We teach. And, it is our highest calling.
We’ve had the honor of teaching Athens how to create handmade pottery for 23 years. We’ve helped make thousands of first mugs and celebrated alongside you when you got to use something you made for the first time. It’s what we do, and it’s what we love.
Here’s what we have for you:
Pottery Classes for our members from the total beginner through the advanced student
A variety of clay classes for our members, including throwing on the pottery wheel, creating sculpture, handbuilding, & surface decoration
One-time “Try Clay” classes to see if pottery is for you, and just a fun option if you’re looking for a date night or something unique to do. We have one-time classes in both handbuilding/sculpture and the pottery wheel.
An studio membership program that allows ceramic artists with experience to use our studio, glazes and equipment to create.
Private lessons on the pottery wheel, glazing and music.
Music class accessible to any level of player. This is a class that meets you where you are, and gives you space to grow.
Twice annual pottery shows and sales to showcase our talented instructors and students.
Workshops and field trips for schools and groups wanting to come and create with us for an event or learning opportunity. Partial & full scholarships available to groups with limited resources.
Partial and Full need-based scholarships, for times of financial difficulty.
Studio Assistantships that allow you to perform studio tasks in exchange for classes or studio time. You start with cleaning duties and move up to studio tasks like learning to mix glazes, load the kilns, etc.
Since 1997, Good Dirt has been a center for ceramic arts in Athens. We’ve taught over 7,360 classes, 2,392 Try Clays, and 828 Summer Camps (and counting). That’s just about 26,500 hours of teaching pottery. We can we say? We love what we do.
Since 1997, Good Dirt has been a center for ceramic arts in Athens. We’ve taught over 7,360 classes, 2,392 Try Clays, and 828 Summer Camps (and counting). That’s just about 26,500 hours of teaching pottery. We can we say? We love what we do.
In that time, we’ve learned few things:
Art is for EVERYONE. Every.single.human. deserves to experience what art can do in their lives.
You are an artist, you may just not know it (or believe it) yet. That’s where we come in.
You can make pottery. Fact. We have the power of about 10,000 students worth of experience saying, “You can absolutely do this.” Your ability to be kind with yourself, patient with yourself, and acknowledge that learning involves imperfection will determine how fast that happens. But it will 100% happen.
Just because you can’t draw or paint (and I’d challenge you on that thought), doesn’t mean you won’t be able to make pottery. Our entire studio exists to help you and support you and make sure that you have fun, learn, and have a place to belong. We’ve got you. Just trust yourself, trust us, and trust that it’s a process. Before you know it, you’ll be drinking out of that mug you made.
Pottery is a tactile, intuitive, and primal medium. It will tap into something in you that you might not even know is there. Almost everyone has a favorite mug. There’s a reason for that.
Pottery is a profoundly healing and restorative practice. We have seen over and over how throwing on the wheel or making by hand can ground and center you. It will meet you where you are and offer a sanctuary while you’re doing it, whether you are coming from a place of joy or pain, frustration with the world, or a sense of play and curiosity.
Once you hold and use something that it handmade, you’ll be ruined. You’ll never go back to mass-produced again. And, we think that’s a good thing. Art and craftsmanship should be valued. Time should be valued. And we think that replacing fast-produced things with the handmade is a revolutionary statement of intent that rejects our “single-serve” culture. We don’t need 10 billion bowls from Target. A few things, lovingly made, imbued with intent and time and craft, will feel different and be more meaningful. Trust us on this one.