The Clay Studio
24 hour access to creativity

Clay Studio Master Calendar
Check here to see if the Studio is reserved for a class or camp,
or if a community or work day is scheduled!

All About the Clay Studio at Crossings

Adult Pottery Classes

Class Cancellation/Refund Policies

Crossings' clay studio was created to allow clay artists and potters of all levels to explore their creativity and work in a supportive environment.

The advantages of becoming a clay studio member are more than just access to equipment and workspace - you get to join a clay community where ideas, inspiration and laughter are generously shared. Above all, the most important thing is to have fun!

In the Clay Studio you'll find great natural light, and space for working in clay, whether you're working on the wheel or handbuilding.

Membership Benefits:
24 hours, 7 days a week access to a bright studio space equipped with 8 electric pottery wheels; wedging table and extruder; on-site kiln firing and access to studio glazes and studio tools; personal shelf space.

Our kiln is electric/atmospheric environment which fires to cone 6. Clay for members costs $12 + tax for 25 pounds.

Clay bodies available at Crossings:
Buff stoneware
Midfire white
Mid range oxidation body
Raku
Mid range oxidation body with manganese
Buff stoneware/ochre
Superwhite

Glazes:
A huge variety of underglazes and cone 6 glazes are available. Special requests accommodated when possible!

Clay studio members have the opportunity to to display work for sale in our gallery and to participate in three annual sales: Art in East Park in June, Crossings' Annual Open House in November, and the Artists' Clearing House in the Spring!

A profile page on our website for interested members.

A full one year studio membership is $55 per month (students $45/month) plus a one-time refundable security deposit of $100.

If you sign up for a Clay Studio membership while taking a wheel class, you will receive $30 off your first two months of membership. Save $60!

Pottery Classes
Please scroll down!
Classes are listed below
Please call 507-732-7616 to register

Pottery Wheel with Amy Cass
Thursday, 6 - 8:30pm.
May 9 through June 20 (skip June 13).
Six sessions: $148.
Materials fee: $16 (25# clay)
Firing fees: $3 per piece.

For any level potter – beginners and advanced.

Dive into a six-week-long adventure exploring pottery wheel techniques with Master Potter Amy Cass. You will get the personal one-on-one help you need to 'get your hands dirty' and move into pottery. Experienced throwers will refine the skills of centering, throwing & trimming. Beginners will learn the basics of wheel-thrown pottery and develop the skills necessary to throw a pot - and to become a clay studio member if you choose!

There are six actual classroom sessions. Students will also have 2 1/2 hours per week of free studio time (during regular shop hours) for practice and trimming (the goal is to have as much time as possible working on throwing during class time). Crossings is open until 8pm on Thursdays.

Amy Cass received a B.A. in Art Education from the University of Iowa. She taught high school art at Lourdes High School in Rochester, MN. When Amy moved to Sioux Falls, SD in 1985, she spent the next 20 years as a painter specializing in Trompe l’oeil.

In 2003 Amy changed her medium from painting to ceramics. Drawing on her past education and by reverting to the ‘student’ again, she honed her pottery skills. Amy has attended many workshops at the Northern Clay Center, MN and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO. She has studied under Walter Ostrom, U. of Nova Scotia and Ursala Hargens, U. of MN. She is a member of NCECA and MNWCA.

Currently working out of her home studio, Amy sells her utilitarian pottery in retail stores and via her website, amycasspottery dot com. She is also working one day/week at Red Wing Stoneware where she is a production potter under the mentorship of Art Gannett.

Pottery Boot Camp! One-Day Wheel Intensives
Sundays, Noon- 6pm. Upcoming sessions: July 28, September 8, November 3.
$59 per session.
Crossings Clay Studio members: $49 per session.
Optional: 25 pounds of clay, $16; Kemper Tool kit: $17.90; firing fees: $3.00 per piece.
What to bring: an old towel!

