Willamette Art Center — Local services in Salem

I wish I could say my experience here was better since this is the only ceramic art center in Salem. I can see the appeal if you are new to ceramics or taking a class, but it was very frustrating as an artist purchasing a studio pass. While the studios are well equipped, only a select few people are in charge of firings and there are no options to load/fire your own work. I unfortunately had several pieces damaged in the firing process. You have to pay for tickets for every stage of the firing process, which wouldn't be an issue if more of my work survived the firing (shards from other pieces/ drips from kiln wash and other student work ruined several of my pieces). I ended up feeling that I wasted a lot of time and money here. The staff are definitely a close-knit group of people and not very helpful to individuals not taking their classes. I was surprised to find that threats to recycle my personal clay were written on the box when I attempted to store my clay next to the class clay section. This could have been resolved through a respectful email or phone call but no attempts were made. Overall, I felt the environment to be very unprofessional and...

Purchased a pottery piece at the fair, took them hours to put it in the kiln so we decided we would pick it up at a later date that their sign said they would be open. Drove 1.5 hours from home to them to pick the piece up only to find them closed and no one answering the phone. They called me back the next day as I left a message and I asked if they would mail me the piece I’ve paid for since I drove 3 hours and they were closed on a day they posted they would be open, but they promptly said they won’t mail it.

I asked the volunteer on the phone to escalate and have someone with authority to figure out how to refund me to contact me and it’s been over a week now. I guess these guys are okay with business fraud and not taking care of their customers. I understand issues may arise and stuff happens but it’s absolutely no excuse to deny refunding or fixing an issue that you are responsible for as a vendor. Will never purchase...

I’m so glad Salem has a place anyone can come work with clay and do their pottery! Even though I hadn’t touched it for years until now, I could easily revisit the craft at WAC- they offer different options for buying an open studio pass to use all their equipment for on-your-own work, or offer classes with instruction. You can buy your clay from them, buy used or new tools, use their all their equipment/wheels/glazes, etc, and get items fired for a small fee. Well equipped studio. I was nervous/worried about bringing a group of first-time wheel throwers for a day of fun with clay, but both staff members on a Friday were extremely nice and happy to have us! Happy everyone abides with masks too,...