The Mudslingers Pottery Community at Bailey’s Glen

Slinging Mud

by Renee Roberson photography by Renee Roberson

Bailey’s Glen pottery studio provides a therapeutic outlet for members

Left: Sharon Byers and Jim Westbrook. Right: Spearheaded by member Don Wilhelm, the pottery group created a coral reef exhibit now displayed in the Bailey’s Glen clubhouse.

If you talk to anyone who lives in the Bailey’s Glen, the active adult community in Cornelius, you’ll learn how much they love the strong bond that exists among the residents. From fitness classes to social gatherings to crafting and woodworking, opportunities abound for the homeowners to meet new people and stay actively engaged with others. In 2017, two residents, Jim Westbrook and Sharon Byers, began brainstorming what it would look like to create a pottery studio in the community. Both retired educators, Westbrook began taking pottery classes in retirement after his wife offered them up as a gift and Byers had been teaching students the fundamentals for years as an elementary and middle school art teacher.

Westbrook was already a part of a woodworking group when Byers approached him with the idea. They wanted the studio to be able to “provide a creative outlet for residents to use through clay.” The two also knew working with pottery would also help residents learn new skills and build lasting friendships along the way. the pottery plAn

Westbrook and Byers put together a plan of what the studio would include and a list of the materials and tools they would need to get started. Then, they met with Bailey’s Glen managing partner Jake Pallilo to present their idea. He agreed to give them a room in a building that also housed the woodworking and automotive shops in Bailey’s Glen. He told them they could use any discarded building materials to make furniture, shelving and tables needed in the studio and Westbrook took him up on that. They soon realized the space allotted would not be large enough to accommodate both the pottery wheels and the kilns needed to fire the pieces. They went back to Pallilo and he agreed to give them a second room to put the kilns in. One room is used mostly for handbuilding the pottery and the other is for glazing.

fired Up for friendships

This past spring, The Mudslingers Pottery Community held its first open house, and the studio began offering classes this fall.

Interested residents, no matter what their skill level, can purchase annual memberships to the studio. Memberships cover the costs of standard maintenance and help furnish glazes. Members of the studio purchase their own clay. Each member must take six hours of training in the studio before they can begin working on their own pottery. Westbrook, Byers, and other members teach small group classes. The studio is open 24 hours a day to provide flexibility for members. At press time, there were 71 members of the group.

Byers says she considers it her mission to serve the Bailey’s Glen community in this way along with a small advisory board. Not only are the members keeping their minds and muscles sharp, but they are also forming lasting bonds and friendships at the tables, an important opportunity after living through the isolation of a pandemic. “One of the things I hear from members constantly is ‘I can’t tell you how uplifting this is,’” she says.

Westbrook feels the same.

“I think it has increased the feeling of community because you have people who have not associated with one another and now, they’re at a table for two hours working with someone,” he says. “They may not have the ability to play pickeball or shuffleboard but they can do this. As an educator, I’ve always believed you don’t stop learning. This is part of that process.”

Top: Members created this customized sign at the entrance of the studio. Left: One of the kilns available for use. Right: Creative tic tac toe boards designed by members.

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