The Unexpected Magic of Mableton’s Most Popular Pottery Class
- Matthew Stover
- 5 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Mable House Arts Center has been a staple in South Cobb for over 20 years. Most people know it for the art gallery.
It's a busy place, currently hosting 18 different programs for homeschoolers and a full calendar of music, dance, and visual arts workshops for adults.
There is a lot happening on the surface, but the real heartbeat of the facility is found in the classrooms.
Facility Coordinator Tonya McCain says their goal is for the inside of the building to look like the outside of the building. They want to represent the actual community of Mableton. They don't want people to feel like they have to be "professional artists" to walk through the door and participate in the center’s programs.
Arts Coordinator Veronica Duarte, who was born and raised in Mableton, calls their pottery program the "bread and butter" of the center. The classes stay full with a waitlist every session.
If you spend five minutes in the pottery studio, you understand why.
The Spark in the Studio
When I stepped into the class on a Monday afternoon, I felt a hum that was different from the rest of the building. Before the lesson even began, the students kept referring to their teacher with a kind of eager anticipation.
You could feel Mariella Owens' presence by how they spoke about her before she even arrived. They don't just respect her; they are genuinely lit up by her.
Mariella is 83 years old, but she has a bright, grounded spirit that hits you the moment she walks in. It is a youthful and inspiring energy that makes the nearly 50 years she has spent at the wheel feel like just the beginning.
She started pottery in the 1970s as a hobby for relaxation while she held a full-time job. After a few months of spending her lunch breaks at a pottery wheel in Ohio, she sold enough work at a student show to buy her own wheel.
She hasn't stopped since.
Mariella describes the work as therapeutic. "It just calms you," she says.
That sense of calm draws people in. Rob Snyder, an architect and one of Mariella’s students, started coming during the recession to relieve stress. He points out that "you have to be totally relaxed when you throw a piece or else it won't mess up."
Finding "Your People"
The result of all that shared relaxation is a deep sense of connection. The pottery studio has become a place where neighbors actually meet.
"A lot of it is Mariella," Tonya McCain says.
"People move in and they take a pottery class and then suddenly they're going to lunch with the other students. They're making friends. They find their people."
Kirsten Duncan comes to class with her best friend from work. They make mugs, bowls, and lemon juicers together.
Another student, Kaela Singleton, made 15 pieces last Christmas to give to her friends and family.
More Than Just Clay
While pottery is a major draw, that same welcoming energy is the goal for everything at Mable House.
The center offers many ways to get involved:
For Adults: Classes in music, dance, drawing, painting, and specialized art workshops.
For Youth: 18 different homeschool programs and music lessons.
Summer Camps: The new "MHAC: Mable Mixtape" camp, where kids create a "Greatest Hits" collection of graffiti-style paintings and sculptures.
The Mable House Arts Center isn't just a place to look at art on a wall. It is a place to give yourself a try, spark some curiosity, and maybe find a new group of friends to go to lunch with.
You can find a full list of upcoming adult classes and youth summer programs at the Mable House Arts Center here.