About

Night Class Ceramics is a twice-weekly evening class full of ceramics students in Crystal Lake, IL. Led by instructor CJ Niehaus, we foster a collaborative environment where all students can learn and grow together.

Many of us are not "traditional" students and are already working professionals in other fields, but we've all found a passion for pottery and the community that comes with it. We tend to be "repeaters" — students taking Ceramics I and II again and again since those are the only evening slots available.

Each semester, we work on new techniques and projects to challenge ourselves and push our creative boundaries. We've held special events and themed semester projects such as:

• Do This in Your Style

  All participants draw a random name and make a piece inspired by that person

• Teambuilding

  Two participants (by choice or random selection) work collaboratively and create two-of-a-kind pieces, so everyone has a memento of the experience

• Clay Olympics

  Various competitions and challenges, such as "tallest hand-built structure" or "most identical pots within a set time limit"

• Talking Heads

  Our first large-scale collaborative project