Throw on your smocks! A local arts organization is inviting couples to make their next date night a little dirty.
Clay Studio is staging its annual LGBT Date Night June 19, where couples and groups can try their hand at throwing pottery.
The studio, which hosts Date Night twice a month, holds the LGBT-specific event every June to coincide with Pride month.
Josie Bockelman, Clay Studio’s director of education, said the event is both social and educational.
“Our date nights are meant to be fun, social experiences where you also get a little hands-on learning,” she said.
The class can hold up to 26 students, who gather for food and drinks in the studio’s gallery before heading to the wheels, where the instructors do a short demonstration before the group members begin creating their pottery pieces.
Bockelman said no experience is necessary; nearly all Date Night attendees have never before sat at a pottery wheel.
“It’s one of those things where you can have it shown to you but once you get your own hands on it it’s a difference experience. We try to get everyone working individually and then the instructors will go around the room and work with everyone,” she said. “It’s a challenging thing to do but we have good systems for walking everyone through the basics.”
Drinks and snacks are available for when the artists-in-training need a break, Bockelman said. Once the pieces are created, the class decorates them, and those wanting to keep the pieces leave them to be glazed, fired and shipped.
Bockelman said the event allows couples to have a night out together that’s more engaging than dinner and a movie.
“It’s a really fun and active thing to do together. I think a lot of people have a curiosity about working with clay and throwing it on the wheel — especially anyone who’s seen the movie ‘Ghost’ — and this is the chance to do it. It’s really more about the experience than the end product. It’s a fascinating process and a fun experience.”
LGBT Date Night will be held 7-9 p.m. June 19 at 137-139 N. Second St. The event is $30 for Clay Studio members or $35 for nonmembers, with a $10 charge for glazing, firing and shipping.
Registration is required. Contact Rachel Pearlman at [email protected] or 215-925-3453 ext. 19 for more information or to register.