BUTTE — In a basement underneath a historic Uptown Butte building, a group of potters are finding inspiration in some of the very first workshops for a new Hungry Hill art-making space.
"I feel like it’s a way to, like, express yourself but then also it’s kind of like a mind release for me. I come up here and I can just do whatever I do and not really have to think about anything else," says pottery student Heather Wilson.
Wilson grew up in Butte and recently returned after two decades and she says she was pleasantly surprised to find the Hungry Hill art center where Judy Andrews, pottery instructor and owner of Garden Shed Pottery, leads classes.
"I’m not an experienced instructor, I’m basically a retired truck driver," says Andrews.
Andrews may be a retired truck driver but she’s also an experienced potter. She's been making art since 2005 when she began taking night classes like the ones offered at Hungry Hill and she is preparing for a busy fall with several workshops that will guide curious students through the basics of hand-building pottery.
"We’re taking people who don’t know anything about pottery. They come in and we can show them a little bit of an introduction and get people really aware of what we’re to do and what our mission is," says Andrews.
That mission is two-fold: the nonprofit aims to educate through arts programming and it works to partner with other nonprofits. Last year the center raised about $50,000 for the Empty Bowls fundraiser that sends food home with children who need extra meals when they can’t access food at school.
So why teach people pottery?
"Because it’s fun?" says Andrews as she cracks up with laughter.
"I just think it’s good for people to come up and explore their artistic abilities that they don’t even know that they even have," says Wilson.
To learn more about the gnome and tree hand-building workshops that Judy is leading you can visit theHungry Hill websiteand sign up.
