JCC Art Studios Reopen After Nearly Three-Year Pause
"I believe that our ceramics studio is a beautiful showcase of what our community is all about. It's about the heart."
— Udi Urman
November 18, 2022
The vibrant and creative arts scene at the JCC is back in full swing following a nearly three year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the summer, studio arts classes returned to the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, and just this fall, ceramics classes followed suit, reopening to over 80 students. At the expansive arts studios located just below ground level at the JCC’s 14-story campus, classes are offered in subjects including ceramics, drawing, oil painting, watercolor, illustration, and more.
All are welcome to register for in-person studio arts classes at the JCC, including those with no prior experience, and those with advanced skill sets looking to master new, more complex techniques. "I encourage anyone who has never tried studio arts, but has this itch, to come in for a tour," shares Udi Urman, Director of the Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas.
The ceramics studio at the JCC offers some of the best facilities for pottery wheel and ceramics classes on the Upper West Side, offering spacious rooms with high ceilings and four large work tables, clay and porcelain materials, brand-new equipment, nine pottery wheels, and two electric kilns.
Urman, who joined the JCC team while studio arts classes were on pause, couldn't wait to meet the dedicated ceramics students.
"It wasn't until we reopened the ceramics studio that I understood its power. Many die-hard ceramicists have been working in the JCC studio for 15 years together. They celebrate birthdays and holidays together, and support each other within the studio walls and outside. On the first day of reopening the studios this fall, I remember standing outside and seeing our community members coming back. I wondered if it was going to feel the same as before, and then I instantly saw warm hugs, laughs, and even some tears."
When ceramics classes started back up in September, teacher and studio manager Ava McNamee, who has been working in clay for over 20 years and has taught at the JCC for more than six years, was excited to see her students again. "Most of the students from before COVID have returned and they are so happy to be back at the JCC ceramics studio. A few had been emailing the JCC to ask about the opening of the studio, and many remained true to the JCC and wouldn’t join another studio in the interim," McNamee says.
McNamee studied sculpture at The Art Students League and became interested in ceramics while living in Arizona and New Mexico, where she studied at the Sedona Art Center and Coyote Clay & Color. Ava’s work is mostly handbuilt, with extruded forms that she transforms into whimsical lamps. She is also an accomplished painter, with works in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Industrial History In Bethlehem, PA. She is a teacher’s assistant for renowned color-field painter Ronnie Landfield and conceptual artist Augustine Boyce-Cummings at The Art Students League. Her work was exhibited recently at The Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn and the Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery in Manhattan.
She has many favorite memories in the JCC studios from her six years of teaching, including one student telling her "you saved me, if it wasn’t for this class, I don’t know where I would be." McNamee believes that "the JCC is not just a ceramics studio, it’s a community of people enjoying a creative life. It’s also the friendliest studio I’ve worked in."
"I believe that our ceramics studio is a beautiful showcase of what our community is all about. It's about the heart," shares Urman. "When I walk to the studio every morning and look at the students, see them helping each other and working together, I hear the heartbeats. I can feel the heartbeats of a whole community."
Prospective artists can enroll in weekly ceramics classes now or for the spring semester, which begins in February. Advanced students can purchase passes to work independently in the ceramics studio.
Ceramics classes are offered Sunday–Friday at the JCC. Classes this spring include:
Beginner and Intermediate Wheel Throwing
Intermediate and Advanced Handbuilding + Sculpture
For more details and the full studio arts calendar, visit: mmjccm.org/studio-arts.
Photo credit: Jennifer Weisbord
Story Editor: Lauren Magy. Lauren is the Director of Public Relations + Community Engagement at the MMJCCM. She has worked at theater and cultural institutions in DC and NY for the past decade.