Clay Camps 2023

Clay Camps

Join Northern Clay Center for a fabulous and fun summertime clay adventure!

Campers will expand their imaginations while accomplishing LASTING FEATS OF CLAY. Whether working with sculpture, tiles, or wheel-thrown pottery, students will learn to work INDEPENDENTLY AND COLLABORATIVELY in a small class setting with plenty of individual instruction. Camps are offered in a variety of themes (birds or dinosaurs, serving platters or ice cream dishes, giant vases or tiny garden houses) and incorporate instruction for a variety of clay techniques— leaving PLENTY OF ROOM FOR EXPLORATION and decoration.

Half-day camps meet for three hours each day (from 9 am – 12 pm, or 1 – 4 pm) and include a short break for snacks provided by parents and caregivers. Half-day camps do not include lunch. Full-day camps meet for 7 hours each day (from 9 am – 4 pm unless otherwise noted) and include an hour-long supervised break for lunch and non-clay activities. Parents should provide snacks and lunches for full-day campers. Each camp is led by a teaching artist; on average one additional teaching assistant is present for each camp. New camps begin each Monday, June 12 through August 14.

Clay camp requirements will continue to be adapted to meet the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and MDH (Minnesota Department of Health) public health recommendations at the time. Our safety measures will include lowered camp capacities to facilitate distancing, required face coverings, and thorough cleaning strategies. Please see our website for our latest safety protocols and information.

Please call to find the appropriate age and skill level for your child. We cannot make exceptions to the published age restrictions.

Guide to class symbols

HHandbuilding or sculpture camp. Students will make sculptures or handbuilt vessels using a variety of techniques. Students will NOT use the potter’s wheel. Great for kids ages 6 – 9.

WWheel camp. Students will work primarily on the potter’s wheel learning the basic techniques for creating handmade pottery. All skill levels are welcome. Some camps are marked for students with previous experience. Ages 9+.

NCC will send confirmation of registration two weeks prior to the start of camp. If there is insufficient enrollment, we will cancel the camp, notify registered students, and refund all payments. This cancellation may happen at the very last minute.

23CC01

A Royal Affair

Royals and castles—oh my! In this handbuilding camp you will learn basic techniques to create a tea set fit for a monarch, build a castle tower, or sculpt a cute corgi. You will create a host of royal wares and sculptures to keep your summer classy.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 6+

23CC02

Throw Me How Much You Care

Create beautiful gifts for the special beings in your life—parents, friends, siblings, or pets. This camp will introduce basic throwing and decorating techniques needed to create heartfelt mementos.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 9+

23CC03

Set the Table for Two or Twenty*

Throw a cohesive place setting on the wheel including a plate, bowl, and drinking vessel. Experiment with size, shape, color, and textures to create dishes for your family and friends. Previous experience is required.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+

23CC04

Facets of Fun

Get out your fettling knives and wire tools! This camp will introduce basic throwing of simple forms that will be transformed by the magic of FACETING! Your wares will be inspired by sparkling jewels, geological wonders, and geometric symmetry. Tired of the same old circles? This is the camp for you!

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+

*Camps marked with an asterisk are for students with previous experience.

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23CC05

I’m thinking of an animal…

A pack of dogs, a parade of elephants, gaggle of geese, clowder of cats! From what lives in our city parks to animals in far-off rainforest landscapes, explore animals of the world—real or imagined—as you build your own collection of animals.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 6+ Fee: $155

23CC06 Slip & Scratch

Got an itch for new decorating techniques? In this camp, make a variety of pots on the wheel, then practice the art of sgraffito (scruh-fee-toe, which means “scratched” in Italian!) by scratching designs through colored slips. Grow your wheel-throwing and decorating skills!

