If you think ceramics are a now-nostalgic craze of the 1970s, you should think again. Ceramics are back in a big way — and they’re going to get a lot bigger when BKLYN Clay opens up its flagship studio in Brooklyn this fall.
After a first iteration in Sunset Park, BKLYN Clay will open a 5,260-square-foot studio at 535 Carlton in Pacific Park on Oct. 1 to offer members of all skill levels access to state-of-the-art equipment, workshops, drop-in classes and more — 24/7/365.
“It sort of falls in the category of WeWork for the creative arts where people, especially in New York, can’t really have studio space,” founder Jennifer Waverek said. “You get to this place where with ceramics studios where there are very limited hours and times you can work. This is a great resource for people who are just playing with it or toying with it or using it as therapy to take one class — or people who are artists and want to incorporate ceramics into their work. We’re trying to address the whole spectrum of clay worker, and it creates this beautiful community.”
BKLYN Clay’s studio will be on the ground level of 535 Carlton and will have room for 200 members, “and we have over 200 people on our waitlist,” Waverek added.
While members run the gamut from kids to seniors, Waverek found that BKLYN Clay “really manages to hit this young group of people discovering ceramics and entering this new era of ceramics.”
For more info, visit bklynclay.com.
Ceramics, trapeze, watches, oh my: 5 other creative classes you can take in NYC
Ceramics classes like those BKLYN Clay will offer when it opens its new studio this fall aren’t the only creative classes New Yorkers can take. Here’s a sampling of some other unique offerings:
• Watchmaking
Wondering how your mechanical watch works? There’s been a class for that since the ’50s thanks to the Horological Society of New York. Students can disassemble and reassemble a watch, learn the science behind watchmaking and more.
• Glassblowing
At Brooklyn Glass, students can take one-day, weekend or multi-week classes in everything from glassblowing and flameworking to making neon letters.
• Trapeze
At the Trapeze School New York, students can sail through the air on a trapeze, twirl on silks, learn acrobatics, bounce on a trampoline and more.
• Axe-throwing
If you feel like throwing something, there are places where you can actually throw an axe in New York — without, you know, getting in a lot of trouble. Check out Kick Axe Throwing in Gowanus and Gotham Archery.
• Confetti celebration
Need to remember there’s still much to celebrate during life in these times of strife? Enter the Confetti Project’s 10-minute photoshoots in which participants are doused with confetti. Try not smiling, we dare you.
