Clay Arts Vegas — Attraction in Las Vegas

I took wheel throwing classes from October till April. Every other class I would leave thinking "man that guy really doesn't like me". I kept inviting friends to go with me and telling people about it constantly. The friends that did come with me all got run off and had a bad time. After having not seen one friend in a year due to covid, I was so excited for him to join me, and the teacher made us move so that we didn't sit next to each other. It just got progressively harder and harder to brush off as a misunderstanding after months and months of really pointedly picking on students. Tom just has countless of hidden rules that are never mentioned until he randomly decides to chastise you with it one day, and he gets irritated at questions, but also if you try to independently do things he gets irritated at that too. And more frustrating yet, he gives you assignments to make something, and then you have to let it dry and trim it at a later date, but you can't trim it on a different date because it's not the assignment for the day and staying on assignment is mandatory. But that means you can never trim it and your works stack up, then he is irritated at you because you're personal shelf is too full. So you finish the assignment and trim your previous work after and just get glared at the whole time. It just seems like you can't win, which is a unfortunate take away from a hobby you are paying to do. This it's not a graded class, and there are no credits to be earned.

Peter and thelma are both wonderful and honestly if I could just take classes with thelma I would continue. But Tom who is the wheel throwing instructor is just.... Crabby and rude.

Edit: The business has responded and honestly their reply is upsetting. They accused me of talking through the class with my friend and causing a disturbance, but they made us move seats apart from each other before the class even started. How could we have disturbed the class from opposite sides of the room? Then, I waited till AFTER the demo was over, but before I started on my work, and I asked the instructor to the side if I could move to be next to my friend and he told me no, so I didn't. I also did not typically show up late, which is a hurtful thing to say when I would show up early and try to chat, before Peter or Thom would take Marcus for the before-class walk. They also said all of the rules are clear in their handbook and available on their website. I had no idea they had a handbook at all, so I went to their website to see...only to find they have a completely new website. As you need to use the website every single week to book your class, I would have seen if there was any kind of handbook available, but there was not, and now they have a new website that included one and are retroactively chastising me for not following something that didn't exist....which is exactly in character for...

My wife and I moved to Las Vegas from the East Coast, buying a couple properties and enthusiastic about supporting the community and becoming involved. Back East I owned a business and took pride in supporting local companies. My wife and I wanted to do the same here in Vegas. Both of us have pottery experience and were looking for an enjoyable way to spend a little free time with each other. I have been a member of studios in Virginia, Maryland, and Arkansas so I have experience with pottery studios. We have since found out this is not the place for us. The owner Thomas very quickly pissed off my wife and she stopped going to the class sessions even though we both bought memberships and also payed for classes, clay, supplies etc..($$$) She was so pissed I honestly did not want her there and being more diplomatic than her made the mistake of trying to defend Thomas and the staff. I kept my head down and really tried to enjoy the experience of being in a pottery studio and meeting new artist. I purchased another class and continued without her, hoping for the best. Now I am also leaving my money with them and walking away. Thomas (owner) is not inviting of new clients. He acts as if he is teaching a graduate class at the California Institute of Arts, while there are dogs running around barking and clients are laughing and joking around. I was not under the impression that there would be a high level of professionalism at Clay Arts, and I love dogs. The lack of customer appreciation and respect from an owner is most appalling. I am constantly reminded that they are a production pottery studio which in that statement alone does not prioritize the folks that have invested in studio time and classes. I had a question when attempting to get help to buy glazes from them and was told that, “we are not in class”, basically saying I am busy, followed by Thomas (owner) walking away from me. I eventually found another employee to sell me the glazes. I decided at that point I would not purchase any additional products from them. I placed the first of a few pots on the glazing rack and he was over my shoulder counting and calculating, as if to imply I was trying to go over the quota. BTW, I had not glazed any pots in the previous class and am not even close to my current class quota. I took the time to write this review to warn anyone attempting to sign up for classes, that Thomas (owner) on his best day is rude, lacking customer service, and does not consider you a priority. Moreso, acts annoyed by your presents...

When my husband and I began taking the pottery classes, we expected more support from the staff. These people act like teachers but they really aren't. They think of projects for you to work on even though you might not be ready for it. You would think they would have more patience if they were real teachers. We were told by Tom to take three beginner classes. My husband wanted to quit after the first night because of the severe lack of support he received. I talked him into going back, but as the weeks dragged on I began to feel uncomfortable as well. Other people in the class obviously had more experience and went their merry way. When we came in the third time to a beginner class, Chuck told us to go to the other end of the studio because there were other new people attending that night. Before this we never had any experience with pottery at all. On another occasion when we went there, I asked Tom a question about what number I needed to put on my piece that was ready to be fired. He told me that he wasn't available. I had a simple question and he was sitting there. He told me that Carrie was teaching the lesson. The last time we went there was to glaze our pieces. We again had no prior experiences with this as well. I asked Tom for help and was told that he was teaching a hand throwing class. I understood that he was working and I asked him when he would be available. He couldn't tell me. I asked Carrie who was working on glazing cups and couldn't take five minutes to answer any questions or even explain it as she was doing it. I even tried to find out specifically about a time that we could come back and complete our pieces. I was never given an answer. Tom did explain a little about the glazing process. How not to put to much glaze on your piece and that you need to glue it on a cookie. And no it's not the kind you eat. That is as far as it went. We didn't know what to do, where to get anything to complete the process. When you start the classes you get tools to use but they aren't really explained how to use them very well. My husband and I aren't stupid. All we needed was more assistance. They need to remember that it takes a village to raise a Potter. They need to help everyone they are willing to take on. We felt that this place is more for people who already know what...