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 9+ Fee: $155

23CC07

Ready, Set, Clay

Clay and play! Get ready to make your own games out of clay—invent new ones or recreate your favorites. Learn different handbuilding techniques like making slabs and pinch pots to create your game boards and pieces. You’ll also play a variety of exciting clay games throughout the week that will challenge and inspire you.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 6+ Fee: $155

23CC08

First Year Potions

Take a spin on the potter’s wheel before starting your first year in potions. Jump start your studies by making the potion bottles and ingredient jars to store your best creations. Mark them well with notes and images using colored slips to detail what they will hold for you.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+ Fee: $155

23CC09 5 Centers: Art of Fantasy

Do you have mystical creatures in your very own imaginings and magical beasts just waiting to burst out? Focus your senses and hone your concepts as you bring your creations to life! You will spend one day at each of the five partnered centers and an array of mediums and art forms to explore your own personal hidden world. Set your creativity free while visiting each of the five partner centers in this order: Northern Clay Center, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, Textile Center, and Articulture.

Time: 9 am - 3 pm

Ages: 9 - 12

Fee: $350

23CC10 Wild Woods of Minnesota

Explore and create animals and objects found in Minnesota’s Northwoods. Bears, wolves, red squirrels, walleye, loons, and bobcats are just a few of our state’s forest-dwelling creatures. Handbuild a log cabin or canoe to create a Northwoods environment for your animals. You will be taught basic handbuilding techniques to create your projects.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm

Ages: 6+

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23CC11

Ceramic Delights of the Round Table

Learn basic wheel techniques to make goblets and other feast dishes fit for King Arthur’s court. Get creative with handbuilt additions and colorful slip decorations—it will be a royally good time!

Time: 9 am -12 pm Ages: 9+

23CC12

Just a Pinch

From a small ball of clay, pinch your way through the creation of your own vessels. Add a handle for a mug, or feet for a vase or planter. With a final pinch of color from an array of colored slips, finish your pots to become those you use every day.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 6+

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23CC13 Clay Queerdos

Join us in our Queer Clay Camp for kids. This camp is for beginner and intermediate wheel throwers who want to build community around the ceramic arts and learn about Queer clay history.

Time: 1 - 4 pm Ages: 9+

Week 4 July 3 – 7 (no camp on July 4)

23CC14

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Get your hands dirty as you get ready to help your garden grow! Learn coiling, pinching, and slab-building techniques while creating flowerpots, garden sculptures, and decorative plant markers. On the last day of class, plant a few herbs in one of your flowerpot creations.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 6+ Fee: $155

23CC15 Whirlin’ Wonders of the Natural World

Ceramics uses all of the four elements—earth, water, air, and fire—so let’s make works of art inspired by the natural world! Use the potter’s wheel and natural materials to create pots that reference nature, like tree vases and frog bowls. Paint sunsets, mountain ranges, and more as you use slips to emphasize your naturally great ideas.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 9+ Fee: $155

23CC16

There’s No Place Like Gnome

Create an entire gnome village for your garden or yard. Accessorize with other garden decorations such as horses, tiles, or animals. Students will learn coiling, pinching, and slab-building techniques.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 6+ Fee: $155

23CC17

Pollinator Power

Make pots to invite pollinators! Whether starting new sprouts, moving plants to a spacious new pot, or showing off blooms in a vase—you’ll make pots for plants of all sizes, and learn about plants that attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Work on the potter’s wheel to make forms, then decorate with colorful slips.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+ Fee: $155

23CC18

Fairies in the Forest

Sculpt your own fairy house out of clay! Fill the house with woodland creatures and their friends playing their favorite games, reading books, and whatever your fairy loves to do. Using slabs, coils, and pinching, imagine a fairy world.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 6+

23CC19

Celestial Mugs

This beginner wheel camp will focus on the basics of wheel throwing with an emphasis on decoration! Using a variety of techniques, campers will embellish mugs with celestial scenes, drawing inspiration from our solar system.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 9+

23CC20

New Stamping Grounds

Stamp your way to new and exciting works! Experiment with texture by creating your own stamps and explore found objects to add texture to your wheelthrown pots. Complete your super surfaces decoration with colorful slips.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+

23CC21

Teen Boot Camp*

Our best camp for teenagers with intermediate wheel skills. Refine your throwing skills, learn new forms and techniques, and participate in constructive, collaborative evaluation of your work as a group. Practice what you already know, and learn something new while you’re at it! Previous experience required (minimum two wheel camps or participation in our Teen Pottery Punch Card program).

