Hours: Weekdays 10-6. Weekends 11-5.

Educational Programs

We offer a variety of education programs throughout the year. Adult, children and group workshops are offered in an array of mediums.

Lectures and Demonstrations | Hot Studio Classes | 2D, Jewelry and Fiber Classes | Group and Team-Building Workshops

Check our event calendar for upcoming workshops.

Join our email list to receive class and event information from us!

CreativeMornings Karissa

Lectures and Demonstrations

CreativeMornings/Omaha

Everyone is welcome at this monthly lecture series featuring local creative talent. Breakfast is provided at this free event.

School Programming

A variety of educational programs for schools are supplied. Tours, lectures, demonstrations and hands-on experiences can be scheduled.

Speakers

Traveling lectures, demonstrations and hands-on experiences can be booked for locations throughout the Omaha metro. Participating artists include Tim Barry, Les Bruning, Paula Wallace and more. 

Exhibitions

The Hot Shops is home to two galleries which have monthly curated shows. The galleries are open seven days a week and are free to the public. Often demonstrations will be held in conjunction with the show. Check our gallery calendar for details on specific shows. 

Open House

Every Spring and Winter the Hot Shops holds an Open House. Our 70+ artists invite the public to visit their spaces, view their very newest artwork and learn how they create them! Demonstrations are held throughout the two-day event. 

Group Tours

Guided tours can be scheduled. Learn the history of the Hot Shops, the temperature that each of the ‘Hot Studios’ fires at, how the paintbrush can record if you are happy or sad, how the faster technology changes – the more we are comforted by and look for things made by human hands and much more! 

Glass Shop

Hot Studio Classes

Check our class calendar for scheduled classes or email to schedule a specific program from the list.

Glassblowing Experience

Get a feel for the heat by getting close to the action. One of our instructors will assist you in making your very own unique piece of art. Select from a variety of options, such as paperweights, ornaments, flowers and more. You will get to pick out the colors, help design and shape molten glass into a unique art piece. $77/person. Book a session now >

Glassblowing Workshop for Two

You and a friend get to spend two hours experiencing what it’s like to be a glass blower. Learn to gather the glass, blow a bubble and create your very own work of art. $275/couple. Book a session now >

Glass Weekend Workshop

This workshop is for someone interested in pursuing glass blowing or a more hands-on experience. In two days, we teach you how to gather, blow a bubble, shape and color glass. Mainly working in clear, you will develop your glass shaping skills by learning several techniques to develop your own working style. Learn more >

Lampworking/Torchwork

Learn the art of lampworking, a method of heating and shaping glass over a torch in either a basic beadmaking class, or an intro to borosilicate glass session. Find upcoming classes on the event calendar >

Glass Demonstrations 

Our glass studio is open to the public to watch our artists work, but artist availability varies. For groups we recommend scheduling a visit to watch a demonstration. The cost is $5/person and ensures that a glassblower is available for your visit. 

Pottery – Wheel

Four-week classes are offered in beginner and intermediate levels. We explore clay’s main components, creating forms on the wheel, form/surface decoration, and firing. Skills taught within the workshops will encompass wedging, centering on the wheel, throwing, trimming, surface decoration techniques, glazing, and firing finished work. Watch the event calendar for upcoming classes.

Independent Study

Have you taken our classes and are ready for the next step? Independent studies are currently offered in pottery, glassblowing and torchworking. Contact info@hotshopsartcenter.org to explore opportunities.

2D, Jewelry and Fiber Classes

Check our class calendar for scheduled classes.

Acrylic Painting

Learn how to dive into acrylic painting. Learn how to push your colors around, see light and shadows, incorporate texture, but most importantly, have fun painting. Private lessons can be scheduled with Dar. See calendar for group classes.

Life Drawing

Improve your drawing skills, meet fellow artists and have fun! These classes are 8-week sessions, but we also allow drop-ins. The format is: five, two-minute warmups, followed by one, 10-minute pose, two, 25-minute poses and ending with one, 40-minute pose. Easels, tables and chairs provided. Student must supply drawing pad and pencils. See calendar for scheduled classes.

