Inspirations is Expanding: a Second Studio is Coming to Mission Street!

Inspirations is Expanding

This isn’t about changing who we are. It’s about giving ourselves the room to grow.

With more space comes the ability to say yes to things we’ve been dreaming about for a long time — expanding our clay program, growing our fused glass offerings, introducing canvas painting, stoneware painting and adding retail. It gives us room to build intentionally, offer more variety, and create an experience that feels both elevated and true to what we've already built at Inspirations.

This expansion also gives our family the room to build something side by side. Duncan and I have stepped into this season together, in a way that supports both our business goals and the kind of life we want to live. It’s incredibly meaningful to be doing this with our daughter Emma along for the ride — growing up surrounded by creativity, community, and handmade moments.

Thank you for supporting our small business, and for creating memories with us along the way. 🤍🎨

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What’s Happening + Why

Our original studio will stay right where it is at 📍 400 Ninth Street in Wenatchee.

Inspirations is expanding with a second creative studio location at 📍 134 N Mission Street in Wenatchee.

For a long time, we’ve had ideas for expanding our creative offerings, but we never wanted to pursue that at the expense of what already works so well as a walk-in pottery painting studio at Ninth Street.

During the week of Thanksgiving 2025, I saw that the local paint and sip studio, Class With a Glass, was preparing to sell and I reached out to Nancy (the owner) to connect and learn more. At the time, I didn’t have a plan — I genuinely just wanted to check in on another local creative business that was going through a transition.

After our first thoughtful conversation, the idea naturally formed. I left that meeting overwhelmed in the best way — dreaming and thinking: what if the Mission Street space could continue as an art studio under Inspirations?

To clarify: Inspirations did not purchase the Class With a Glass business. Their business closed, we purchased select equipment and started a new lease for the building.

It feels incredibly meaningful to know that art will continue in this space, and you may even see Nancy in the future as a guest instructor at an Inspirations painting class (more on that later).

Inspirations has always been about more than art — it’s about connection. It’s about being a place where all ages feel welcome. It’s about creating memories. This second space is our opportunity to grow without compromising the heart of Inspirations — and to keep building something our community can be part of for years to come.

Jennifer (Inspirations) and Nancy (Class With a Glass)

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What We’re Bringing to Mission Street

Here’s what you can expect as we build this new space, while keeping the experience approachable for beginners, inspiring for returning artists and continuing the familiar atmosphere we've created at Inspirations Ninth Street.

Note: clay and fused glass are both now unavailable at ninth street since they have moved to the mission street studio.

Expanding Clay

Clay has been a long-time dream for us, and this location gives us the room to build it the right way — with better flow and the necessary space for pottery wheels, hand building, and impressions.

Wheel throwing classes began at Ninth Street studio about a year ago, by moving tables to the side and pulling wheels out for every class after our walk-in studio hours. It will be such a relief being able to place wheels in a place they will stay (we have 9 wheels)! Duncan is especially excited about this side of the expansion, and he’ll be focusing a lot of his time on wheels as we grow. We’ll be offering intro, advanced, and multi-week class options, plus private parties and (eventually) a membership program.

We’ve done a handful of hand-building classes, but again it takes more time to prepare and clean up for classes, as our entire studio is set up for pottery painting. With workbench style tables and a welcoming open space to create you will be able to build your own pieces from a ball of clay. Using a variety of tools, texture and your imagination the possibilities are endless. Our plan is to offer walk-ins (later on), classes, private parties, take-home kits, and a membership program.

Clay impressions have been on my business plan for many years and it feels incredibly meaningful to be able to start this now, with Emma as our little helper for samples and experimenting. Think timeless keepsakes featuring handprints of your littles while they are still little or bring in the whole family to make a family plaque with everyone’s hands (don’t forget pet paws too 🐾)!

Offered with one-on-one reservations for our team to assist you with project choices, design and leaving your prints. Then we will take care of the rest — drying, cleaning, bisque firing, painting, glaze firing and then packaging for you to pick up your completed keepsake.

Expanding Fused Glass

Fused glass has been such a loved part of what we offer, and Mission Street gives us the space to grow it in a way that feels smoother for everyone — more room to show off all the colors, organize tools, increase our slump choices, display samples and more flexibility with scheduling.

To start, fused glass at Mission Street will be primarily classes and parties, with walk-in options coming later.

Canvas Painting (Yes, really!)

We’re introducing canvas painting to Inspirations with a licensed artist whose designs we genuinely love — and many of them can even translate beautifully onto pottery painting, too!

Canvas is a fun “create it + take it home the same day” option, and we’re excited to offer that alongside the fired arts that we’re known for. Canvas will begin through classes and parties, with walk-ins and take-home kits coming later.

Stoneware Painting

If you’ve painted pottery with us before, you may have used our specialty glazes — we love them! Some of our most popular classes and studio samples feature these glazes, including our Saddle Rock Mugs and Glazed Pumpkins.

This layered, one-of-a-kind glazing style is especially popular in the pottery community with stoneware. Stoneware is fired at a higher temperature than our regular earthenware pottery, making it stronger and more durable for everyday use.

