Ceramics enthusiasts in Salem will have a spacious new home when the Willamette Art Center reopens Monday, Jan. 5.

The nonprofit art studio is resuming classes and Family Clay Day in the new year after more than six months of renovations at its southeast Salem location, 3995 Fairview Industrial Drive S.E.

“It has been a marathon,” executive director Lisa Joyce said.

The art center has offered low-cost ceramics classes for two decades and was formerly housed in a small building on the north side of the Oregon State Fairgrounds. Fair officials decided last January not to renew the lease, giving the art center six months to find a new home.

The renovated location is a significant upgrade, with about 1,500 more square feet of space and amenities like heating and air conditioning. That means summer classes won’t get canceled because it’s too hot outside.

“More patrons will come in and be able to use a wheel when it’s convenient for them, even if there’s a class going on,” Joyce said.

Sign-ups are open now for winter 2026 classes. Artists who can work independently in a ceramics studio can sign up for open studio time, though an orientation is required first. A full schedule is here.

The location has more parking and an accessible entrance. Visitors won’t have to navigate a maze of fairgrounds gates to find it.

But with the move comes higher operating costs. Rent at the fairgrounds was cheap, and Joyce said it will now cost about $10,000 a month to run the center. That’s a fivefold increase, and includes rent, utilities and staffing.

Joyce said historically, the art center has kept class costs low with little fundraising because overhead was so small.

“A big year for us might have been $7,000,” she said.

They’ve raised $170,000 over the past year from donors to support relocation. That included several large donors and many small ones.

“That indicated to me that this place is important to the community,” Joyce said. She said the art center will be flexing its fundraising muscles more to sustain operations in the larger space.

Family Clay Day will resume in February. The popular class is held the first and third Sunday of the month and costs $5. Participants can create a work of clay during the first class of the month, then return to glaze it.

Renovations required outside contractors, volunteer work parties and about six months of full-time labor from studio manager Doug Dacar.

Willamette Art Center leaders had hoped to open the new studio in the fall, but Joyce said it took longer than expected because the work required some pieces to be completed before other contractors could be scheduled.

“The economic stimulus effect of us opening this place went through all the trades,” she joked.

More recently, she said they’ve been able to host meetings to show volunteers the new space.

“That was a really good feeling the last couple days, just to spend time with people who are seeing the potential and the opportunity to be back,” she said.

Contact Managing Editor Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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