The Pottery at Follow Your Art is a full service pottery studio in Melrose, MA, where you can learn hand-building, wheel-throwing, and glazing while deepening your pottery practice in a welcoming and inclusive community of creatives. 

Taking a pottery class at FYACS also supports a mission-driven non-profit committed to offering creative endeavors for all, with opportunities for learning, growth, discovery, and outreach through visual arts, craft, writing, and performance.

At FYACS, we are committed to inclusivity and diversity in the arts and strive to create an accessible and welcoming environment for people of all identities, abilities, cultural backgrounds, and economic situations.

Through our Arts for All program, FYACS offers a robust financial aid program, offering as many as four scholarships per individual per year for any class or program hosted by FYACS. We also offer adaptive services for people with various needs, whether physical, cognitive, or linguistic. You can learn more about our Adaptive Services here.  

Class fees cover instruction time, materials (clay and glazes) and firing costs. Pottery classes are generally more expensive than other art classes due to the costs of specialized equipment (ex. tools, wheels, kilns, regular upkeep), background technical support (ex. clay reclaim, glazing for kid classes, firing kilns), and overhead (ex. space, electrical costs).

Yes! Tuition Assistance is available on all clay programs through Arts for All.

While EBT/WIC card-holders are automatically eligible for at least a 50% discount off of classes and workshops, our tuition assistance funds are open to diverse levels of need. At FYACS, we try our best to make sure our programs are accessible to all. Awards have ranged from 10%-80% off. 

Learn more and complete a simple application for tuition assistance here. We review applications on a rolling basis and have a limited amount of funds each session. 

Yes! Adaptive Services (such as curricular, learning, language, physical, and/or space modifications) are potentially available on all clay programs through Arts for All. Learn more and complete a simple form to tell us about your needs here.

Our Studio on the side of the Big Yellow House is cozy and perfect for those looking for a more personalized clay experience! The studio has four pottery wheels, a hand-building table, two communal shelves per class, and a mini slab roller. We fire pieces in electric kilns on our lower level. 

We are currently renovating our lower level to build out a larger pottery studio including more wheels and shelving. Stay tuned for news and updates! 

We recommend bringing an apron and a hand-towel to class. 

The Pottery at FYACS provides all tools. You may, however, bring your own tools, such as a basic Kemper toolkit comprised of a small sponge, pin tool, wire tool, wooden knife, metal rib, loop tool, and wooden rib. Due to limited class storage space, students must bring their tools home between classes. 

We estimate pieces to be available for pick-up approximately four weeks after the end of a multi-week session for youth classes. Adult classes will be ready 2-3 weeks after glazing day. We send emails to the email address used for registration when pieces are ready for pick-up. 

It takes 2-3 days to fire and cool a kiln, and for sustainability purposes, we only fire when kilns are full. Each piece needs to be fired twice after it fully air dries for a minimum of one week, once to be bisque fired, and one for a glaze firing. For pieces made in our youth and adolescent classes, our technical staff bisque fires, clear glazes, and glaze fires all pieces. Such a process takes time!

The Pottery at FYACS provides all clay, glazes, and a selection of underglazes for decorative purposes. 

We use a mid fire brown stoneware clay and our own studio-made glazes. Outside clays and glazes are not permitted. 

Students may purchase their own underglazes and underglaze transfer sheets. Please get pre-approval for the specific products you want to purchase by emailing a link to ceramics@fyamelrose.org. 

Since each class currently shares shelf space, students must bring home their underglazes and materials between classes.

You can sign up for a general FYACS membership here. 

Membership at FYACS gives members 10% off class tuition! While the Pottery Studio currently does not offer practice studio availability, and students may only use the pottery facilities during class time, Membership does offer bi-weekly open studio access for drawing, painting, fiber art, and mixed media in the Main Studio. Students who purchased their own underglazes can also paint ceramics pieces during member open studio. Please speak to your instructor if you plan to do this so they can make sure your pieces are easy to access.

Yes! We offer private events for all ages. 

Wheel-throwing Private Workshops: For $400, enjoy a 2-hour pottery wheel experience for up to 5 people, where you’ll create up to 2 pieces each, with all trimming, firing, and glazing handled by our expert staff, tailored to your group’s experience level. Complete a wheel-throwing private event interest form here. 

Hand-building Private Workshops: For $390, enjoy a 2-hour hands-on hand-building pottery experience for up to 6 people ($65 for each additional person, with a maximum of 12). Each person will create 1 unique piece. All firing and glazing handled by our staff. Projects can be tailored to your group’s skill level and interest.  Complete a hand-building private event interest form here. 

Learn more about all of our private event offerings here. 

Please inform your teacher or the Studio Manager at ceramics@fyamelrose.org if you anticipate an absence. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee make-up classes. We facilitate a class swap where students can list their absence and reserve someone else’s space for up to 1 absence (except by special arrangement). Absences reported in advance and swapped can usually be accommodated. However last minute cancellations, reschedules of make ups, no shows, and additional absences are offered on a space available basis each week.

Yes! All persons interested in teaching pottery workshops or classes are invited to reach out to ceramics@fyamelrose.org to express interest. You can also check out our employment page for more. 

For any additional questions about our Pottery program at FYACS, contact our Studio Manager at ceramics@fyamelrose.org.