Make and decorate a fun pottery project with our experienced instructors! We offer handbuilding pottery classes, workshops and camps for school-aged kids and families. Our pottery technicians will glaze and fire your creations and we will contact you when they are ready for pick up.

Family Classes: Explore the world of clay together! Family classes are designed to bring families together to create masterpieces with clay. One adult is required to accompany 1-2 children and participate in the making of the project.  We offer classes for school-aged kids 5yrs+ and 7yrs+ at Parkgate Community Centre & Memorial Community Recreation Centre.  Classes usually run one day per week for 6-10 weeks.

School Age: Kids and Clay Classes are offered for school-aged kids aged 6-8 at Delbrook Community Recreation Centre and Parkgate Community Centre, and kids aged 9-12 at Delbrook, Parkgate and Memorial Community Recreation Centre. Classes usually run one day per week for 6-10 weeks.

School Age Part-Day Camps are offered during school breaks and summer. We offer pottery-only camps which focus on handbuilding and decorating small projects. We also offer pottery-combo camps, where campers have the opportunity to create clay projects and do another activity, such as swimming or cooking. Camps typically run every day of the week for part of the day.

School Age Workshops are offered at Delbrook Community Recreation Centre for kids 8-12yrs. In these workshops, kids and preteens get a taste of handbuilding and decorating a fun clay project. These workshops usually run for one 2.5 hour class period.  

Learn to throw pottery on the wheel, create through handbuilding, and finish your objects through decorating and glazing. These classes are great for both beginners and those with lots of experience with clay. Have ideas and inspiration? Bring them with you and your instructor can help you add your personal touch to your project. Youth classes are offered at Delbrook Community Recreation Center and Parkgate Community Center and typically run one day per week, for 10-12 weeks.  

Beginner: Get an introduction to creating with clay and the processes needed to work well in a pottery studio. You will build skills in handbuilding, throwing on the wheel, as well as decorating and glazing. Adult classes are appropriate for complete beginners and those who have taken a few classes. Classes (6-12 people) run one day per week for 6-12 weeks (season dependent). They are offered at Delbrook Community Recreation Centre and Parkgate Community Centre.  

Intermediate and Advanced Classes: These courses build on beginner skills and allow you to grow your abilities in clay. You will learn more advanced techniques in throwing and handbuilding, such as making lidded pots, adding handles, and finishing functional wares. It is recommended you have at least 2-3 beginner classes or be able to throw a 4-5 inch cylinder consistently before joining an intermediate or advanced class. Classes (6-12 people) run one day per week for 6-12 weeks (season dependent).  

Throwing-based courses are offered at Delbrook Community Recreation Centre and Parkgate Community Centre, whereas handbuilding-only courses are offered at Memorial Community Recreation Centre. 

NVRC does not offer make-up classes for missed pottery classes.  Our pottery classes are usually full, containing the maximum number of students that instructors can reasonably attend to and space can accommodate. This is in line with other services NVRC provides.

We occasionally offer specialty pottery workshops ranging from 1-4 weeks. We can work with you to offer a workshop that fits with your group’s needs, including organizing special supports through our Access Services team. Please inquire by reaching out to pottery@nvrc.ca.  

Passholders get access to their designated pottery studio during scheduled drop-in times. Each session is approximately three months long and timing lines up roughly with the seasons (summer, fall, winter, spring), though timing may vary slightly from season to season.

The cost for a pass is $231.54 per season ($77.18 per month) in 2025. 

Summer 2025 session dates: July 9 to October 4, 2025

Parkgate studio schedule

Parkgate - July 9 to August 30, 2025

Parkgate - August 31 to October 4, 2025

Delbrook studio schedule

Delbrook - July 9 to August 30, 2025

Delbrook - August 31 to October 4, 2025

To be eligible for a seasonal pass, you must: 

• Be 19+ years old.
• Able to work independently in the studio (see “Studio orientations” below for details).
• Be a previous member of the Parkgate or Delbrook pottery studio or have completed at least two pottery classes* at NVRC within the past three years.

* Must be adult or youth classes; six weeks or longer. 

Pottery experience from outside NVRC is not accepted.
 

Summer 2025 session (July 9 to October 4, 2025)

• Lottery registration for the Summer 2025 session ran from April 7-27, 2025 and is now closed. Results were sent to registrants by email on May 12, 2025. Studio orientations were held June 21 – 26, 2025.
• If you are on the waitlist for this session, you will be notified by email if a spot becomes available for you. 

