Skip to main content
November 3, 2023 5:30–8:30 pm
Duke Arts Annex
Ceramics

Introduction to Throwing on the Wheel

Taught by Julie Hinson

About the Workshop

Students learn the basics of ceramics during a DukeCreate painting workshop at the Arts Annex.
Students learn the basics of ceramics during a DukeCreate painting workshop at the Arts Annex. Image by Megan Mendenhall.

Learn how to throw pottery on the wheel! In this introductory class, you will learn the basics of centering and throwing cylinders. This class is focused on gaining an introduction into throwing techniques rather than creating a finished product and is a prerequisite to using the Arts Annex pottery wheels during open studio hours.

This is a Zero-Waste Duke Arts Create class. Students will practice on the wheel and their clay will be recycled for the next class. Clay may be recycled indefinitely before it has been fired. Once clay is fired it lasts virtually forever and will not breakdown. Duke Arts Create supports ethical and sustainable artistic practices and therefore will not be firing work produced during this class.

After completing Duke Arts Create Introduction to Wheel Throwing, students may work in the Arts Annex clay studio during open studio hours or come to Duke Arts Create Intermediate Wheel Throwing to complete a work to fire and keep.

PLEASE NOTE: This will be a 3-hour workshop beginning at 5:30PM. Space is limited to only 12 participants. Please only enroll if you are sure you can attend. If you must cancel, please do so well in advance so another person can take your place. We anticipate the waitlist for this workshop will exceed 100 people.

About the Instructor

Image of artist Julie Hinson holding and surrounded by her pottery.

Raised in Durham, North Carolina Julie Rose Hinson has been creating art from the earth since she was a child. After graduating college Julie went on to spend three years working as a Butcher in Brooklyn, New York. It was here that she began to form a deeper understanding and appreciation for our connections to the earth and to ideas of sustainability and gender equality. After returning to North Carolina in 2016 Julie moved to Seagrove, North Carolina to learn how to make pots with fifth generation potter, Sid Luck.
In Seagrove, Julie fully embraced the role of artist and fell in love with clay and the North Carolina pottery community. Through playful representations of the female body and contrasting traditional forms, her work aims to inspire joy and form tangible lines of connections between diverse groups of women. Currently living and working in Durham, Julie co-founded Outer Loop Arts, a collaborative art space downtown where she teaches classes and workshops.

About the Location

Image of outside of Arts Annex with painted sculptures.

This workshop will meet in the Duke Arts Annex: get directions.

Address: 404 Gattis St, Durham, NC 27701

About Duke Arts Create

Duke Arts Create is a series of free, hands-on arts workshops designed to help all Duke students including undergraduates, graduates, and professionals (including health professionals), faculty, and staff develop a variety of creative skills in the visual arts, dance and movement, creative writing and more. Workshops are open to all skill levels and backgrounds. Most workshops are held in the Duke Arts Annex, the Rubenstein Arts Center or the Duke Arts Office 2101 and are typically held weeknights from 6-8 p.m.

Registration for the following week’s Duke Arts Create workshops go live on Friday morning at 9 a.m. – sign up in advance to guarantee your spot. Didn’t get a spot? No problem! We always reserve space for walk-ins and waitlist registers. Email DukeCreate@duke.edu if you have any questions. Sign up for the monthly newsletter here, which includes the full list of classes offered during the following month.

Duke Arts Create is sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts (Duke Arts).