Holiday Hours
We take our last painters 1 hour before closing each day.
Christmas Eve 10am-Noon (pickups only) / Christmas Day & 12/26 CLOSED / Fri 12/27 – Sat 12/28 10am-6pm / Sunday 12/29 Noon-4pm / Monday 12/30 10am-6pm
New Years Eve 10am-4pm / New Years Day CLOSED
We are a Non-Profit, Social Enterprise of the Fairfield County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
We have over 200 unique pottery designs to choose from througout the year - dinnerware (plates, bowls, serving platters, etc), drinkware (mugs, cups, travelers, goblets, etc), home items like planters and wall plaques. We have dozens of animal figurines for kids to paint, statues, whimsy items, office items, jewelry containers, storage items like toothbrush holders and pencil caddies. During the holiday season we have over 100 different ornaments, as well as holiday themed decor pieces and more. The sky is the limit!
Like our pottery selection, our glaze offering is one of the broadest you'll find in a PYOP studio. Our main paint bar has 72 colors, plus 8 different speckled glazes, and 8 puffy paint colors. Head into our Alternative Glaze room to open the possibility window even more! Here you will find over 3 dozen more options like pottery glazes, jungle gems, matte glaze, and the perfect Christmas tree greens
Check out the latest offerings of art classes and special events
Our staff artists share their creative abilities so we can offer unique custom keepsakes throughout the year. Birthday plates, ornaments with hand-painted images of your pet, or home. Check it out under the Shop Online tab, to see what is currently available to order!
It’s up to you! Some painters stay for hours designing and painting their work. Others, including small children, are finished quickly. Most adults paint for 1-2 hours, on average. Young kids (2-6 year olds) tend to paint very quickly - 20 mins tops. It all depends on the piece you select, your design, how detailed you are, and how much time you have. You are welcome to paint for as long as you like. If you are not able to finish in one sitting, no problem. Just pay for your piece, then take your piece home, and return anytime to complete the project.
Nope! We are on a walk in basis only. Because everyone creates at a different rate, we do not take reservations. We would have to make them for a specified beginning AND ending time, and we don't want to limit anyone's creativity. When planning your visit theres a few things to remember: 1) In an effort to guarantee a positive experience - we take our last painters 1 hour before closing each day. (2) We do tend to be quite busy and often have a waitlist. You're always welcome to call ahead and ask if we are currently busy.
Your piece(s) will be available for pick up in 6-12 days. Pickups are always on Saturdays. Which Saturday your pieces will be ready depends on when you come in – the date is marked on boards at the paint bar, and on the carbon slips our staff write up for you at your painting table. Any staff member can also tell you what our current pickup date is, when you come in. The date on your slip is a GUARANTEED date that they are ready. Can’t come back right away? No problem – we will hold onto your piece for 45 days. After that grace period has passed, we do not guarantee that your pieces will be available.
DISCLAIMERS: (1) Please be aware that we do not make reminder calls. The date on your slip is guaranteed and the yellow slip is your reminder. (2) We do not fire for a requested date. We fire in the order of visit. In a strive for fairness, any requests to move an order ahead of all others, will be denied.
We offer non-toxic paints and glazes of the highest quality. Finished pottery pieces are food safe after firing. They are also “technically” microwave and dishwasher safe. However, we don’t recommend putting them in the latter because the severe temperature changes can cause glaze crackling — and then they are no longer food safe.
Yes! Art & Clay To Go is a creative experience away from the studio. You choose the ceramics, and we will bring everything needed to have a PYOP event at your venue. We go to schools, offices, homes, churches, etc. Contact our Remote Operations/Special Events Coordinator Sam Steele at sam.steele@fairfieldcountyohio.gov to get the ball rolling!
Yes! - Our walk-in business has grown considerably over the past decade. Hosting parties during regular hours got a little crazy, and we felt that the experience for the party clients was being compromised. Because we only want to do something if we can do it well, we made the decision a few years ago to not offer parties during regular hours. Therefore, we offer large group gatherings after the studio is closed to the public. We currently offer After Hours opportunities. You can rent the studio for 2 hours after we close for $50. For this we require a minimum of 15 painters and at least $300 to be spent on ceramics or handcrafted beverages. See our events tab to check available dates. Email our special events coordinator Sam with questions sam.steele@fairfieldcountyohio.gov
The short answer is no. But here is why we do not - we don't want to do anything that we cannot do well. Unfortunately, ceramics are rather vulnerable to breakage in general - in particular when shipped. We can easily replace a piece of bisqueware. We cannot replace your experience you had while creating with loved ones or while having some relaxing time to yourself. Our policy is that we do not ship. We simply do not like to take the chance of sending a box that could potentially be a giant disappointment when opened.
Additional reasons include that its quite pricey to ship ceramics, because we have to wrap each one in layers of bubble wrap - which creates the need for a large box. As a small business, we cannot afford to absorb the $20-$30 it takes to ship a ceramic, so it would have to be passed on to the customer. If you're not painting alone, you could end up spending more on shipping than you do on painting your ceramics.
We will ship custom pieces that we create (check them out under the "Shop" tab above), for orders going to an address in Ohio. We can recreate that piece if it is broken. We cannot recreate a piece a customer has made.
We can not fire ceramics that were not purchased and painted through Art and Clay. Alot goes into making sure that each ceramic comes out of the kiln perfect including the proper storage before painting, proper glazing and proper firing temperature. These are all things that we can not guarantee when a ceramic come from outside our studio. Just one of these factors being incorrect can cause damage to your piece, our kilns and other customer pieces.
We are a Non-Profit, Social Enterprise of the Fairfield County Board of Developmental Disabilities
A Social Enterprise can be either for-profit or non-profit. Art & Clay on Main and Square 7 are both Non-Profit with a 501c3 federal tax status. Social Enterprises are always mission driven. Our mission is to provide opportunities and promote independence. We do this with permanent employment, internships through partnerships with local high schools, and community involvement.
