Jasmine Pottery Studios set to hold exhibition of Wakefield pupils ceramics at The Ridings Shopping Centre

The exhibition has been set up by the owners of Jasmine Pottery Studios, Naomi Jasmine and her partner Pepe Candelas, to highlight the art produced by some of the district’s talented children.

Naomi and Pepe brought history to life using the medium of clay by creating Greek vases, Egyption canopic jars and gnarly Viking faces to 11 primary schools and 782 pupils across the area, made possible thanks to a culture grant from Wakefield Council.

The art display will be held at The Ridings from Tuesday, April 11 to Friday, April 21.

Naomi said: “With the help of the Makey Wakey Scheme, I have been helping people to learn about the art of clay for almost four years.

"Jasmine Pottery Studios is run by myself and my partner, Pepe, and we are both qualified teachers. We came up with the idea of taking our pottery workshops out of the studio and into the classroom.

"There is so much art in Wakefield but young people do not have the opportunity to learn about crafts like ceramics,” she said.

" We wanted to do this project to help inspire budding potters and for the children to understand the process of ceramics, it is a craft that has become difficult to access due to the rising costs in electricity and the need for expensive equipment and we want every child to experience the excitement of having a kiln fired piece of pottery that they can treasure for years to come.

“Together we managed to give young people an opportunity to try something new, raising aspirations and cultural understanding.

"To celebrate the children’s achievements we will be hosting an exhibition at The Ridings Shopping Centre to showcase a selection of the pupil’s finished ceramics.”

Between Tuesday, April 11 and Friday, April 14, Jasmine Pottery Studios will be running free pottery painting workshops, where anyone can come try making some pottery for themselves.

To book a place, visit www.jasminepotterystudios.com and head to the bookings page or visit their social media accounts, @JasminePotterystudios.