Fall 2025 session (October 8, 2025 to January 3, 2025) 

• Lottery registration is now closed. Registration was open from July 2 to 27, 2025. 
• October may seem far off, but registration for seasonal passes happens before general program registration (which begins August 14). This ensures that participants know whether they've secured a seasonal pass before registration for pottery classes opens.
• An email about Fall 2025 session registration was sent to individuals with a known association to NVRC pottery (students, pass holders, former studio members) on July 2. Read a copy of the email. If you did not receive the email, but believe you should have, you may have unsubscribed from receiving emails from NVRC, or it may be in your spam folder (check for an email from pottery@nvrc.ca).   

See "How to register" below for step-by-step registration instructions. 

Registration for seasonal studio passes is done through a lottery-based registration system. This system gives all registrants up to three weeks to enter their information online, by phone or in person at our facilities. Then, once staff have confirmed that registrants meet the requirements listed above, the registration software will randomly select eligible registrants and notify all entrants of their status. 

This lottery process is carried out instantly and automatically by the computer system, ensuring complete impartiality. Successful registrants will have a designated number of days after they receive notification to confirm their registration by submitting payment. Those who are not selected will be placed on a waitlist in random order and notified if a spot becomes available.

Step-by-step instructions to register for the fall 2025 seasonal pass lottery

1. From July 2-27, 2025, enter your name to the lottery list for either the Delbrook or Parkgate pottery studio (you must choose one studio). You can enter online, by calling 604-987-7529 or by speaking to front desk staff at an NVRC facility. 

   Enter the lottery for a Fall 2025 seasonal pass

2. Once registration closes, staff will confirm that all registrants meet the eligibility requirements (see below) to get a seasonal pass. This process takes approximately 1 week.   
3. On August 5, 2025, our registration software will run the lottery and randomly assign registrants to a seasonal pass or to the waitlist for their selected studio. This lottery process is carried out instantly and automatically, ensuring complete impartiality.
4. Look out for an email from NVRC on August 5, 2025 with your lottery results. This email will tell you whether you got a seasonal pass or are on the waitlist.
5. If you get a pass, you’ll have until 6pm on Tuesday, August 12 to confirm your spot. To confirm, you will need to submit payment (we’ll provide instructions with your lottery results) and sign up for a studio orientation (if required). If you don’t confirm by Aug 12, your spot will go to the person at the top of the waitlist.  

For help registering online, read the step-by-step guide.  

Please note: Our registration system service provider is experiencing a technical issue, so we can't send registration-related emails to Live, MSN, Hotmail or Outlook addresses right now. This means if you use an email address from one of these providers to register yourself in the lottery, you will not receive a confirmation email from our registration system. For assistance, please call 604-987-7529, speak to front desk staff at any NVRC facility, or visit our registration support page. 
 

Registered passholders can withdraw at any point before or during the season. However, refunds for withdrawals are only given up to 14 days after the season start date, as we can only transfer the passholder's space to someone on the waitlist within to the first two weeks of the season. This is because the new participant must have enough time to make and complete their project.

Passholders who withdraw before the start of the season will be refunded for the entire cost of the seasonal pass. Passholders who withdraw during the first 14 days of the season will receive a prorated refund according to the number of days of the season that have elapsed. Withdrawals more than 14 days after the start of the season are not eligible for a refund. 

Passholders are required to attend an orientation at the studio they have registered for before accessing the studio. 

The purpose of the orientation is to confirm that participants can consistently and safely use equipment, maintain cleanliness, and demonstrate the necessary skills to work independently in the studio. The first hour of the orientation is a pottery skills and knowledge test. In the second hour, we will review the studio guidelines and go over start-of-season administrative details. If someone is unable to work independently, they will not be granted studio access, and their pass will be offered to someone on the waitlist.

Working independently

What does it mean to be able to work independently in the studio? It means a person can consistently do the following:

• Complete objects independently, without issues (such as cracks, glaze drips or kiln accidents)
• Clean up thoroughly after themselves
• Respect the shared studio space and other studio users
• Follow the protocols and procedures put in place by NVRC
   

Orientation dates

Summer 2025 session 
Studio orientations for Parkgate & Delbrook passholders were held from June 21 – 26, 2025.

Fall 2025 session

Orientations for Parkgate passholders will be held:

• Mon, September 15, 6-8pm 

• Mon, September 22, 1-3pm 

Orientations for Delbrook passholders will be held:

• Mon, September 15, 1-3pm 

• Mon, September 22, 6-8pm

Reasonable limits on the amount of work each person can make per season are necessary to manage kiln and storage space in the studios. 

