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In a city like New Orleans where being an Artist is an admired career and much respected hustle, you might feel shy about casually throwing around the term.
From musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers, actors, filmmakers, poets, writers, and more, the Crescent City is overflowing with creative folk that have certainly earned the title. So you don’t have a Bywater studio or stay up into the late hours fiddling with the layout of your online portfolio, but you are Artistic. If you took art classes growing up, make a mean handmade birthday card and hoard DIY craft projects on various Pinterest boards, this round-up is for you. Check out some fun art classes that might make a dent in your wallet but are certainly much cheaper than the MFA you don’t really need and your parents aren’t going to help you get.
POTTERY
Hands In Clay
4125 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
Phone: (504) 269-1300
Come visit this ceramics gallery and pottery teaching studio. Sign up for Fall pottery classes that run September 29th-November 8th and November 10th-December 20th. The fee is $190 per six week session plus $20 for a 25 lb. bag of clay and a $20 toolkit (so actually, $230). Check out their class schedule here. Beginner classes start off with an into to pottery making and you’ll definitely get to use the wheel. This is a great place to check out if you have zero experience because most of their attention goes to the beginners. Additionally, each session includes a hand-building class.
MOSAICS
New Orleans JCC
5342 St. Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA 70115
Phone: (504) 897-0143
The New Orleans JCC offers a variety of adult art classes (for members and non-members) ranging from knitting, watercolor painting, printmaking and mosaics. Sign up for Mosaics and Mimosas that runs Mondays 7pm-9:30pm, September 15th-October 20th. This class is designed for beginners that want to learn everything you need to know about making a basic mosaic. The class is $150 for members and $200 for non-members with a $25 supplies fee.
SCREENPRINTING
New Orleans Community Print Shop and Dark Room
1201 Mazant Street
New Orleans, LA 70117
If you aren’t ready to commit to a six-week course, swing by this artist collective for their Public Hours & Open Shop on Tuesday and Thursday Evenings from 6pm-10pm. No reservation or membership is required for you to use this Open Shop as a beginning screenprinting class. Volunteers will be happy to walk you through the basics of the screen printing as well as the shop’s equipment and procedures. Simply bring a high contrast black and white printed image and $17 ($7 burn a screen, $5 cup of ink, $5 screen storage for one week). If you don’t have anything you want to print on, you can purchase paper or American Apparel T-shirts. Click here for some of their info on the basics of screenprinting.
In New Orleans there are so many options for getting creative. These are just a few of our favorites. How do you like to get crafty? Tell us about it in our Comments Section!
