I want to share a terrific find at the corner of Olympic & 17th. It's Brentwood Art Center and they…read moreoffer an array of adult classes. I've been taking the handbuilding pottery class (as opposed to the wheel throwing class which they also offer). The handbuilding classes are taught by an incredible artist named Rob Homsy who is a patient and fun instructor. There is an assortment of people in his classes - all ages and an array of skills. Some of us are total beginners and others could sell their pottery because it's so great. What I especially love about this class is that Rob doesn't do the thing where "this week we're making wind chimes" and that's what the entire class must do. He definitely teaches us all of the basics and suggests what we may want to build, but he also genuinely supports whoever wants to make a giant cup, or an elephant for a gift, or a planter, or whatever one really has their mind set on. I will never be a great potter but I'm having such fun in the classes and working with many nice people. Classes are on a monthly schedule but you can enroll at any point. I take the Tuesday class from 1 PM - 4 PM but they also have an evening class. The phone number is (310) 451-5657 and the link is https://www.brentwoodart.org

Great instructors with excellent art backgrounds. Friendly good space. Interesting classes .read more

Had an amazingggg time here! I joined an online women's group for activities and get togethers and…read moreone of them organized for us to do a class here. Had taken ceramics in college for a whole semester but really could not remember a single thing...so was super excited for this. We got Joy as our teacher for a single session of no frills, basic pottery class and she was great. She was patient and pretty friendly to all of us beginners. Class was super organized. You grab your aprons, your wheel, your slab of clay and watch her demo. You go step by step because some steps will cause you to "lose it all" lol. She explained that their typical classes would allow you to see your clay through from a blob all the way to the firing process which takes several sessions of classes (gotta wait for things to dry etc). There is also a little board with all the firing colors and oxidization/reduction differences which is cool to see it nearly organized. I remember in school there were just huge vats of color hanging around for us to visualize. Afterwards we all helped clean up and labeled our pottery. Entire session was about 2-3 hours. Our bowls will likely be finished in a month after they dip them and fire them up for us. Would totally come back for more classes if they weren't so far... We also had some snacks and drinks some people had brought along but typically I don't think there would be much eating involved...hands are dirty. Theres also a parking lot so parking is handled.

If you're looking for the most amazing pottery wheel apron, you MUST buy their Claypron apron. It…read moreis so practical with its split leg design and so cute - comes in various colors. Customer service is great!

I took the intro class and it was amazing…read more My instructors were Jim, Kim, Todd. They were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. They kept it fun and creative. We got to make a badass cutting board! Price: very reasonable for a full day of learning. No need to pay for materials in this one. Equipment and facility was impressive. Plenty of machinery to use, not too long of a wait Location: downtown, parking was abundant.

I came here for an intro class after having had a bad experience at another woodshop in LA…read more Good Lord-- this class was a revelation! It shot the other woodshop class out of the god-forsaken waters! The instructors (Todd, Briana, and Cam) were incredibly kind, patient, knowledgeable, generous, welcoming, fun, and funny as hell. Their communication skills were stellar. They offered us complimentary snacks and drinks during the breaks, and even gave us a measuring tape souvenir to take home. The studio is equipped with a wide variety of impressive woodworking tools, which the instructors clearly showed us how to safely and effectively operate. Overall, I highly recommend this place for a excellent introduction to woodwork!

I just loved this studio. I was looking for an adult water color class and was instead lead to the…read morevision board class. It was such a pleasant surprise. Montine is an excellent facilitator for these classes; her sweetness and warmth make everyone feel comfortable and I learned a lot about myself during our short three visit sessions. Long story even longer, I highly recommend this studio to anyone who is looking to make their life a little richer. Lots of love for this studio! GO!

Hi all! Just do it! If you have been procrastinating like me you don't have to. Just do it! I…read moresigned up for PYGO(paint your guts out) through groupon and I was very satisfied! I met nice people, had fun, and learned a lot about watercolor and so much more. I recommend Montine's classes to everyone with or without experience. She is very knowledgable, sincere, and patient and makes classes lots of fun! The "gift" was that I learned it's ok to have fun and learn at the same time. You will not be disappointed if you take a class at PYGO! "Just do it"!,, Linda. ;()-

The best art teacher. Rama is very talented! I am so appreciative of the space Rama has given my…read moredaughter. A personal experience no one can duplicate. You will not find a better art teacher. Her and her son are truly loving and good people.

Rama and West LA Art Center is truly amazing. This place is life changing and transformational…read more Rama, the owner and art teacher has been a mentor, support system, and the most amazing art teacher. I have been going to her for over 10 years and the level of respect I have for her is unmatched. She not only is an amazing human being, but she is an amazing artist herself who teaches you the fundamentals of drawing, painting, and beyond. I have made masterpieces with her and she guides you through it all! She puts her students first and makes sure they succeed in every single way. It is a privilege to be one of Rama's long standing students. I have also been able to help her grow her business and she is such a pleasure to work with. Her energy, her calming presence, and love for her job makes painting so enjoyable. I am so ever grateful for Rama and her work! I only want to see Rama succeed and grow her business even more. I am so grateful for her and I hope anyone has the privilege to take at least one of her classes!

I'm a bit annoyed at the overall disorganization and blasé approach that this studio has…read more I took a one-hour bowl making class in February and was pretty disappointed. The instructor seemed inconvenienced at helping novice learners, offering those who messed up to give them a "demo bowl" to push them out rather than just assisting them in making a new bowl. Everything was rushed and it seems like they took the class/shift with disdain. People in the class would look around confused, as they thought it was an hour-long class, but we were being pushed out at the 45 minute mark. I got a notification that our bowls were ready for pickup. The pickup pile is a shelf with 50 different pieces, all with different dates. Some have names, some don't. Never got my bowl because it wasn't there. Tried to message and they are out of office for 5 days. After I left this review they told me I can come into the studio to find my bowls. Came back, still not there! Asked for them to be shipped, absolute silence.

