Open House
September 19th 6:00pm-8:00pm (Friday)
September 21st 2:00pm-5:00pm(Sunday)
Come celebrate Tail in the Mud’s new home at
30 Guinan Street Waltham, MA 02451
Stop by and tour the studio, meet our staff and learn more about our classes and memberships. We look forward to seeing you!
Membership
Regular membership offers access to the studio 24/7. Members will have access to our “Open Studio Hours which staff will be there to offer support on your project. Each member will have his/her own cubby or shelf space for personal items. We have ten brand new Whisper VL wheels, three large tables at 4’x8’ each, slab roller, ample shelving to store your work, kitchen in a separate room from clay. Members are expected to purchase clay from the studio. Price of clay will be very close to the cost if you purchased yourself from the local suppliers. We do not accept use of outside clay. There is one single firing fee which covers both bisque and glaze firing as well as the cost of glaze material. One line of commercial underglaze will be available to members.
Membership is only for non production potters. Our facility does not support professional potter.
About us
Tail in the Mud Potter Studio aims to provide a friendly, supportive, welcoming environment for creative people to explore in clay. We open in September 2025 in Waltham, MA. Chin and Sabina set up this place for you to get your hands in the mud.
Dragging (one’s) Tail in the Mud came from an ancient Chinese text by Zhuangzi, a philosopher and scholar (around 369 - 289 BC). The original text was about the King of Chu who sent two officers to see Zhuangzi while he was fishing and offered him to serve as the highest officer in his country. Zhuangzi replied without turning his head “I heard that in Chu, there is a sacred three-thousand year old turtle shell which is wrapped in the finest cloth and placed in the temple for people to worship. Was it better for the turtle to have its shell to be honored in the temple? Or would it prefer to keep dragging his Tail in the Mud? The officers said “It would have been better for the turtle to live and drag his tail in the mud.” Zhuangzi replied “Leave me here. I too will keep dragging my Tail in the Mud.” It is a rejection of the wealth and prestige and choosing to live in freedom.
We too, wish to live a life of freedom with choices, including keeping our hands in the mud and play with clay. We wish to build a community of artists who share the same interest. We encourage all to come to our Open Studio Hours so you get to know the other members of the studio and share their experiences.
We look forward to see you at our studio.
Classes & workshops
Fall classes starts the week of 9/29 and go into December. The cost of class includes instruction during class time. Material fee for clay and firing are included in the class fee for 25 lb of clay. Additional charge may be applied for work above the 25 lb limit. The class fee also include access to Open Studio Hours, when students and other members can come to use the studio with support of staff to help with their project. Open Studio hours are intended as time for practice with some help from staff.
Our studio
Our studio is located at 30 Guinan Street, Waltham, MA 02451, next to Prospect Hill Forge and Metalwerx. It is two blocks from Main Street. MBTA bus #70 which runs from Central Sq. Cambridge has a stop which is ten minute walk from the studio. The MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg line Waltham Stop is less than 20 minutes walk from studio. Moody Street is about a mile away and offers a wide range of food choices and other shops.
Parking is on street parking. Please note that the parking lot near the building is for Metalwerx. Please park on street only.
