Pottery Summer Camp
Welcome potters!
Summer Pottery Camp 2026 Information is available below, and registration opens on February 14th at 9am. Scholarships are open on January 1, 2026 and close on Feb 1. Please contact Ona at onaarmstrong@gmail to be added to our mailing list so you can get all the information delivered to your inbox.
**New Camp Location for 2026**
Rainbow Community School
574 Haywood Rd
Asheville, NC 28806
By popular demand, the final two weeks will be the August Pottery Camp Intensive, located at Firefly Valley Pottery in West Asheville.
Dates for 2026:
June 8-12 (Pottery for Pollinators with Ona)
June 15-19 (Spanish Language Week with Megan and Ona)
June 22-26 (BIPOC Week with Shawn and Catina*
and Pottery Around the World with Ona)
June 29-July 3 (Cats Week with Megan and Ona)
July 6-10 (LGBTQIA+ Week with Shawn, Japan Week with Ona )
July 13-17 (Mexico Week with Ona)
July 20-24 (African Pottery Week with Ona)
July 27-31 (Cherokee Pottery Week with Ona)
Aug 3-7 and Aug 10-14th- Pottery Intensive Weeks
(Two week camp held at Firefly Valley Pottery** that includes a parents' night out, "Parent Camp" tickets and more with Megan and Ona.)
Aug. 17-21st (with Ms. Jesse at Firefly Valley**)
*Black, Indigenous, People of Color (including Asian Pacific Islander) youth invited only
** Firefly Valley Pottery address: 25 Central Ave West, Asheville, NC 28806
Please see below for camp details and information about
scholarships, helper program and more.
Does your child crave a calm, well-structured creative environment? Do they love creating for hours on end and want to learn new creative techniques in pottery and other natural crafts? Then you're found the right place!
Summer Pottery Camp is a creative and fun week where potters discover new techniques through a spiraling hand-building curriculum in the morning (pinch, slab, coil techniques) in morning hand-building class and wheel throwing techniques in an afternoon one-on-one throwing tutorial. Potters will enjoy the outdoor environment with additional guided activities on the property like rope swings, wooden sculpture, baking, fruit carving, painting, fiber arts and more in a relaxed, quiet outdoor environment.
Firefly Valley Daily Camp Schedule:
10am- Campers arrive, helpers help them complete AOK's (Acts of Kindness- gardening, drawings and love notes for Bounty and Soul, mulching, etc. )
10:30- 11:30- Hand building pottery demonstration, class and students are called for individual wheel throwing lessons (Mon-Wednesday)
11:30-12- Free play when finished
12:00-1:00 Lunch and siesta (quiet reading, drawing, etc.)
1:00-2:30- Chocolate Cake- a name for our afternoon art activities (ex. glazing projects from the morning, sculpture, felting) water play, baking and more individual pottery wheel throwing lessons
2:30- snack and hydration ("cheers") time
3:00-3:45- Cherry Pie- a name for our second art and play time-
3:45- Camp clean-up and closing gratitude circle (parents and families invited!)
4:15- Prompt pick-up (Please remember that Haywood/Patton/I 40 are quite congested during this time, so plan accordingly)
Who is invited?
Camp is open to beginners and experienced potters. Camp is open to ages 5-16. The average age of campers is 5-10, and most campers aged 11 and up are helpers, but campers that age are welcomed, often with a friend is nice for them. There are usually a few campers who are older who are not helpers, and they can be in community with older helpers during the day as well.
BIPOC Week is only open to Black, Indigenous, People of Color (which includes Asian and Pacific Islanders-API) children.
All students are welcomed to Spanish Language Week and all other weeks.
Tuition:
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Pottery Camp costs $550/week for a full week, full day ticket.
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Helper tickets (full day) are $300.
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There will be no half day tickets this summer, although if you'd like to pick your child up early, you're welcome to at 1pm.
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10% sibling discounts are available for the second, third, etc. tickets for each family.
Hours and Before/After Care:
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Camp is held from 10am - 4:15pm Monday-Friday with additional hours available from 9am - 5pm for $10/ hour per child. (You can sign up for this when you receive your welcome letter about a week before camp begins.)
REFUND POLICY
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50% refund available up to one week before camp begins.
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No refunds closer than 1 week to camp start date.
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If you need to switch weeks, there is a $75 fee.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Scholarship applications will open on January 1, 2026. Scholarships will be awarded before camp registration begins on February 14th, 2025. Scholarships are only for full day campers.
WAITLIST
If a camp is sold out on the website, we will have a waitlist for you to join.
CAMP HELPERS
Pottery Camp also offers an opportunity for those age 11-16 to be a Camp Helper. Helpers will support camp staff in activities. Helpers will get time to hand-build, enjoy time on the wheel, and lead fun afternoon activities. If you've been a helper before, don't fill out this form- go ahead and register for the week that works best for you beginning on Feb. 14th- plan ahead with your helper friends and have someone ready to purchase tickets.
Interested in becoming a new helper? Please apply using the form below.