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 13+

*Camps marked with an asterisk are for students with previous experience.

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23CC22

5 Centers: Art of Pattern

Do you see forms in nature, draw tessellations while doodling in class, or is your favorite shirt the one with the repeating shapes? Spend a week exploring patterns through a wide array of techniques and materials. You will have the opportunity to experiment with different and exciting art mediums throughout the week, spending one day at each of the five partner centers in this order: Northern Clay Center, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, Textile Center, and Articulture.

Time: 9 am - 3 pm Ages: 13+ Fee: $350

23CC23

Aardvark to Zebra

Time to create your own zoo filled with your favorite animals. Perhaps your zoo will have a sloth, an alligator, a panther, or a giraffe—there are so many animals to choose from! Through simple slab and pinching techniques, we’ll help you feel like a zoologist in no time!

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 6+

23CC24

Doggone Good Pots

Feed and water your pets in style! Make personalized dishes and bowls, fancy name tags, and maybe even treat jars that are purrrfect for your pets—real and imagined. Learn basic wheel techniques for functional ceramics and decorate with colorful slips.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 9+

23CC25

Winter in July

Escape the summer heat while exploring the best of winter. From snowflakes and the ice castle of your dreams, to polar bears and penguins, spend your week thinking cool and building even cooler clay creations—it will be a flurry of fun!

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 6+

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23CC26

Can You Handle Me?

If it’s too hot to handle, make a handle! Create a variety of pots with different styles of handles and knobs for mugs, pitchers, and jars with lids. Learn basic wheel-throwing skills and techniques to create a variety of handle types such as coils, lugs, sculpted handles, and traditional pulled handles.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+

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W W W

23CC27 Doodling in Dirt

Do you love to draw? Always doodling in class and on napkins and in your sketchbook? This class will explore the many ways you can draw onto clay! The morning will be for wheel-throwing and in the afternoons we will draw anything we can imagine! We will learn techniques like sgraffito (scruh-feetoe, which means “scratched” in Italian!), wax-resist relief, inlay, printing, and tracing in order to put our idea from page to clay!

Time: 9 am – 4 pm Ages: 9+ Fee: $350

23CC28

Pokemug

Create your own Pokemon-inspired mugs! This beginner wheel class will focus on the basics of throwing and using colorful slips and sgraffito (scruhfee-toe, which means “scratched” in Italian!) to bring your mugs to life. Bring your favorite book and cards for inspiration. Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 9+

23CC29

Dino-Mite

Working from pictures or your favorite toy dinosaur, create your own dino and its proper habitat in clay. Use a variety of handbuilding techniques and decorative colorful slips.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 6+

23CC30

Harry Pottery*

This camp is inspired by everyone’s favorite child wizard. Work on the potter’s wheel to make fantastic bowls and jars to hold all your potions. Great if you have some experience with clay wizardry, but also open to new Muggles. Time: 1 pm – 4 pm Ages: 9+

*Camps marked with an asterisk are for students with previous experience.

23CC31 Articulture and NCC: Natural Explorers

Explore the depths of the natural world through a multitude of art mediums! Campers will find inspiration by observing the textures, colors, patterns, and forms found all around us in the natural world. Spend mornings at Northern Clay Center, transforming clay by throwing on the potter’s wheel. Then walk with a chaperone 1.5 blocks to Articulture and heighten your senses creating artwork using a variety of art materials.

