Hopkinton Center for the Arts
Our last stop on our Central MA Press Trip was Hopkinton Center for the Arts, in Hopkinton, MA. As I read more about the center, I was thrilled to see that it is a place the entire community can use. Every town should have a place like this where people can develop and nurture an appreciation for the arts.
What makes this place so special?
They believe the Arts are for individuals of all ages, cultures, and artistic abilities. They develop artistic skills, offer outstanding performances and art exhibitions, and enable visitors to experience art in all forms.
What classes do they offer?
They offer over 200 classes for youth, teens, and adults in the visual and performing arts. They have classes in fine arts, dance, music, theater, film-making, photography, acting, and ceramics. In addition, students can take private music and art lessons with qualified instructors.
What workshop did we take?
We had SO MUCH FUN doing a ceramics class! The class was about 2-hours long and in the end, we had all created fabulous mugs. (Ok…fabulous may be a stretch when you’re talking about MY mug, but you’ll see what I mean…lol)
The Studio
Walking in to the studio will immediately spark your creativity and ideas will start popping.
Our Lesson
We all gathered around and listened to the simple instructions to create our mugs. Well…simple may be pushing it. But we learned lots of tips and had a ton of encouragement.
Let’s Get Our Clay Ready
The first thing we learned to do was to take a ball of clay and create a flat clay slab. The machine was easy to use and we all felt so professional.
Time to Cut
After tracing our patterns, we cut out our clay to the correct size.
Stamp and Mold
Most of us wanted a pattern on our clay, so we were able to stamp or roll a design onto it. We then carefully molded the clay into the shape of our mug. I like that they gave us two options for how we could make the mugs. the first was to lay it flat, like a typical mug. The second was to have it fold over on top of itself. (This is the start of my daughter’s mug.)
Handle
Time to trace the handle pattern, cut it out, and gently attached it to the mug. After smoothing out the edges and putting our name on the bottom, we were finally done. Since we all live in different parts of the east coast, the studio will glaze and fire our mugs and they were kind enough to offer to send them to us. We can’t wait to see them!
Big Reveal…
My daughter created a beautiful mug with a flower pattern. It’s going to look so pretty after it is glazed and fired up.
And this big guy is mine…the buttons should probably have been a little smaller but as the instructors said, “If it is homemade then it should look homemade.” I can’t wait to see what this rustic guy looks like in the end. I’ll keep you updated!
Where can you find a list of classes they offer?
Take a peek HERE
Hopkinton Center for the Arts
98 Hayden Rowe St
Hopkinton, MA 01748
HCA Dance & Ceramics Studio
Suites 302 & 304
34 Hayden Rowe St
Hopkinton, MA 01748
(508) 435-9222
Give them a follow
Click HERE to get to their website.
A warm thank you to everyone that helped us create our little masterpieces! The class was so fun and it was exciting to see everyone get creative. We can’t wait to see the mugs when they’re done. As always, all opinions are 100% of MyTravelingKids.com.