I was signed up for the bowl ceramic class by Renaissance. I didn't even really think about it that…read moreit was Valentine's day, so in the end I was the only person who was by myself, while everyone else was with a partner on a date there LOL. Parking was easy, there is a street around the corner near the crosswalk with plenty of street parking spots that are free. The building is very large and spacious with plenty of room for many people to come and do pottery/ceramics projects. I was there around 6pm and it was not crowded at all, there were plenty of spots open and available for people to use. Upon arrival, there were no signs and nobody greeted me, or the people who filtered in after me. We all kinda stood around wondering, but we couldn't tell who was an employee and who was just a regular person there. People would look up and smile at us or stare at us but nobody said anything until precisely the start time of the class, then suddenly the instructor came to get us. It would have been nice to maybe have a sign such as "please wait for instructor here" or something like that. Once class started though, super fun! The instructor was down to earth, friendly, and patient with us going from station to station to assist everyone as we performed each step. I loved getting my hands dirty and I loved the ease of following the step by step instructions. Watching my bowl take shape was so fun. Learning how to control the pedal speed and how much pressure to apply to the clay to get the shape you want was pretty cool. My favorite part was creating the inside of the bowl and watching the sides of the bowl thin upwards. At the end, you get to choose between several colors of glaze and they will email us to come back to pick up our bowls once they are glazed and dried. I chose Midnight Black to match my kitchen colors. I cannot wait to pick it up when it's ready!

It was a fun and creative experience at the LA location but I have to share my experience from top…read moreto bottom because it could have been better for what it cost. I bought a pair of $150 'student' tickets as a fun activity for me and my boyfriend. We planned a trip to LA from Seattle, so we included this in our itinerary as it takes the majority of the day. A day before the actual class, I emailed both the 'contact' and 'support' emails online which happened to be the same person who responded (founder, Ruben Barraza). I ended up not finding a pair of shoes I wanted to customize, so I reached out to see if I could just use my 'student' ticket as a 'guest' pass which is essentially a downgrade just to watch/ help my boyfriend with his shoes and get credit for the $70 difference to use for laces or anything extra he might get. The response to my email was super brief, brash and dismissive. There was some back and forth considering I emailed well before the 12-hour policy to see if there was a work around. Mind you, I wasn't asking to reschedule nor could I since we were visiting, and I wasn't asking for a refund--I read the policy carefully before purchasing and was well aware there are no refunds. I was simply asking to do what I was intending to do anyway, which was attend the class--just without a pair of shoes. The owner basically stated that there's no store credit according to the site which actually didn't state that at all, and they can't accommodate and suggested bringing a pair of shoes further reinforcing the fact that he didn't read my initial email stating that I didn't find any in time, which was really disappointing and BS customer service considering that he already had my money and I wasn't asking for anything extra. I get setting standards but that's a scheisty and greedy business model. About the actual class, I ended up going in and letting one of the operators know my situation and they were super cool with it like it was no big deal. Surprising considering my conversation with the owner. The class itself was set up really well, there was a whiteboard with a breakdown of the class with time codes of what the process was and how long each step should take. They went over the materials available and others that could be purchased and it was fun and a breeze. The instructors consistently came around, checked in on us throughout the class, gave some great tips and helped create or complete people's designs and were super personable and charismatic. Great people overall. The downside was that I bought a pair of SB Dunk Triple Whites for the project and after spending a good amount of time designing and painting, we gave the shoes to one of the instructors to sew on the fabric swoosh cut outs, and it came out super crappy. The stitching wasn't even at all and it looked botched. At that point undoing it would've ruined the paint and would have just been more of an ordeal. I've used sewing machines before and I knew that the instructor forgot to put the foot of the machine down, and I even heard the other instructor letting him know on someone else's pair. I think paying $150 per person a class, the instructors should have those basics down. Unfortunately, we were pretty bummed with the outcome so I tried to cover up the edges of the swoosh with more paint and glitter and it just came out looking bad overall. So to anyone going, I would suggest going in with an inexpensive, basic pair of shoes because I felt like I wasted money both on the shoes and the class on the Triple Whites that got botched. Based on the videos of the classes and what they post on instagram, I just didn't expect that to happen. Anyway, still a cool class to take but the customer service from the owner could definitely use improvement and making sure the instructors are skilled and paying attention to their sewing would definitely lend to a better experience.

Had an amazing time designing our sneakers. Manny & Superman were so helpful and gave us great…read moresuggestions. Something different & fun to do in L.A. Would highly recommend doing this for date night.

This was my daughter's first time at FCLA. I had many conversations with Courtney prior to…read moreenrolling her because of her cognitive delays. Courtney reassured me that the days would be fun and very lay back. My daughter had an amazing week. She put together a mood board, Designed (on paper) 2 cohesive lines. She really committed to completing the week. Thanks to Courtney, her staff and guest speaker. If you have a child 14-17 this camp is an awesome experience!

I am a 20 year veteran of the fashion world (marketing & PR) and was contacted by FCLA and asked to…read morespeak to the campers about careers in the fashion world. I was really impressed with the operation! After my talk, I walked around and asked the campers to look at their portfolios - I was blown away. Their sketches, inspiration and mood boards were way beyond what I expected. I think the concept is so fun and I wish that I had this because I always loved fashion and would have loved the opportunity to have started earlier - even as a hobby!