(Note: Register through NCC)

Time: 9 am – 4pm Ages: 9 – 12

Fee: $350

23CC32 Enough for a Feast

Using slabs, coils, and pinching techniques create a complete place setting for a four-course meal! Get creative as you dream about inventive ways to serve your favorite foods. Decorate your plates, bowls, cups with colorful slip decorations.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 6+

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23CC33

Fresh-Squeezed

Orange you glad it’s summer? Practice handbuilding skills and make pots to hold the fruit you love in whole or juiced form! Make cups for drinking refreshing summer juice, a bowl to hold your favorite fruits, a juicer to make some fresh-squeezed drinks, and more in this fun, fruity camp.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 6+

23CC34

Bowl Lotta Love

Create different-sized bowls for different purposes, from teeny-tiny to humongous-gigundous. Make your pieces on the potter’s wheel, then decorate and add fancy slips to each piece.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+

August 7 – 11 Week 9

H 23CC35 The sun, moon, and every planet in between

Create the entire solar system in the form of bowls, jars, and mugs! Campers will learn how to transform a simple pinch pot into a universe of different forms. Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 6+

23CC36 Center of Attention

Use the wheel to throw and assemble clay parts to make eye-catching centerpieces, candleholders, bowls, and vases fit for display. Give pieces their final touches with colorful slips to fit perfectly into any room’s decor. Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 9+

23CC37

It’s All About That Vase

How tall can you throw? We’ll start with basic wheel-thrown forms and build up from there! Make all types of towering vases and vessels by focusing on skills that will help you throw taller forms.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+

23CC38

I Scream, You Scream

Use the wheel to create your own set of ice cream party dishes! Create your ultimate sundae dish and decorate with colorful slips. Complete the week with a frozen treat party. Lactose-intolerant folks are welcome too!

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+

23CC39

Feelin’ Beachy

From shore to sea, now is your chance to create your favorite aquatic animals and objects—pelicans and seagulls, dolphins and sharks, fishing boats and beach shacks, and more! You will learn basic handbuilding techniques to create your wares and sculptures.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 6+

23CC40

Beautiful Wares, Brave Skills*

Brave the wheel by challenging yourself to new skills and more complex pots. Make beautiful wares that will show off your skills: throwing and trimming, as well as handle-, lid-, and spout-making. Test your skills by making a matching set of cups, bowls, plates, or even a whole tea set! Previous wheel experience required.

Time: 9 am – 12 pm Ages: 9+

23CC41

Creative Critters

Learn to use basic handbuilding techniques to sculpt an assortment of curious clay creatures with a secret purpose! Transform pinch pots into animals, make pet-inspired photo frames, a fire-breathing dragon bookend, or maybe a mouse pencil holder! Bring your creatures to life with colorful slips.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 6+

23CC42

You Spin Me Right ‘Round Baby!

You know, “Like a record, baby!” Use the wheel to create a variety of functional pots including cups, plates, bowls, and vases. Make whatever you want with this amazing tool that capitalizes on the magic of centripetal force! A great class for both beginners and returning students. Spin that table ‘round and get all the practice you can handle.

Time: 1 – 4 pm Ages: 9+

Fee for half-day camps: $190

Fee for full-day camps: $350

NCC members receive 5% discount on all camps* *Unless otherwise noted, member rate applies only to children registered as members.

Registration begins 10 am, Tuesday, January 31, at www.northernclaycenter.org, or 612.339.8007

Age and Ability Restrictions

We work closely with instructors to develop optimal age ranges and ability levels for each class. At the time their camp begins, children must have reached the minimum age and ability level indicated. In order to ensure the success of our classes, we ask that you observe these restrictions when registering your children for camps. NCC makes NO exceptions to the ages or ability levels indicated in the descriptions.

If you register your child for an age group they have not met, the registration will be canceled and we will contact you via email or phone to find an appropriate option. If you have questions regarding the age ranges for a camp, please call Northern Clay Center at 612.339.8007.

Logistical Information

Drop-off / Pick-up: Check-in will take place in the Teaching Studios on the first day of camp. Please enter through the Teaching Studios door located on the west side of the building. Drop-offs and pick-ups will also take place through this entrance each day. Please be punctual with all drop-offs and pick-ups; do not drop off campers more than 5 minutes before the start of their camp. NCC does not provide day care or supervision before or after camps. There is free parking on the west side of our building. A parent, guardian, or pre-approved adult must be present to pick up a camper at the end of each day. At no time will any camper be permitted to leave NCC without supervision.

