Ceramics Lab

From hand-building to wheel-throwing

Apprentices in this lab start crafting ceramics through hand-building and work their way up to throwing beautiful and unique pieces on the wheel.

A young person working on a clay project.

You get paid to be creative which is something you don’t really get to experience in school or otherwise. Sometimes I call JXTA "school" because you’re getting educated in the way if you were to pay someone. I feel like I’m getting college-level teaching and education from JXTA. And you’re getting paid for it, which is crazy.

Laurel Prenzlow

Ceramic Art Apprentice

Someone throwing clay on a wheel to make a ceramic work

Ceramics Lab

From hand-building to wheel-throwing

In the newest JXTALab, apprentices studying ceramics start building their skills in hand-building, learning how to handle and shape clay. As they become more comfortable working with the clay, they advance to throwing clay on the wheel. Guided by professional practicing and teaching artists, apprentices in this lab experiment with different styles, crafting both usable objects like mugs and bowls as well as expressive fine and decorative art pieces. Apprentices are also encouraged build their own unique art practice in tandem with learning how to craft consistent pieces for sale in the JXTA Shop. In this way, they gain experience replicating specific forms while also exploring ways to individually express themselves.