Friday Night Throwdown pottery classes at Visual Art Institute 

• Jesse M. Gonzalez

Through the "big" doors of Visual Art Institute that are open to the pottery class sits a group of focused students, all at different levels of ability. Some have fully formed mugs spinning on the wheel, some are already finished, and some are patiently waiting for the clay to form. Students show that pottery-making, like any art form, is a personal expression.

"I am actually a little bit curious about it. I would be interested in trying it again, but it'd also be cool if it was paired with, like, a smash room," said student Kelsey Pesta jokingly, taking her first Friday Night Throwdown pottery class. "It's been fun to work with your hands, it's calming, it's fun to play around."

From oil painting to poetry readings, the 20,000 square foot space of VAI hosts a multitude of different art forms. The weekly Friday Night Throwdowns—short-term, individual three-hour-long sessions—have been filling up to maximum capacity, igniting a spark in the creative minds of both experienced and novice pottery makers.

"The throwdowns are short-term individual three-hour long sessions," said Hana Janatová, the executive director and co-leader of the art facility.

"The throwdowns are supposed to be super beginner-based friendly so that any person of any background can come," said Shelbie Colton, a pottery instructor at the VAI. "Throwing on the wheel—it takes a lot of practice and so they get interested in coming back for 12-week courses, so it's a really great way to introduce them to the art."

The VAI supplies potters with three pounds of clay, which permits the creation of approximately three finished pieces, depending on the size of the intended creation.

"When they finish their pieces, we have them over here," said Colton, pointing to a long, wooden table carrying dozens of assorted mugs and bowls, fully formed and sculpted. "Then the next morning I write all their names on the bottom and write down the glaze they chose. We fire them, glaze them, and fire them again. I think it's been a great way for different people in the community to come together, and I've had a huge variety of people come here."

• Jesse M. Gonzalez

The Visual Art Institute was founded in 1978 by Utah State University professor, Stephanie Burn, making it the oldest nonprofit after-school art program in the state. Unfortunately, Burn died in 1998 from cervical cancer, after which Bruce Robertson took the mantle.

"I took over from there and I surrendered the stuff I don't like to do. I'm more on the creative side," said Robertson, who teaches drawing and painting at the University of Utah as well as a Wednesday watercolor class.

"She [Stephanie] was a different soul. She did a great thing . . . when she passed away, she only let people know that she was sick ten days before she passed. They ran my name past her to see if it would—and she felt good about that—that was one of the last lucid things she said," said Robertson.

In 2022, Hana Janatová took over the role of executive director, as Robertson stepped down to solely focus on curriculum as VAI's art director. The following year, VAI transferred locations from Highland to South Salt Lake—a monumental change which brought greater space and a more desirable location. "It's a historical building too. It's one of the oldest meat-packing plants in Utah. If you want a fun fact, it was the largest purveyor of meat products to the U.S. troops during World War 2 for the whole entire nation," said Janatová. "Hence those big doors—everything was a refrigeration unit or meat locker."

"We're trying to make this a real community art center. We're just trying to break down some barriers and get people to recognize that this is a safe place, it's a good place to be, it's a very fun and loving community and it's a very familial kind of a thing," said Robertson.

"I've done one other class, probably like two years ago," said Caroline Boyd, a local video producer. "Shelbie's great. She's really hands on and she explains the process really well. Also having the opportunity to create three mugs—the last class I went to was one . . . when you mess up, kind of try to do better the next time. It's one of those art forms that's very delicate, that you have to work very slowly and methodically. I'm just really grateful for the people who put on this class."