Learning the basics of slab construction is one of the most approachable team building art projects for adults, and this event brings it to a teaching pottery studio in San Mateo on the Bay Area Peninsula. Every guest hand-builds two items, typically a vase or a mug with a handle plus a small sushi tray, then picks the glaze colors for the finished pieces.
The event runs approximately 2 hours and is priced at $90 per guest, with a two-guest minimum and room for up to 20 guests at the hand-building tables. A short demonstration is given first, so no clay experience is needed.
What's Included
- An event of approximately 2 hours at the studio
- A short demonstration of slab construction before you begin
- Two hand-built
Learning the basics of slab construction is one of the most approachable team building art projects for adults, and this event brings it to a teaching pottery studio in San Mateo on the Bay Area Peninsula. Every guest hand-builds two items, typically a vase or a mug with a handle plus a small sushi tray, then picks the glaze colors for the finished pieces.
The event runs approximately 2 hours and is priced at $90 per guest, with a two-guest minimum and room for up to 20 guests at the hand-building tables. A short demonstration is given first, so no clay experience is needed.
What's Included
- An event of approximately 2 hours at the studio
- A short demonstration of slab construction before you begin
- Two hand-built items made by every guest
- Four glaze combos to choose from at the end of the event
- Glazing and firing of your pieces, with a 2 to 3 week turnaround
- Plenty of stress-free parking
What You Will Make
Hand-building starts with flat slabs of clay that guests cut, shape and join. Typically two items are made: a vase or a mug with a handle, plus a small sushi tray. Because the work happens at the table rather than on a spinning wheel, everyone can go at their own pace and add their own details. At the end of the event the group chooses from 4 glaze colors and the studio completes the firing.
Why It Works for Groups
Hand-building is relaxed, social and forgiving, which is why it shines among creative team bonding activities. People chat while they work, borrow ideas from the person beside them and end up with pieces that look nothing alike. It is one of the more dependable team building ideas for small groups, and because everything happens at a shared table it is a strong choice among indoor team building activities for small groups any time of year.
Groups weighing art team building activities often like that a mug and a sushi tray are genuinely useful at home or at the office. The studio can also run the hand-building group alongside a wheel group of up to 23 guests, so larger teams can split between the two.
About the Studio
The studio was founded in 2022 in the Mid-Peninsula as a community-focused teaching studio, where memberships, team building, classes and private lessons are offered in wheel throwing, hand-building and sculpture for adults and youths. Its owner is a self-taught potter, sculptor and instructor who joined a local clay studio in 2011 and went on to teach and manage it before opening this space, and his stated goal is a place where people feel they belong. The team includes wheel and sculpture instructors who teach all ages, and guests give the studio a 4.9-star rating across 39 reviews, with team building events among the most mentioned topics.
Getting There and Making a Day of It
Plenty of stress-free parking is available in front of the studio and along adjacent streets, with 2 accessible spaces to the immediate left of the front door. A bus stop sits right beside the shopping center, and a train station is about half a mile away on foot. Because the studio is so centrally located, groups can easily continue to dinner or drinks around the Hillsdale shopping area, the San Mateo Fairgrounds area or downtown San Mateo, or head for bay views at Coyote Point and Seal Point Park.
How Booking Works
- Use the studio's calendar to pick your day and time
- Prepay for the number of seats in your group
- Share the lead contact's name, phone and email so the studio can coordinate
- Arrive, watch the short demonstration and start making
- Choose your glazes at the end, then collect your pieces after the 2 to 3 week turnaround
Good to Know
- Beginner-friendly; a short demonstration is given before anyone starts
- Lock your vehicle and keep valuables out of sight; the studio is not responsible for participants' valuables
- Bikes may be locked in front of the studio as long as they do not block foot traffic
- Guests who want to keep going can join the studio's introductory classes, private lessons, youth and parent and kid classes, or a membership
Plan Your Hand Building Event
Pick your date on the studio's calendar and reserve your seats. At $90 per guest with the demonstration, clay, two hand-built items and glazes included, it is one of the easiest company team building activities to organize.
