Tri-City Consortium on Aging Offers Pottery Course

The Tri-City Consortium on Aging now offers a pottery class that actually fits the marketing slogan "years in the making."

Back in August 2009, a participant in an agency program came across pottery equipment that was languishing in a basement and thought of Therese Grida, program and nutrition coordinator for Tri-City, which serves Highland Heights, Mayfield Heights, South Euclid and Lyndhurst.

"I have an arts background and I wanted to bring more arts programming to the community," Grida said.

Donated items included a slab roller Grida referred to as "a table with a big wheel – kind of like PlayDoh, it rolls the clay through." Getting the equipment picked up and finding a suitable space for a class proved a challenge until now.

Lyndhurst Community Presbyterian Church, 5312 Mayfield Road, has provided a room for classes, which begin today and run for four weeks. The cost is $35. Grida said other sessions will follow, but the cost may change – Tri-City is paying for clay for the first class.

Instructor Marie Smith said the course, which is geared toward seniors but open to people of all ages, will be an introduction to pottery and no experience is necessary. She added that it doesn't require any special skill or strength. Students will learn how to make items using pinch pot technique rather than a potter's wheel.

"It's actually the oldest form of creating pottery," Smith said.

Students are free to create whatever they want, whether it's a bowl, vase, sculpture or something else.

"It's very fun and very therapeutic," Smith said.

If the course is successful, Tri-City might add more advanced classes, Grida said.

"Like anything else you learn, you have to know the fundamentals first," Smith said.