Pottery program
Clay & Camaraderie
Hands-on pottery at Veterans Healing Farm in Mills River, North Carolina. Learn to work with clay, slow down, and make friends around the studio table.
The program
Three ways to work with clay
Clay & Camaraderie is our pottery program for active-duty service members, veterans, their families, and VHF volunteers. It pairs structured creative work with the calm, hands-on focus of shaping clay.
- Beginner hand-building workshopFour weeks of the basics: slab building, texture, underglazes, and sgraffito. We fire your pieces in our kiln, then you glaze them. Come unwind and learn something new.
- Open studioFor anyone who has taken a pottery session with us or has pottery experience. Work on your own projects, with Sophia on hand to answer questions.
- Seasonal workshopsSpecial projects through the year, like our two-part holiday ornament workshop. No pottery experience needed.
At a glance
- Who
- Active-duty service members, veterans, their families, and VHF volunteers
- Where
- The farm's pottery studio
- Led by
- Sophia Lauterbach, resident potter
- When
- Dates are on the event calendar. Open studio runs in seasonal sessions.
- Sign up
- Register through Regpack, which adds a $1 system charge. Please cancel at least 72 hours ahead.
Meet the potter
Meet our resident potter
Sophia Lauterbach is the farm's resident potter. She leads Clay & Camaraderie in our pottery studio, where students learn to work with clay side by side.
Away from the farm, Sophia runs Dingbats Studio, her own ceramics studio in Asheville. She hand-builds custom pieces to order: house-number plaques, pet portrait vases, sculptures, and whimsical garden pieces like her mushroom pollinator cups.
On the calendar
Upcoming Clay & Camaraderie workshops
Workshop and open studio dates for the next few months, from the farm calendar.
Get in touch
Questions about Clay & Camaraderie?
Email or call us with any pottery question. We're glad to help.