Pottery Painting on the Upper West Side: $16 Fee Guide

Color Me Mine Upper West Side, at 177 Amsterdam Avenue on the corner of 68th Street, charges a $16 studio fee per painter, and that one fee covers every jar of paint plus the glazing and firing of whatever you make. The ceramic itself is extra, with most pieces priced from $28 to $65. If you want pottery painting in this part of Manhattan, a short walk north of Lincoln Center, this is the studio that keeps its doors open seven days a week, so the only real question is whether you book a table or take your chances at the door.

The studio's own FAQ lays out the math plainly. You pay a studio fee of $16 per painter, and on Saturdays and Sundays that fee is charged per person. The fee covers the paint, any supplies you use, and the staff's work processing your ceramic. Then you add the piece you choose, and most of the shelves sit between $28 and $65. A mug-and-fee afternoon therefore lands in the mid-$40s, while a large platter pushes closer to $80 once the fee is in.

The choice is bigger than most people expect from a corner storefront. The studio's calendar page counts over 400 different piece options, from seasonal decor and kids' banks and figurines to picture frames, vases and lanterns, and it lists over 60 glaze colors to paint with. Everything you paint is done with underglazes, which are water-based and non-toxic. After firing, the dinnerware is food safe, dishwasher safe and microwave safe, so a plate you painted on a Tuesday can end up on your table.

Reserving ahead changes the billing slightly. You can pay the $16 studio fee online when you book, and if a special promotion with a lower fee is running that day, the difference comes back as credit toward your ceramic. Weekly discounts are posted on the monthly calendar, and Mondays carry a discount for children under 5, because toddlers tend to paint very fast and the studio does not want families to skip the fun.

Color Me Mine UWS accepts walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis, but it recommends reserving online to guarantee space for you and your party. Reservation slots run 1.5 hours and are made through the studio's website. A single online reservation can include up to five people, and bigger parties use the separate group reservation link. The calendar page is blunt that table reservations are highly recommended.

Weekends are where plans go wrong. The FAQ says Saturdays and Sundays are especially busy and that there is typically limited space for walk-ins. If you only want an unhurried hour with a mug and a brush, treat a weekday afternoon as the better bet, because the studio is open the same long hours on every day of the week. Painting a piece takes about one to two hours on average, so a 1.5-hour slot suits a mug or small plate and feels tight for a big platter.

The studio's posted schedule runs Sunday through Saturday, 10 am to 9 pm. The last time to walk in and paint is one hour before closing, so a 7:30 pm arrival is already pushing it if you are painting something detailed. If a weekend table is gone and the wait feels long, the practical fallback is to book a weekday evening instead, when a reservation is far easier to land.

You do not take your piece home that night. You leave it with the staff, who glaze it and fire it in the kiln at 1830 degrees, which turns the chalky paint into a bright, glassy, durable finish. The FAQ says your finished piece is ready for pickup in about a week, and for the studio's busy seasonal events the posted turnaround is about two weeks, so give gifts some lead time.

The studio holds finished pieces for 45 days after your original visit. It does not offer storage extensions, though it does offer delivery and pickup options within the 45-day window, and you can ask the staff about them. Anything left uncollected is donated to raise money for Candlelighters NYC and other charities, which is a kinder fate than most abandoned mugs get.

If you would rather paint at home, the studio will wrap up a piece with selected paints and brushes for an up-charge. The one catch is that you must use the studio's provided paints if you want to bring the piece back for firing, because those underglazes are the ones the kiln schedule is built around. It is a good option for a rainy Sunday when the weekend tables are full.

The no-alcohol policy is firm. Color Me Mine Upper West Side does not allow open alcohol to be brought in or consumed in the studio, and the FAQ explains that New York State requires a liquor license for BYOB. Skip the bottle of wine plan, and note that even the studio's Butter Dish Bash evening, on Wednesday, November 11 from 6 to 9 pm, is not a BYOB event. That session costs a $20 studio fee, includes free light bites and beverages along with the paint and in-house firing, and requires an RSVP, with the pottery chosen and paid for on the day.

Dogs are welcome, and the studio has free treats ready for them, as long as owners take responsibility for their pets' behavior. For small children, the studio offers handprint and footprint keepsakes, where staff help stamp a baby's hand or foot onto a piece of your choice. For school-age kids, Color Me Kids is a one-hour drop-off class for ages 5 to 10, held on Thursdays from November 5 through January 28, at $45 per class instead of the regular $50, with 5 to 9 kids in each group.

The studio also hosts birthday parties, bridal showers and team events, and it takes group bookings of six or more through its group reservation page. Its Christmas tree ceramics are the seasonal item people ask about, and pre-orders close November 15 or sooner if the quantities sell out, with free studio fees on each pre-order.

Color Me Mine as a company was established in 1991 and has grown into over 100 franchise locations across the country. The Upper West Side studio is a much newer arrival. The neighborhood blog iLoveTheUpperWestSide reported it newly opened at 177 Amsterdam Avenue in early January 2020, and the studio now describes itself as a small, minority-woman-owned business. When that report ran, the only other New York studio was the one that had started in Tribeca and moved to Chinatown.

That history shows in the room. It is run like a neighborhood studio, with a local events calendar of kids' classes, Thanksgiving butter dishes and Christmas tree ceramics, rather than like a mall outlet. The staff walk first-timers through the three steps the company has used since the beginning, which are choosing an unfinished ceramic, painting it, and leaving it for glazing and firing, and the whole system is simple enough that nobody needs to have held a brush since elementary school.

The studio sits on Amsterdam Avenue, the quiet, shop-lined avenue one block west of Columbus, and the easy way to build an afternoon is to paint first and then walk. Lincoln Center's plazas and the Revson Fountain are a short stroll south, and Central Park's west side is a few avenues east if the weather is kind. Because your piece needs about a week in the kiln, there is no reason to rush the day, and many families paint at 11 am and spend the afternoon at the park.

The honest judgment is that the studio works best for groups of two to five who want something physical to show for an hour and a half. It is less suited to a large party that did not reserve, a weekend walk-in with a hungry toddler, or anyone hoping to bring their own drinks. If you arrive and the room is full, take the studio's phone number, 212-877-0007, and ask when the next table opens before giving up.

Address: Color Me Mine Upper West Side, 177 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10023, at the corner of 68th Street. Phone: 212-877-0007. Hours listed on the studio's site: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10 am to 9 pm. The last walk-in to paint is one hour before closing. The studio's FAQ is the source for the fee, the reservation rules and the 45-day holding period, and its calendar page is the source for the piece and color counts.

Bring nothing but yourself. Paint, brushes, sponges and stencils are provided, and the staff will glaze and fire your piece. Plan on one to two hours of painting, a $16 fee per painter and a ceramic from about $28. The Karpo APP can help you line up the rest of your Upper West Side day around your kiln pickup.