On Dundas West, a ceramic studio is becoming a creative hub for many — and it all started with a softball league.
In the spring of 2023, Shayna Stevenson and Michele Dalgarno met on opposing teams in a Trinity Bellwoods softball league. What started as sideline small talk quickly turned into big-picture conversations about creativity, risk-taking and the possibility of building something together. Soon, they were tossing around business ideas — storefronts, studio spaces, anything that could combine creativity with connection.
Stevenson, a ceramic artist, had been making and selling her minimalist pieces in Toronto for over a decade. Though she found camaraderie in shared studios and craft fairs, she was ready for something more — a space where people could not only work with clay, but also meet and collaborate.
Dalgarno, a freelance photographer and marketing consultant, shared a complementary vision shaped by her work in creative events and branding. She knew the kind of experiences that drew people in: tactile, welcoming and unplugged.
Together, they landed on the idea of a ceramics studio and community creative space, and by January 2025, they had found the perfect location — a former nail salon on Dundas West. Just over two years after meeting, the pair opened the Pottery Club this past summer.
Pottery is quickly becoming the city’s hobby of choice: a hands-on antidote to our chronically online lives. Across Toronto, new spaces — like Zei Pottery in Brockton Village and Heart Pottery on Queen St. East— are continuing to pop up. Instructors say interest has climbed steadily since the pandemic, with classes often filling up and waitlists forming for beginners eager to unplug and touch clay. The Pottery Club was built around the idea of making that experience more accessible — a place where people of all skill levels can learn, experiment and connect.
The studio offers taster sessions and multi-week courses in wheel throwing, hand-building, and specialty techniques like Nerikomi and mug-making. Experienced potters can apply for open-studio membership. Up front, there’s a small shop featuring house-made ceramics and branded merch, including their popular “Dirt Bag” totes and pinky-promise hats.
Its address, near local favourites like Easy Tiger, Honey’s Ice Cream, and Dad’s Breakfast and Coffee, puts the studio in the middle of a thriving creative corridor. The Pottery Club has already hosted a collaborative workshop with nearby tea shop Kitten and the Bear, and its playful Instagram reels often spotlight neighbouring businesses. Programming has evolved in response to the community, with kids’ classes recently added after requests from local parents, and events planned across other creative disciplines.
“The enthusiasm (for pottery) is so high that people are just like, ‘How can we be a part of this?’ And that’s so encouraging,” said Stevenson.
“Since August, we’ve taught over 130 students and we’re up to 17 active members,” said Dalgarno.
That enthusiasm isn’t just about the craft itself. There’s something quietly radical about the act of making things by hand in a city — and a culture — built around speed and screens. In a pottery studio, it’s impossible to swipe when your fingers are covered in clay, to doomscroll while centring a lump on the wheel. The process, throwing, trimming, glazing, waiting, demands patience and invites presence.
“There’s an aspect of magic to pottery,” Stevenson said. “Pottery is chemistry, and chemistry is magic.”
That same spirit has carried through their friendship. What began as a casual softball connection has turned into a creative partnership rooted in trust, and a lot of hands-on work.
Softball teammates helped scout locations and build shelves. Other creatives offered in-kind logo design and window painting. Mixing business with friendship became part of the origin story — and part of the everyday work.
“It’s easier to be brave when you have someone to take risks with,” said Stevenson.
“Being co-conspirators in this business has propelled our friendship in a direction it wouldn’t have gone otherwise,” said Dalgarno. “It’s been such a cool opportunity to build a friendship in a different way.”
They’ve made space for the partnership to evolve, too. When business talks creep into downtime, they hit pause.
“We have to draw lines,” Stevenson said. “When work conversations are no longer productive, we say, ‘We’re just texting as friends now. We’ll talk business again tomorrow.’”