This series of classes is open to students at any level of experience, although some background on the potter's wheel is preferred. The focus is purely on learning to expand your skills on the potter's wheel. Considerable time is spent with demos and explanation, focusing on understanding clay, and also understanding the structural considerations involved in making specific shapes. Much of the class time will be devoted to individual instruction according to students' needs. By popular demand, a new addition to the Boot Camp class will be instruction in trimming.

During the six hour sessions, students can take breaks at their discretion.

Clay for these exercises is supplied at no charge by Red Wing Stoneware and returned afterwards for reprocessing. Students wishing to keep any pots must use their own clay for this purpose. Clay is available for sale at Crossings.

Art Gannett is an instructor at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. He has been making pots for 30 years. He has studied the ceramic arts at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls and in Germany at the pottery of Wendelin Stahl. Gannett is currently the senior thrower at Red Wing Stoneware, and creates his own work in Pepin, Wisconsin, at the Little Plum Pottery.

The Dynamic Art of Raku: A Ceramic Workshop

Create your own piece of ceramic art, and have the opportunity to fire it using the dynamic and exciting Raku method.

Everyone from beginners to experts are welcome. Raku firing is a unique process that creates results different from traditional electric or gas firing. The rapid heating and reduction (removal of oxygen through combustion) of glazes gives a wide range of results, from the black smoke staining of the clay to iridescent shimmering metallics. It is a very hands-on process, from looking in the heating kiln to check temperature progress to pulling hot artwork out of the kiln and plunging it into metal trash cans for rapid cooling.

Instructor Lisa Truax is an Assistant Professor of Art at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. She received her BA in Studio Art and Graphic Design from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and her MFA in Ceramics from Michigan State University. Her work has been exhibited regionally and nationally in a variety of solo and group exhibitions. Lisa has been teaching ceramics and other art methods for 10 years, and enjoys teaching and bringing the experience of working with clay to students, from beginners to advanced levels.

Raku Firing, a Hands On Experience:
Saturday, May 18, 10am - 4:30pm.
Cost: $59 plus $20 materials fee.

Students will take their previously fired bisqueware and glaze, using raku glazes, and fire in a portable raku kiln. More experienced students can also bring pieces made independently to raku fire; stoneware and raku clays work best. Raku techniques, materials and glazing, and processes will be covered.

The firing is done outdoors using propane. Raku firing is a dynamic and exciting process where bisque-fired work that has been glazed using special raku glazes is rapidly heated to approximately 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. It is then removed from the kiln, using tongs and other metal tools, and is then placed into a trash can with combustible materials such as newspaper to achieve rapid reduction, creating unique glaze results. Each firing takes approximately 90 minutes from start to finish; 45 minutes to fire, and 45 minutes for the work to cool down in a reduction container. The kiln can be reloaded after about 30 minutes of cool down time.

Each student will have the opportunity to fire (4) 6” pieces, or (2) 12” pieces per $20 supply fee. If you have more work to fire, simply sign up for more firings. Please let us know when registering how many pieces you’d like to fire so we can calculate firing times.

Pottery Wheel with Katie Smither
Tuesdays, 6 - 8:30pm. July 9 through August 13.
Six sessions: $140.
Materials fee: $36, if needed (includes 25# of clay and Kemper Tool Kit).
Firing fees: $3.00 per piece.
What to bring: an old towel!

Join a pottery wheel class and let our seasoned and talented instructor Katie Smither guide you step-by-step to the joys of creating on the pottery wheel.

You will get the personal one-on-one help you need to 'get your hands dirty' and move into pottery. Learn and refine the skills of centering, throwing & trimming on the potters wheel. You will learn the basics (even if you're a complete beginner!) of wheel-thrown pottery and develop the skills necessary to throw a pot -and to become a clay studio member if you choose!

Instructor: Katie Smither. Katie says ceramics is the art form that has most allowed her to explore her thoughts in a more tactile way and to express her creativity in a challenging and rewarding way. Trained at the Berea College Ceramic Production Studio, she maintains a studio in Rochester.