We now have stoneware available at Mission Street and will be offering classes where you can create one-of-a-kind pieces using new high-fire specialty glazes. This is an exciting way to explore a more elevated pottery painting experience while still enjoying the creative, relaxed style you know and love from Inspirations.

Relieving Ninth Street Studio

If you’ve visited our studio between October-January, any given Saturday, Sunday, a day that kids have no school, or hey even sometimes a random Wednesday… our studio gets FULL! With this added space we plan to use Mission Street studio as an addition for pottery painting.

Stocked with a selection of pottery pieces, glazes, painting supplies and introducing the option of painting with acrylics to take home your decorative creations the same day. Acrylic pieces don’t get fired to become food safe / waterproof ceramic, but very convenient for last minute gifts, visitors from out of town, and just another fun style of painting to explore!

We’ll be able to say, “I’m so sorry we are currently full, BUT you can head down the road and visit our Mission Street studio!” 👏🏻

Handmade Retail

As a creative arts studio we have made hundreds of samples to inspire our customers and have dabbled in selling finished work over the years, but we are so excited that this new space at Mission will allow us to build a dedicated retail area.

Think hand-thrown and hand-painted pottery, fused glass jewelry, take-home kits for pottery painting and clay handbuilding, bottles of glaze and acrylic paint to-go, paintbrush packs, variety of art supplies/kits, Wenatchee inspired art — all created by the Inspirations team.

More Ways to Create + More Room to Breathe

This second studio opens doors for:

• more scheduling flexibility

• more space for classes + private parties

• more creative variety under one brand

• more behind-the-scenes room to run a smooth studio (or two ☺️)

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What About The Cafe?

The cafe is part of our identity at Ninth Street, and it will remain there. ☕️

For Mission Street, we’re keeping an open mind. We want this space to feel warm + welcoming (and yes, I’d obviously love espresso there too), but we’re taking this one step at a time and making decisions based on what’s realistic for the building and what serves the creative community space experience best.

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Timeline + What to Expect Next

We officially got the keys February 1, 2026! 🥳 Which happened to be one year exactly since we found out I was pregnant with Emma. 🥹

This month, we’ll be in full “behind the scenes” mode:

• cleaning + organizing

• painting + refreshing the space

• moving in equipment + supplies

• building furniture + layout

• planning our calendar

We’ll be sharing progress along the way on social media (think before + after moments).

Our goal is to not rush the process — we want this studio to be fully organized and ready for production — you can follow along and feel part of the process with us!

How to Stay in The Loop

This blog post will be our “home base” for Mission Street updates — we’ll keep adding to it as plans become official. To make sure you don’t miss anything:

• follow along on instagram + facebook @inspirationsceramic

• create an account on our website (members get our email newsletter and will be the first to know about the open house and calendar for events)

• add us to your contacts to avoid any emails going to your spam folder info@inspirationsceramic.com

Class With A Glass Gift Certificates + Pottery

We’ve received a lot of questions about Class With A Glass (CWAG) gift certificates and pottery left at the Mission Street studio. Although Inspirations was not involved in their business operations, we're doing our best to help customers navigate this transition and make the process as smooth as possible. Here are the details so everyone knows what to expect.

Gift Certificates

Inspirations will accept CWAG gift certificates as payment for a limited transition period:

• Valid dates: March 1 – May 31, 2026

• Where they can be used: in-studio purchases only at either location (Ninth Street or Mission Street)

• Not valid for online purchases

• Simply stop in and we will load a physical Inspirations gift card for you

Pottery Pickup

If you have a photo of your pottery:

Please email or text us a photo along with the name it was made under and any helpful details (approximate date, description, etc.). We will do our best to locate your pottery and bring it to 9th Street for pickup.

If you do not have a photo of your pottery:

No problem — we will be hosting a pickup/open house once renovations are complete so you can tour the new studio and pick up your pottery. Please keep an eye out for an email and social media post with the date.

Pottery Pickup Deadline

We will hold CWAG pottery until April 30, 2026. After that date, we will no longer be able to store pottery that was created under the CWAG name.

Mission Street is in the remodel phase and not open to the public yet. Thank you for your patience as we work through this transition and renovate the Mission Street space. We truly appreciate you!

Open House + Spring Break

We’re excited to invite you into our Mission Street studio for a special Open House on April 3rd 4-8pm, during Wenatchee’s First Fridays.

This isn’t a grand opening—it’s a first look. A chance to step into the space as it’s coming together, see the progress, and be part of this next chapter with us. We’ve been working behind the scenes to build something really special, and we would love for you to experience it as it grows.

During the open house, you’ll be able to enjoy pottery painting and fused glass activities, take a look at our new clay program, explore the space, and connect with our team. Jenn and Duncan will be there, and you might even get to meet baby Emma. 🤍

This will also be an opportunity for Class With A Glass customers to pick up their pottery while touring the new space.

Then, the following week, we’re kicking things off with our Spring Break Art Camp from April 6th-10th 12-3pm. It will be one of the first opportunities to create in the new space, with a week full of creativity, color, and connection.

We’re so excited to continue growing and to create memories with you in this new space. 🤍