Hidden Gems: Meet Daniel Nunez of Wheel House Studio

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Nunez.

Hi Daniel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
You spend your whole life trying to figure out what you’re inherently good at or what you might become good at. It’s humbling to realize that what I’m best at, ultimately, is teaching strangers how to play with mud.

Since opening Wheel House Studio in 2018, I feel I have become more of a teacher than an artist. My medium is people instead of clay.

Our bread and butter at Wheel House is our seven-week classes. We are able to offer five sessions per year, and we enjoy a variety of new and returning students. There is no syllabus, so we meet students where they are, whether they have never touched clay or have decades of art experience.

Most folks sign up because they want to learn how to do pottery on the wheel, but many end up staying for the community and friendships they build along the way.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The greatest challenge the studio has faced since opening was when we shut down during pandemic. That’s when my wife Abbey became my partner, since her previous job no longer existed. Now I can’t imagine running the studio alone.

During the year we were shut down, Abbey and I pivoted to growing succulents and making ceramic planters for them. Switching to retail kept us going during that time, and we are grateful to be teaching group classes again. It is rewarding to see an astrophysicist make their first sculpture, to see a doctor fall in love with choosing glazes, to see friendships form between retired high school teachers and computer programmers as they both try to figure out the best way to make a butter dish.

We missed out on much of this during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it made us that much more dedicated to creating a space for folks to come together and learn how to make pottery.

Thanks for sharing that. Would you be willing to tell us a bit more about your business next?
We specialize in teaching group classes and fostering a sense of community. We have won Top Pottery Studio in Lansing every year since we opened in 2018.

While I’m not sure any of the other pottery studios know we’re competing, it’s still a point of pride. Learning how to throw pottery on the wheel is the most frustrating art form I have ever encountered, and the notion that people keep on enjoying the process of learning it here speaks to what we have been able to accomplish.

More than anything, we strive to make uncommon art experiences accessible to people who might not otherwise attempt them. I’d like anyone reading this article to know that they should give pottery a shot. Even if it’s my objective opinion that they will probably be terrible at it their first time, it’s worth the effort.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
We don’t have any employees at Wheel House Studio.

Abbey and I run the show by ourselves, so if you reach out, you’ll get one of us on the line. I supposed you could subscribe to our social media, but we tend to be so booked that I refrain from advertising. It’s strange being this popular.

Pricing:

• $50 per seat in Thrown Together – the most accessible offering. Once a month group class.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wheelhouse.studio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourwheelhouse/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WheelHouseStudio/

Image Credits
Dan Nunez, Abbey Nunez, Kendall D. Lartigue, and Wheel House Studio