Your Community Pottery Studio

All ceramic students are welcome and invited to join Open Pottery Studio (OPS). Our community Pottery Studio is open, inviting, and buzzing with activity for ceramic artists. The pottery studio is fully furnished with the basic equipment needed to explore ceramics. We offer nine pottery wheels, a slab roller, large work tables, two wedging tables, basic potter/ceramics tools, and limited storage. We offer electric kiln firing up to cone 6. We also sell new and recycled brownstone clay (ranging from cone 4 to cone 6).
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To participate in OPS:
  • First-time users must have completed either the RCAC Pottery Foundations (hand-building) or Beginner's Pottery Wheel Throwing class.
  • Current participants, or past participants who have taken classes or been enrolled in OPS within the last year, may renew their OPS Membership by simply re-enrolling.  Go to our upcoming classes page, and select "Memberships."
  • Membership discount are available to RCAC Members and OPS Volunteers. 
  • OPS Membership auto-renews on a monthly basis. If you start your membership on the 1st of the month, it will automatically renew on the 1st of the next month. 
  • To cancel a membership, simply email education director, Melissa Nelson at Melissa.Nelson@thedahl.org
          or call 605-394-4101 x3. 

OPS amenities include:
  • Access to pottery studio tools, equipment, and resources
  • All firing fees
  • Access to one (1) locker. Students supply their own locks and are required to provide a copy to the education coordinator. Additional locker space may be purchased for $5 per locker per month.
  • All clay and glaze are purchased separately.

OPS schedule:
  • OPS hours are flexible and reflect times when OPS Volunteers and RCAC staff are available to supervise the pottery studio.
  • RCAC education staff are typically on site Monday - Friday from 10am - 4pm. 
  • OPS Volunteers' schedules vary and are subject to change.
  • It is strongly recommended that OPS participants check the OPS calendar below prior to coming into the studio.
  • *Studio availability is subject to sudden change.
To schedule your OPS skills test, purchase an RCAC Membership, or become an OPS Volunteer, contact:

Melissa Nelson
Education Director
Melissa.Nelson@thedahl.org | 605-394-4101 x3

On behalf of the Rapid City Arts Council, the Dahl staff, Board of Directors, and our volunteers, we would like to express our sincere gratitude and thank the City of Rapid City for their ongoing support of our organization. It is because of support like this that we are able to continue to fulfill our mission to champion inclusive, innovative and inspired arts opportunities to enrich the communities we serve. 
The Rapid City Arts Council receives support from generous members and donors, the City of Rapid City,  SD Community Foundation, and the South Dakota Arts Council with funds from the State of South Dakota, through the Department of Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts. Special thanks to Bierschbach Equipment and Supply and Dakota Business Center, Carter Taylor.
​​The Dahl Arts Center is a municipal facility managed by the Rapid City Arts Council and owned by the City of Rapid City.​