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North Carolina

The Art of Working Clay by Hand

Program No. 21934RJ

Discover the thrill of working clay by hand as you join experienced instructors to create your own unique masterpieces. Plus, explore the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains!

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We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. Learn more

Protecting the Environment

We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Learn more

6 days

5 nights

15 meals

5B 5L 5D

Check-in, Registration, Welcome Dinner, Orientation

Montreat, NC

Bowl Making, Intro. to Working with Slabs, Surface Design

Montreat, NC

Scraffito Design & Slips, Elective Hike

Montreat, NC

Completion of Projects, Glazing, Free Time

Montreat, NC

Glaze Day, Wheel Experience

Montreat, NC

Wheel Trim & Handles, Kiln Opening & Final Pieces

Montreat, NC

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At a Glance

Encourage and inspire your creative spark as you experience the joy of working clay by hand. Working under expert guidance in a fully equipped pottery studio, use soft clay slab construction and extruded forms to learn and apply a range of techniques including slip and score construction, the slump mold process, scraffitto design and glazing. Begin with raw clay, form it, glaze it and fire it to produce decorative and functional pieces you can take home proudly. It may all sound foreign now, but by the end of the program you’ll sound — and look! — like a pro.

Activity Level

On Your Feet

Daily climbing a flight of stairs to the second floor of a building where classes are held, walking up and down hills.

Small Group

Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

Work with a professional potter to create your own pieces.
Go home with useful and beautiful finished pieces as well as a toolbox full of new skills that will surely spark your interest to do more with clay!
Learn specific handbuilding, throwing, glazing and kiln/firing techniques, as well as gaining new insight into the culture of clay.

General Notes

The Retreat Difference: This unique, often basic and no-frills experience at a Road Scholar Retreat includes opportunities for early morning exercise, interaction with the local community for insight into local life, an authentic farm-to-table or locally sourced meal, a live performance or event, and a value-priced single room. Appropriate for beginners and more advanced students. Opportunities are available for traveling companions to attend a different program at Montreat during the same week. Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Becky Garrity

Becky Garrity studied sculpture and ceramics at the College of William and Mary and landed a pottery apprenticeship in Japan. After a brief stint as a graphic designer, she devoted herself to pottery, and since 1998, she has been committed to making pots and teaching pottery. Her aesthetically influenced work is showcased in several galleries, and she claims her pottery is inspired by the energy of her eager students.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Becky Garrity View biography

Ann Laird Jones View biography

Rev. Dr. Ann Laird Jones has been working in the Sally Jones Pottery at Montreat for 26 years, and loves every part of working with clay! She is driven by the vigorous conversation between arts and theology, and is moved by the collaborative opportunities to work in community with great artists. She has served as Montreat Conference Center's director of arts ministry since 1993.

Tracy Bailey View biography

Tracy has been on the program staff of Montreat Conference Center since 1986. She began working with Elderhostel programs in 1989, and in 1997 assumed the additional role of on-site coordinator. A native of the area, she graduated from Asheville-Buncombe Technical College in 1981. Her favorite hobbies are hiking, pottery and reading. Tracy married Sam in 2007, and added three daughters to her family. In addition to her own grown children, she and Sam have been foster parents since 2010. They have four grandchildren.

Eugenia Cochran View biography

Eugenia Cochran’s pottery experience began at Montreat in 2013. She was eager to learn the many avenues of expression available through clay. Eugenia has a studio behind her house, and loves to learn by doing. She has continued to return to Montreat for handbuilding and holding classes each spring and fall.

Sarah Friday Peters View biography

Sarah Friday Peters grew up surrounded by the pottery traditions of North Carolina. She started making pots while working summers in Montreat as an arts and crafts instructor since 2004, and later as a handbuilding pottery instructor beginning in 2019. She started Wellspring Creative in 2006, making handcrafted clay jewelry and gifts, and is past president of the Triangle Potters Guild in Raleigh. She has taught and volunteered at many pottery programs. Nature, spirituality, fellow potters, and new tools, textures, and techniques inspire her.

Cathie Dodson View biography

Cathie Dodson, an artist and former English teacher who moved to Montreat from Louisiana six years ago, has worked on Montreat summer staff at Sally Jones Pottery since 2018. She enjoys sharing the sanctuary space that exists in the pottery studio and helping others explore their own creative gifts in new ways.

Janet Rice McCoy View biography

Janet McCoy, trained as a rhetorician, is a former communication and public relations professor who discovered pottery in retirement. She took classes and was involved with the pottery guild and board of directors at First City Arts Center in Pensacola, Florida. She has also been an artist-in-residence, teaching handbuilding at Montreat during the summer. She enjoys shaping and molding clay into decorative and functional pieces.