By Hamilton Richardson
Elmore/Autauga News
Top Photo: Julianne and Steve Hansen celebrated the expansion of her fine art and pottery studio Tuesday morning.
Members of the Prattville community, the Chamber of Commerce and city leaders showed their love and support on Tuesday, April 12, as Julianne Hansen shared a new expansion to her fine art and pottery studio in Downtown Prattville.
A ribbon cutting was held highlighting the expansion of the studio and Hansen shared how much the event meant to her.
“This is our expansion into the new studio area because we literally outgrew our original location,” she said to the crowd that had gathered. “We’re thrilled to be able to expand and do a little bit more. We haven’t had a whole lot of space to do classes so now with this space, it’s so flexible. We’re able to do one table or we can expand all the way to the door. I can’t thank everyone here enough. It has been since day one, one-hundred-percent support from our community and especially the chamber and the city.”
Hansen also brought her husband Steve in front of the group to heap praise on him for all the work he has done in the studio and for his total support.
In a subsequent interview, Hansen talked more about the expansion and explained how the studio came into existence in the first place.
“Five years ago in February, my stepson Kyle passed away,” Hansen said. “He served in the Air Force as a C-17 pilot and he passed away suddenly and that was a real devastation for our entire family. I was really struggling, trying to cope with that, and to figure out how to stay busy. I had been doing some art and some pottery but I didn’t have a real job here and I was desperate to deal with that grief.”
Hansen said she knew she just needed to get busy.
“It was the Father’s Day after Kyle passed, and as you can imagine it was a really difficult day for Steve,” she explained. “And I passed by here and we saw a For Rent sign and out of the blue I said, I’d love to put a gallery there.”
Steve looked at his wife and said, “Do it.”
“September 9, 2017, we opened the doors,” she said. “I didn’t even really know what it was going to be but I knew I really needed it.”
Hansen had done pottery as a hobby but as she began creating a vision for the studio, things evolved.
“I swore I’d never do classes and now I do classes,” she joked, saying that it was Prattville’s CityFest that promoted her desire to teach.
“I stared doing classes after CityFest,” she commented. “We just, for demonstration purposes, put the (pottery) wheel outside and there were throngs of people watching.”
As Hansen helped a little boy make a pot on the wheel, and she recognized people’s interest, she realized that classes just might be a good thing to start.
“As long as I can center the clay for somebody,” she said, “they can have a great pottery wheel experience in a 30-minute session.”
As the studio grew and more local artists were being introduced as well as classes being taught, things started getting tight.
The store next door to Hansen’s studio, The Wandering Coyote, told her they would let her know if they ever moved locations and early this year, they decided to move and Hansen jumped at the chance.
“The second of March, we were closed for the expansion,” Hansen said.
When the sheetrock that stood between the two rooms came down, she said she knew that was what she was supposed to do.
“Now this gives us more space to promote local artists, it gives me an opportunity to paint and have my own space, too,” the owner said.
Hansen really tries to give back to the community as well as run her studio and she does community service projects such as the Alabama Poppy Project. That project honors loved ones who served in the armed forces and has been an extremely popular event in Prattville for several years. This year, from May 27 through June 4, 2022, it is coming back.
An event is this weekend as well. “Saturday we’ll be hiding little cards all over downtown Prattville and when people bring one of these little cards here, they can redeem them for a free easter ornament,” she said.
Hansen said that, above all, she wants people to come in to her fine art and pottery studio and have what she called a “haven” experience to get away from the troubles of life and leave feeling good.
“This is my haven,” she said. “We want to perpetuate the positive.”
Hansen Fine Art and Pottery is located at 173 West Main Street in downtown Prattville and can be reached by calling 334-301-0336 or going online to www.juliannehansen.com or on Facebook.
