope that in this economic climate, Earthworks will improve on their customer service skills. Luxuries, such as art classes, are one of the easiest places for us, the client, to make cuts. Then again, as they will tell you, they have been open for a long time. Maybe NYers have just gotten accustomed to this. Fortunately, I did not. read more

I'd give Earthworks 6 stars if I could! I got hooked on ceramics in college after taking two courses. Upon graduation and moving to NYC, I let pottery slip to the wayside. Consumed with my corporate NYC life, I felt my artistic side slipping away, which is why I decided to take up a pottery class in the city. I picked Earthworks mainly because of location to my apartment. Without a doubt, it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. The group of potters (ranging from beginners to experts) are incredibly welcoming and friendly. It's a low stress and happy environment, and the owner Sara is phenomenal - not a bad bone in her body. They offer lots of different types of classes and workshops to help enrich your glazing skills. Love love love Earthworks! read more

I'm an absolute beginner, and kinda klutzy to boot, but I'm really, really enjoying my classes at Earthworks, and learning a tremendous amount from the very pleasant, helpful and encouraging instructors. Which really makes me scratch my head when I read this other 2-star review. While I agree with all her "upside" comments, I've had a totally different experience when it comes to the issues that lead to her "downside" comments. To wit: 1 - "Only" 2-hours" of class time? Well, that seems plenty long enough to me. I live in the 'hood so I can pop in for bench time during the week. 2 - "Clean-up half an hour before the end of a 2-hour class"? Well, during the first session the instructor informed us newbies we needed to be all cleaned up and out the door by the end of class, and suggested we start cleaning up 15 minutes before the end of class. That's worked out fine. When you consider all that the instructor has to get organized in a mere half hour between classes, a dawdler can really throw a monkey wrench into the process, and negatively impact the students' experience in the next class. So it's just common courtesy to abide by the clean-up time request. 3 - "Long-time/beginner students eating up instructor's attention"? I dunno. It seems like our instructor roams the class, engaging EVERYONE in a discussion about what they're doing, making suggestions, answering questions, giving demonstrations, etc. Personally, I really LOVE the mix of skill levels among my classmates. While I'm learning tons from my instructor, I'm also learning by observing different techniques, different styles, and different basic approaches to the process through the work of the other students. Everyone is very encouraging to one another, and there's lots of sharing of ideas and suggestions back and forth. It's a very pleasant atmosphere, very open and relaxed. No negative vibes whatsoever! 4 - "No demonstration"? Huh? Not in my class! Our instructor demonstrates every step to the other newbies and myself, and observes, comments and assists us as we give it a try. And anyway, the best way to learn is to do-by-self. I've observed lots of demonstrations of more advanced techniques for the more experienced students, too. Our instructor always has time to answer and work out the "How do you..." questions. 5 - I've arrived early for class several times this winter and was NEVER made to stand out in the cold. Weird comment... 6 - "No help during bench time"? Well, it IS supposed to be do-by-self time, not a class. But being a total neophyte, I've asked several studio supervisors questions during bench time hours and always get a pleasant, helpful response. My husband gave me a set of lessons as an Xmas gift and it's the best gift he's given me in 30 years of marriage! There's terrific camaraderie among the students which I feel is the result of the positive, happy, helpful, knowledgeable vibe of studio on the whole. I can only speak as a beginner, but I just can't imagine a better place to do pottery. And something tells me this is a pretty universal assessment, given the wide range of skill levels among my fellow classmates, who've kept coming back for more classes. I intend to do so, too! read more

The studio is lovely and Lynn, who is the teacher, is pleasant and efficient in attending to all the students who come. After waiting 6 years to finally find the time, I signed up for a wheel class, only to discover that a shoulder injury made it much too painful to continue. I got in touch with Sara, the owner, who couldn't give a hoot. A contract is a contract she said, and too bad, making me pay 2/3 of the 10 class fee for my one lesson. Not neighborly, and not nice. Had there been a trial lesson, I would have learned right away, but that's not what this is about. it's about money, and as much as I had hoped to return once my injury is healed, I won't now because it's just all about money! Truly too bad. read more

Before beginning my classes at Earthworks, I had never ever made pottery of any kind before. I was the beginner of all beginners. However, being at Earthworks was the best place to be for this. I took eight classes during the summer and there were only about 5 or 6 other students in the class. Some had been doing pottery for years, some not so long, and me... I was clueless when I first started! But, that was okay. Being in a class with such diversity proved to be quite beneficial as I learned a lot from fellow students. The environment was very peaceful, friendly, and helpful... I never felt embarassed that it took me ummm, a gazillion times to even just center a piece of clay. I also liked being able to see so many different types of creations being made... simple mugs to something as complex as a fancy sangria pitcher. As for the instructor, Sara (the owner) really took her time to teach and model the methods thoroughly. With such a small class, people easily worked at their own pace/level as Sara circulated the room to help individuals as they needed it. read more

This is a cozy & warm pottery studio. They have amazingly patient & encouraging teachers and the environment is very friendly. I was very fortunate to start my pottery in this studio and found a very wonderful teacher. For me, sitting on a wheel is a meditation and I always looked forward to my classes. read more

Earthworks is fantastic. If you're looking for a pottery studio, look no further. The classes are excellent, the teachers skilled and know how to teach you how to make a variety of things. Everyone is super friendly and eager to help. It's a great community of people and an amazing relaxing and fun experience learning to throw on the wheel! read more

An oasis in the middle of a loud busy city, this studio is wonderful for beginners as well as advanced potters. The teachers are inspiring and responsive and there is often time before and after class to work more if needed. My favorite part is the owner's, Sara's, contagious laugh and smile, which puts everyone at ease and contributes to the encouraging nature of the studio. Sara, in addition to being an effective owner and talented teacher is also a skilled potter, who creates beautiful and inspiring pieces, for sale at the studio. read more