Each passholder is permitted to make up to two cubic feet of work per month (six cubic feet per season). One bag of clay equals approximately one cubic foot of work. All pieces must measure 12 inches or less in any direction, with the exception that each passholder may make up to three pieces per season that measure up to 18 inches in any direction. Each passholder will be assigned a shelf allowance for clay storage and works in progress.

All works must be made in the studio and fired during the current season. Greenware or bisquewear from a previous season or from outside the studio is not allowed to be brought into the studio. 

A firing schedule will be posted each season to help passholders keep their timing on track. (See “studio schedules for passholders” above for the current season’s firing deadlines.)

Clays 
Clay must be purchased from NVRC via the front desk at Parkgate or Delbrook. 

Glazes 
Many varieties and combinations of glazes are provided by NVRC for passholders and students to use. Please refer to the glaze tile walls in the studios for available products and combinations. 

As part of transitioning independent studio time from a membership model to a seasonal pass model, NVRC will gradually increase the number of passholders at the studios each season over the course of the first year of the seasonal passes (July 2025-July 2026). We are increasing numbers gradually so we can monitor kiln and studio space, as well as make certain studio modifications (such as new shelving) to support a larger volume of works in progress. 

In the Summer 2025 and Fall 2025 seasons, there will be 40 studio passes available at Delbrook and 50 at Parkgate. We are working towards a target of 60-75 seasonal pass holders per location per season, with registration occurring four times per year.

 This large and bright pottery studio, located on the top floor of the Delbrook Community Recreation Centre, is equipped with wheels, slab rollers, many glazes and four kilns. We fire to cone 6 and offer the use of the following clay bodies: M370, M340, M390, B-Mix, and P300.

Studio photos:

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This cozy pottery studio is nestled in the trees on the ground floor of the Parkgate Community Centre. It is equipped with wheels, slab rollers, many glazes and three kilns. We fire to cone 6 and offer the use of the following clay bodies: M370, M340, M340S, M390, B-Mix, and P300.

Studio photos:

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This studio is a shared art space with an adjacent pottery and kiln room featuring pottery storage, two kilns and a slab roller. Only handbuilding courses are offered here. 

Studio photos:

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The Delbrook and Parkgate studios, as well as the Memorial art studio* are able to accommodate wheelchairs or other mobility aids for people wanting to try handbuilding with pottery.  If other accommodations are needed for a person to participate, we recommend reaching out to pottery@nvrc.ca, so we can assist you. 

*To access the Memorial art studio when using a wheelchair or other mobility aid, please enter through the doors from the parking lot adjacent to the Capilano Room. 

We have a strong history of volunteering in our pottery studio to help support our adult and school-aged kids’ classes, provide accessibility support and help with duties around the pottery studio. We have volunteer opportunities for persons aged 14yrs+ to help with the school-aged kids’ classes and camps, and persons 18yrs+ to help with the adult classes. We require volunteers to have pottery experience and understand pottery processes, so you can support others’ learning.  

If you would like to volunteer at Delbrook or Memorial Community Recreation Centres, please apply through NVRC’s volunteer program.

If you would like to volunteer at Parkgate, please apply through the Parkgate Society. 

For questions and inquiries please contact the front desks at the Parkgate, Delbrook or Memorial Centres, or email pottery@nvrc.ca 

The changes to independent studio time were announced in December 2024 at a series of information sessions for studio users and other interested parties (read the meeting fact sheet and Q&A). At these meetings and in the months following, NVRC received concerns, questions and feedback from studio members, as well as individuals on the membership waitlists, students in NVRC pottery programs and other interested community members. 

Key issues included accessibility and equity, community and artistic values, desire for input into NVRC pottery decisions, studio capacity, storage and operations, and potential alternative solutions. Feedback received and NVRC’s responses are documented in the Pottery Studio Changes Feedback Summary. 

After receiving this feedback, NVRC: 

• Changed the registration process from the proposed first-come, first-served online registration system to a lottery-based registration system. The lottery system provides additional accessibility, gives people more time and flexibility in when and how they register, and ensures the process is fair and impartial. 
• Held meetings with studio users in April 2025 to share details regarding registration and studio operations for the new seasonal pass model, and collect feedback on clay types, glaze colours and future program offerings. 

We understand that this transition has been difficult for those with studio memberships, and we acknowledge that it represents a significant change in how we do things. We hope all studio users will choose to continue to participate in pottery at NVRC under the new model.