Sarasota Clay Company

Sarasota Clay Company traces back to October 2002, when founder Carla O’Brien and her husband Tim bought a warehouse in the Northgate area and began turning it into a pottery studio. What started under the name Carla’s Clay eventually grew into Sarasota Clay Company, and the business has spent more than two decades building a reputation as one of the go-to pottery studios in the area for people of all skill levels, from absolute beginners to potters who have thrown for years and simply need reliable studio time.

The studio’s programming spans a wide range, from pottery classes for complete beginners to more advanced wheel-throwing instruction, along with kids clay classes, date night sessions, and private events. That variety means the studio draws a mix of regulars building a long-term pottery practice and first-timers stopping in for a one-off experience with a friend or partner, all working in the same warehouse space that O’Brien and her husband converted more than twenty years ago.

Located on Northgate Boulevard, the studio sits north of downtown Sarasota in a part of the city that mixes light industrial buildings with small independent businesses. That warehouse setting gives the studio room for multiple wheels, work tables, and kiln space, which is part of what allows it to run such a broad slate of classes and workshops throughout the week without feeling cramped.

The studio also stocks supplies from established ceramics brands, including Highwater Clays, Amaco, Mayco glazes, Mudtools, and Kemper products, making it a resource for potters who need materials in addition to studio time and instruction. Hours run Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4pm and Saturday from 10am to 2pm, with the studio closed Sunday and Monday, giving a fairly standard midweek and Saturday schedule for classes and open studio time.

For anyone in Sarasota looking to try pottery for the first time or to keep developing an existing practice, Sarasota Clay Company offers more than two decades of continuous operation under the same founding family, a track record that few pottery studios in the region can match. That kind of history tends to show up in the studio’s steady class schedule and its loyal base of returning students, many of whom started as complete beginners and have stuck with the craft for years under the same roof O’Brien and her husband first converted back in 2002, gradually working their way from basic hand-building to confident wheel throwing.