Growing, Growing, GrowingDescribes South Park’s Throw Clay

More class, more teachers, more space is what’s new at Throw Clay on Olive between 11th and Olympic. I recently spoke to John Prescott, owner of Throw Clay at his cheerful and impressive potting studio and asked him to update us on what’s been happening over the last year.

         John told me that the expansion of Throw Clay from 1,600 sq. ft. to over 7,500 sq. ft. in late 2023 resulted from membership growing and dramatically creating a need for increased storage space for in-work and finished work.  In turn (sorry for the pun), he has been able to add more potting wheels and an expanded spray booth.   The expansion also enabled him to offer more and more varied classes (now 30 classes per week) and provide more instructors to meet increased student demand.  Near-term plans call for revamping and expanding the glazing area so he can offer 19 more glazes, bringing the total choice of glazes to 30.  He is very proud of his new gas fired kiln which is a great deal larger and more efficient than his three electric kilns. 

Currently there are about 150 Throw Clay Members.  John feels he can add up to 100 more members in his current facility. He admitted it has been quite a change since the early days when he was the only instructor and offered only seven classes a week!     

Throw Clay’s expanded schedule offers many more of the very popular one-day Introduction to Pottery classes.  These introductory classes are  effective at demonstrating clay throwing as a challenging and rewarding art form.  Many introductory class students sign up for the six-week in-depth class that takes the student through the entire process of turning a ball of clay into a finished work of art or useful everyday implement.  His new schedule will add an additional four-week intermediate class to the mix for those with more limited time to devote to the effort.

Memberships to Throw Clay are from month to month.  Most of his students are local to South Park, but he is starting to see students from other areas of L.A. as Throw Clay’s reputation grows.  Throw Clay is experiencing continued growth and popularity.  If you’d like to investigate throwing a little clay yourself or creating a fun activity with friends, you can view class information, class schedules, and pricing at https://ThrowClayLA.com.

         Throw Clay has rapidly expanded from a fledgling idea to a thriving business providing a wonderful outlet to the residents of South Park and beyond.  When I asked him what he considers the major challenge in the coming year, he indicated that he expected to be very busy meeting and expanding the demand for his classes.  He will soon be announcing a big year-end marketplace where finished products created by his students will be available for purchase to the public. In addition, he will be getting married in October!  Looks like he’s going to be a very busy potter!

By John Nilsson