By Callum Ludwig
A much-loved community craft group is making a successful return after the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Pottery Studio located at Yarra Valley ECOSS has reopened as of Friday 24 November, doing so with a freshly renovated studio and a new kiln.
Vice President of The Pottery Studio committee Phoebe Lines said it was exhilarating and exciting to see so many new community members accessing the space, including families and kids.
“The official opening tonight is something we’ve literally been working towards for a whole year, we got grants, we fixed the ceiling so doesn’t flood in there anymore and we delivered free clay workshops for community members in need,” she said.
“We were specifically focusing on family members of young people, parents, caregivers or older community members based on the fact that there’s a lot of research around the benefits of artistic practice and well-being and coming out of those Covid lockdowns.”
At the Pottery Showcase and Grand Re-Opening to mark the group’s revival, an array of works made by community members in the ReKindle and Re-Earth Free Clay Workshops were on display as well as chai, cakes and pottery available to purchase.
Ms Lines said they had 60 to 100 children at each workshop during the school holidays, filling the space.
“It’s such a somatic experience that a room of 60 plus children, from nine-month-olds to 15-year-olds, it was near silence, they were quiet and focused on their clay work with six-year-olds making bowls that they can actually eat out of,” she said.
“I had a small child walk towards me and say ‘I made my first mug’ and I thought ‘you’re only five, that’s incredible.’ Being able to make things with their hands, the process is recalibrating to the nervous system, but it also brings a sense of pride and fulfillment.”
As the studio was restored, The Pottery Studio was able to offer two terms of free ceramics workshops this year for in-need potential potters thanks to funding from the Upper Yarra Community Recovery Grants and Yarra Ranges Council, JUMPStart Vic Health and the Yarra Junction Op Shop.
Ms Lines said members vary all the way from first-day beginners to professional potters.
“Some of us are learning how to fire a kiln from our head ceramicist, some of us are learning how to mix glazes, which is a very complicated chemical process, so we’re learning skills that otherwise we’d have to go and do a uni degree to learn or perhaps a high-end TAFE course,” she said.
“Some of our more experienced potters are offering workshops to the community, Lucy Pierce has just run a hand-building series of workshops and a wheel-throwing one as well and I have been running children’s clay play workshops,”
“There are a few other projects on the horizon next year, it’s looking like we might have a homeschoolers pottery group, afterschool children’s groups, afterschool wheel throwing for teenagers run by a young person and a mums and bubs clay play group.”
For any enquiries about The Pottery Studio or to get involved in 2024, email yvcpotterystudio@gmail.com or call Ms Lines on 0434 633 599.
Membership for The Pottery Studio is $300 for the year or $5.70 and can be paid in instalments.
