By Jadenne Radoc Cabahug, CHS reporting intern

Seatown Pottery is coming to Capitol Hill in November to offer a 24-hour workspace to allow artists the chance to mold things out of clay — whenever inspiration strikes.

“These are run kind of like a gym membership. Members can come and go whenever they’re able to carve time out in their busy life of juggling kids and work in school and everything,” owner Chelsea Sherman said.

The Capitol Hill location is the newest addition to the school of studios with the original established seven years ago in Redmond. Other locations include Bellevue and Green Lake.

“Adults don’t get an opportunity to be creative and get their hands dirty and kind of relax and recharge,” Sherman said. “The fact that they can come in at three in the morning and we have people that use the space at all hours of the night which is really fun to see.”

The 24-hour business model is catered to teen and adult potters though Sherman said there has been high interest in children’s pottery classes.

Seatown is part of a growing business model in neighborhoods like Capitol Hill to create spaces dedicated to specialty activities that members can access on demand. There are countless gyms and fitness studios with round the clock access and Birch Road Cellar is doing it with wine on First Hill. Even Capitol Hill snooker and pool hall Ox Billiards was planned with member access in mind.

Sherman said her business is expanding because people realize the need to take time for themselves to recharge and reset and care for their mental health and well-being.

“At a young age, I realized pottery was going to be the way that I decompressed and how I made sense of the world, so getting to share that on a larger scale with so many people in the community has just been like really amazing,” Sherman said.

A membership at Seatown Pottery includes 24/7 access to studios providing a workspace with necessary tools like clay, glazes, pottery wheels, and kiln firings.

The hope, Sherman says, is to create a network of studios and instruction across the area.

Sherman said they include all of these tools so members “just need to bring their creativity and show up.”

The Green Lake location hosts boot camps and workshops for the community as well as open studio hours to allow families to enjoy time together. But Sherman said the Capitol Hill location is a dedicated workspace for older artists at only 1,000 square feet.

“(We) offer a family membership where adults can bring their their teenagers in with them,” Sherman said of the smaller Seatown facilities. “Or we have lots of adult members and couples that use the space typically.”

The Capitol Hill studio will debut in November. Some members have already visited the building to help with its layout.

A grand opening and open house is planned for November 5th to show off the new studio and let people “play with clay” and learn about membership options.

Sherman said she knows at least 10 to 15 members are moving from Bellevue to Green Lake and other students will be moving to the Capitol Hill location since it is closer to their homes to utilize the 24-hour schedule.

“It’s working out really well that we can grow and expand our locations,” Sherman said. “We’re able to offer more of a neighborhood option for them.”

Sherman said she chose Green Lake and Capitol Hill because of the close knit communities in these neighborhoods.

Her new signage is also ending months of speculation in this neighborhood on the quieter side of Capitol Hill that stretched out through the pandemic about what was next for the former hair salon — especially when the building just across the street from the neighborhood’s Macrina Cafe was painted an unusual Blockbuster Video blue.

“From the moment I put up those signs, which was only like a week ago, everyone on Capitol Hill has been so friendly. It just tells me that we made a good decision with that location knowing that there are a lot of artists in the neighborhood that just need that little bit of a push. So I think it’s gonna be a really fun spot to put down roots and watch the artist communities grow and thrive.”

Seatown Pottery Capitol Hill is located at 1900 E Aloha. Learn more at seatownpottery.com.

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