Painting with oils and cold wax

Creative play for the novice and experienced artist alike, workshops and classes offer participants to explore color, pattern design and abstraction. Cold wax medium is an increasingly popular product noted for its versatility and range. You will learn tools and techniques, and you’ll create pieces on archival paper. All materials and supplies provided. See calendar for scheduled classes.

Photography 

Photography workshops for beginning to advanced photographers including Photoshop basics. 

Silversmithing/Jewelry 

Beginning level introduction to silversmithing and the basics of soldering. See calendar for scheduled classes.

Pastels 

Pastel is a pure pigment medium that gives an artist the flexibility to go between painting and drawing techniques to create stunning finished works. Award-winning pastel artist Cheri Ginsburg teaches this on-going class. Class sizes are limited. Contact Cheri for availability. 

Fiber Arts 

Contemporary fiber art event that includes learning to sew, fabric art, weaving, painted/printed cloth, wearables, or felt. See calendar for scheduled classes.

Youth Art Classes

Each session will apply basic principles and techniques while students create works of art using their own unique personalities and styles. Art workshops are designed to nurture growth and creativity through personal voice and artistic expression.  See calendar for scheduled classes.

Tim Barry Pottery

Hot Shops has built an amazing legacy in our community, offering art as a vehicle to bring out the inherent creativity we all possess. The experience our volunteers had was beyond your typical group project. We all left with enormous smiles, a handful of happy tears, and a lasting connection, to the studio, to each other, and to the artist who made it happen.

Melinda Sorenson

Group and Team-Building Workshops

We are your creative escape. Email for more information or to schedule these group experiences.

Half Full – Cup Experience

In-person or virtual. Is your cup half full, or half empty? The cups created at the Hot Shops are always on their way to another full cup of potential. In this experience, see a pottery demonstration with Tim Barry and then decorate/design your own cup to keep. $35/person

Ten-Digit – Clay Experience

In-person or virtual. Many days, the most action our fingers get is punching into a keyboard or swiping on a phone. In this experience, give your fingers a work-out with a 3-D molding experience. Watch Tim Barry throw a pot on the wheel. Each participant’s 3-D figure will be attached to the pot for a final themed piece. $35/person

Unbreakable – Pottery Experience

All teams experience ups and downs, but those breaks become part of your larger story on the way to meeting goals.  This art form treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. Watch Tim Barry throw a bowl on the wheel. Then, each participant will decorate a broken piece of the pot before it is repaired. $35/person.

Raku – Pottery Experience

Looking for a unique outdoor experience? Your group will glaze individual pots and then watch as it is fired in this low fire process. The work is removed from the kiln when red hot and rapidly cooled so you can take your pieces home that day. Weather-permitting. 2 hours for group of 25-30. $300 + $35/person. 

Feel the Heat – Glass Experience

In-person or virtual. Stress is a given at any job. Leave your work stress behind and feel a new kind of heat with this glass blowing experience. Watch one of our artists give a glass blowing demonstration and then try your hand near the fire to create your very own paperweight. This experience takes about 20 minutes per person and two available glassblowers for larger groups. Maximum group size is 15. $77/person

Paint Party

Paint party’s are set up to be easy with fun-to-follow instruction. We will take you through a custom painting on canvas using acrylic paint. Your group will enjoy being creative no matter their skill level. Instruction usually takes about 2 hours for an 11×14 canvas. We guarantee that your guests will leave feeling inspired. Perfect for adults or kids. $45/person.

S.N.A.P. Arts

Programming designed to meet the needs of people with developmental disabilities. We will work collaboratively with organizations that support special needs for instruction that will best meet the needs of your group. To discuss programming and schedule, email > 

Nebraska Arts Council

Corporate Sponsorship

Bring your team or visiting clients for a unique experience that will fuel their creativity. Workshops and space reservations can be scheduled together, or separately. We have space for large and small group meetings. Our event space typically holds space for 100. Space recommendations are currently at 75% capacity. Our community studio can be booked for smaller team meetings of approximately 6-10 people. $5,000

  • Five private reservations of the Community Studio
  • Two, one-day event space reservation for large meetings, luncheons
  • Choice of one, in-person or virtual team-building workshop (for 8-20 people depending on experience selection)