Lunch: Caregivers must provide supervision from noon to 1 pm for children registered in separate morning and afternoon camps or pay a $25.00 fee for NCC to provide supervision during the lunch hour. This option is available only to children registered for both morning and afternoon camps during the same week. Caregivers must provide campers with their lunch. NCC will provide supervision during lunch for full-day classes at no additional cost.

Snack Break: Campers take a short break every day, so please pack a snack for your child and label the bag with their name. Caregivers need to supply lunches and snacks for children in full-day classes. Please note: NCC’s facility is NOT peanut free. Please notify us three weeks in advance if your child has special dietary issues that would affect the other campers, and we will do our best to notify other parents of the issue. Campers may visit Merwyn Triangle Park on their snack breaks as a class with adult supervision.

What to Wear and Bring: Kids may get messy, so make sure your child wears appropriate clothing and footwear (sneakers are best; no open-toed shoes.) For all camps, kids must bring a reusable bag to hold finished projects. We recommend canvas or nylon, roughly the size of a grocery bag. For wheel classes, we suggest, but do not require, a one-quart bucket (such as a yogurt container) and an old towel.

Camper Projects

Students can expect to make new work Monday through Thursday and spend Friday glazing. By the very nature of the material, and the short duration of these camps, some projects will not be glaze-fired, but “once-fired” instead, rendering them decorative in nature and not for use to consume food or beverages. Class periods will include time for cleanup, an integral part of the process. Class descriptions are subject to change depending on ability levels of participating students.

Please note: Due to the nature of clay and the firing process, NCC cannot be responsible for any damage to work caused by poor construction or the firing or glazing processes.

Product Output Expectations: Your children will be encouraged to create several pieces of clay art during class. You can anticipate your child having at least four completed works. Please make note: not all camps result in the same number of objects for campers to take home. Several camps are focused on ideas of production, while others are more experiential in nature, or require a longer investment of time and energy into more complicated wares and objects. Regardless of output, ALL of our camps aim to create a positive and memorable experience for your camper.

Completed Projects: Completed projects may be picked up one week after your camp ends; we will NOT call you when they are ready. We strongly recommend that you bring your child with you to help identify what they made. Projects left more than four weeks after the camp ends will be discarded. If you cannot pick up your child’s projects by this date, please make arrangements for someone else to pick them up.

Registration Information

Tuition must be paid in full to hold your reservation. NCC will make absolutely no exceptions to age ranges indicated in camp descriptions.

To register: Register for your child’s camp online; or call or visit NCC during business hours, Mon. – Fri., 10 am – 5 pm. Our phone number is 612.339.8007. Payment may be made by cash, check, or any major credit card.

NCC will send confirmation of registration two weeks prior to the start of camp. If there is insufficient enrollment, we will cancel the camp, notify registered students, and refund all payments. This cancellation may occur at the very last minute.

REFUNDS: 100% of tuition (less a $15 processing fee) will be refunded if a student elects to drop or transfer a class no later than one week (7 days) before the day of the first camp meeting. A $15 processing fee will be charged if a student transfers from one camp to another. No refunds or transfers will be given with less than one week’s notice. Tuition is not prorated. There are no make-up sessions.

Other Information

Scholarships: NCC has a small number of partial scholarships for children, awarded on a need basis. Applications can also be completed on our website at https://northernclaycenter.org/education/clay-for-youthfamilies/#scholarships

Special Needs: Signed interpretation is available for any camp. Please call the Center to request an interpreter at least three weeks in advance. NCC’s building is wheelchair accessible and is equipped with a wheelchair accessible potter’s wheel. The information in this brochure is available in large-print format upon request. To contact us via the Minnesota Relay Service, please call 1.800.627.3529.

Camps usually fill quickly, so please register early!