Alchemy Art Center

Learn wheel throwing this spring in our Beginning Wheel class. This course is a deep dive into pottery fundamentals, perfect for total beginners or anyone looking for a refresher. Students will learn to throw ceramic forms, trim work on the wheel, and explore a variety of handle styles and surface decoration techniques to create their own functional pottery. By the end of the course, students will feel confident navigating the Alchemy ceramics studio and continuing their pottery journey through membership or future classes.

Art Club is our after school general art program for elementary schoolers! We'll paint, draw, make comics, create jewelry, sew, and more! In Art Club , students will have the opportunity to learn a variety of 2D and 3D art techniques in a variety of mediums. We will cover a wide array of topics that change each month, including various painting projects, drawing, comic making, murals, fiber arts, photography, collage, jewelry, paper mache, and lots more. This after school program is experiental and students will have the opportunity to provide input about what they'd like to do during art club. We meet weekly for four weeks, giving kids a chance to try new things each week or deep-dive into a project. This is a new program for kids that we are excited to share with all of you! It's a great place for kids to socialize, learn and be creative in a supportive and fun environment. Schedule: Tuesdays 3:30-5:30. There are 4 sessions in this class: 10/6, 10/13, 10/20, and 10/27. Transportation: Kids can take the school bus (route #1) directly to Alchemy with a note for the driver. Car drop-off is at 3:30. Location: This class takes place at our Field Campus at 45 Hawthorne Lane. Registration: Please register early if you are able, as it helps us to assure that classes meet their minimums in order to run! If you register more than three weeks before this class begins, a 20% early bird discount will automatically be applied to your ticket at checkout. A Note on Ticket Pricing: We are offering sliding scale tickets in order to keep our classes accessible to as many community members as possible. There are three price tiers. Sustaining tickets help us continue to invest in programming. Full price tickets cover the costs associated with running classes. Accessibility tickets are priced below what it costs for us to run a class. If the cost of a full price ticket is a hardship, we encourage you to purchase a sliding scale ticket. If you can pay the full price or sustaining price, please choose that option so we can keep providing arts programming to the community. Tuition Assistance: Tuition assistance is available for Alchemy classes and workshops if finances are a barrier. Apply for tuition assistance here .

This class takes place over 4 Wednesdays Clay Club is our after school ceramics program for elementary age kids! Kids can take the #1 bus or be dropped off at Alchemy. Sign up here!

With Trinity Althoff Learn the foundations of color work- the art of using different colors of yarn to convey a motif. Sign up here !

2 Thursdays beginning October 8 · 5:30-8:30pm Create a stunning, large-scale vase using the coil-building method! Sign up here!

Bring a sewing work in progress on the interisland ferry and join our at-sea fiber arts circle! The interisland ferry is pretty dreamy when you don't have anywhere you have to be, don't you think? Bring a sewing or other fiber arts work in progress and join our interisland ferry fiber arts circle! Here are some ideas: a garment you would like to mend a knitting or crochet project needle felting quilting sashiko or embroidery garment making, stuffy making, anything else you can think of! Walk on and make the loop around the islands, be ready to spend about 2-3 hours on the ferry. This circle is facilitated by textile artist and Alchemy staff member Katey Rissi. Katey will share a different skill from her own practice at each circle, so you are welcome to come just to learn something new, bring your own project and build textiles community, or both, up to you! Please walk on and meet us on board the ferry. A great option for folks from other islands to join in! We will be on the ferry that leaves Friday Harbor at 11:30am, Orcas at 12:50pm, Shaw at 1:05pm and Lopez at 1:25pm. We'll arrive back at Friday Harbor at 2:15pm. Check out the ferry schedule for more info/return times for the other islands. Sign Up Here!

Do you want feedback from other artists on an art piece you're stuck on? Do you want to talk about art with other islanders? Join us! We meet every other Wednesday evening and share projects we are working on that we'd like feedback on, past pieces we'd like to build upon, or any other in-progress or completed work we'd like to share. You are also welcome to come just to check out work and talk with other artists! This is an informal supportive group of artists providing feedback for one another, discussing ideas, and hopefully laying the groundwork for creating new work and new collaborations. This is a drop-in group, you can attend as many as you'd like. We like folks to sign up ahead of time so we can best organize the space, but you may show up at the door as well. Suggested donation $15-$25. Artists Critique Group is held in the dome on the AAC campus. Registration: Please register early if you are able, as it helps us to assure that programs meet their minimums in order to run!

Friday, Oct 16, 6-8 pm A casual and social environment to create something delightful out of clay! Sign up now!

Walk away with new skills and a handcrafted leather wallet that will last you a lifetime! Take your leatherwork to the next level with Drew Loura, Rambler Goods on San Juan Island, who has been working with leather for more than 8 years. Sign up here !

A group for mothers on the island to gather and create art in community. Create art while you create life! This is a drop in group for mothers on the island to gather and create art in community. We will be using a variety of mediums to explore themes of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. Sign up here!

Come check out our new marvelous facility at the Art Farm, make some art, and build community! Come join us on the last Tuesday of the month for Community Art Night in the Art Barn! Take a look at our new facilities at 45 Hawthorne Lane and work in the Community Art Studio in the Art Barn. We'll have a buffet of 2D art materials out for you to use. This is a no-commitment, low cost way to get some artmaking time in. There is no formal instruction during community art nights, but we will have AAC staff monitoring and we can help you if you have questions! Community Art Night at the Art Barn is held at our new campus at 45 Hawhtorne Lane. Directions and parking information will be included in your confirmation email

Community Art Night is your opportunity to come check out the ceramics studio and make whatever you want out of clay! *This class takes place in the Ceramics Studio at 1255 Wold Rd* Learn more and register here.