Iron Bridge Art and Clay creates space for artistic minds – Post Bulletin

WABASHA — Iron Bridge Art and Clay opened on Feb. 1, 2024, with the intention of providing the Wabasha community with a local pottery venue for people who don’t want to drive more than half an hour to work in a studio.

Vienne Cordet-Schuth is inspired after setting up her own studio at home on her farm. She was trying to get her children into the Crossings Art & Community Education Center at the Carnegie Library in Zumbrota, but couldn’t seem to get them into classes.

“Before COVID, I had this vision of having this big art space because I could never get into the Carnegie in Zumbrota. I was like, “we should have art classes up here in the summer and it’s going to be so much fun.” So it’s always something that’s been on the back burner, and my kids have always been making art with me and having fun.”

Cordet-Schute grew up in the Twin Cities, where there were many more opportunities for art. She majored in ceramics in college and fell in love with it. However, there was nothing like it in the Wabasha area.

“There was a culture shock when you go from Minneapolis to a small town,” Cordet-Schute said. “In Minneapolis, if you want to take a clay class, there are tons of choices of what you want to take and what medium you want to do, but here, not so much.”

The studio mainly offers three-week courses and seminars. They have classes for both adults and children, and Cordet-Schuth wants to continue adding hours and class lengths. She also hopes to introduce some different classes other than ceramics and pottery.

“We started with six-week courses like the cities, and people are just so busy,” Cordet-Schut said. “They’re juggling so many schedules, so we cut back to three weeks of classes and workshops. The workshops are two hours, you just come in and learn. There are three-week courses and two hours. If people start asking for intermediate six-week courses then that’s totally cool, but for now we’re just trying to introduce people so they get hooked because it’s so addicting.”

Cordet-Schuth has always been creative. She spent many years making art in her studio and soap to sell. She had taught before and loved sharing her passions with others. Art is an escape for many people, and Cordet-Schute wants her studio to be a place where they can relax and enjoy their free time.

“I’ve had … three women come from the cities because they said it’s so expensive to do,” Cordet-Schute said. “A six-week class in the cities is (about) $425, and for a clay night it’s (about) $100. … This is not the city. This is a community studio and you have to do what the community can afford. I want to make it available. If one child wants to take a class and you have three children, I want all three children to be able to take the class.

The community has shown Cordet-Schuth a lot of support so far, and she hopes it will continue to grow organically over time. She would love to continue adding new classes and bringing in new people for unique workshops. She already has people interested in painting or button making lessons. She hopes to continue to find creative people in the community to connect with.

“The hard part starts now,” Cordet-Schute said. “To keep the momentum going, you have to get people talking about you, how great is it, did they have fun? Did they say, “oh my God, I want to do this again.” So we’re going to start having open studio days where I just open it up all day. If you’ve taken a course, you can log in and work at your own pace. You can buy the clay, get a shelf space and on that day you can go in and do whatever you want.

She is also working on creating a retail space at the front of the studio for artists to sell their work.

Sarah Guymon is a business reporter for the Post Bulletin. Guymon grew up in New Ulm, Minnesota. She graduated from New Ulm Public High School and went on to attend college at the University of Minnesota Duluth. While at UMD, Guymon pursued a major in journalism and a double minor in photography and international studies. Before coming to the Post Bulletin, she worked as a staff writer for the Brainerd Dispatch. There she covered the city of Baxter and business.