New owners, Johnny and Tami Hanson (center) pictured with daughters McKenzie Lauwagie, Kylana Lott, and Desiree Carlson and granddaughter, Marlowe Carlson, at the Sota Street Studio’s grand opening.

NEW ULM – Sota Street Studio, a paint your own pottery studio, opened last week in downtown New Ulm at 103 N Minnesota St. in the old Baily Creek Boutique.

New owners Tami and Johnny Hanson created a “you pick, you paint, we fire, you take it” service for bisque (fired one time previously) pottery that is perfect for after school projects, date nights, girls nights, or just a day out on the town.

“My daughter that lives in Minot has a studio similar like an art gallery there. On the second level there’s a paint your own pottery store. We spent like three hours, almost four hours, just painting one piece of pottery when we visited our daughter, and it was so much fun,” Tami Hanson said. “It was so relaxing and therapeutic and exactly what we needed for a girls weekend. I was like, I can’t just tell you how much I’m enjoying myself. We need something like this in New Ulm.”

As Hanson continued to talk about the idea of a pottery studio over with friends and family last summer, friends began to send her postings of people selling bisque pottery in New Ulm. Feeling that it was meant to be, Tami Hanson, purchased the pottery materials and began to do some research of paint your own pottery businesses by visiting them around the cities. By February of this year, Johnny and Tami Hanson were able to officially open Sota Street Studio.

Johnny and Tami Hanson are the only employees as of now, and their three daughters help out when they can.

Sota Street Studio is ready for spring with options like birdhouses and Easter bunnies.

“My daughter created the logo from scratch. She drew the lettering by hand,” said Tami Hanson.

The studio is quiet on this night, with soft music playing and good lighting. All of the white unpainted pottery is lined up neatly on shelves surrounding white tables and chairs. There are a variety of pieces to choose from: dinner plates, mugs, gnomes, Easter bunnies, vases, cookie jars, and more.

“As long as every surface is covered with paint it’s food grade safe, dishwasher safe, and microwave safe, but we do encourage hand washing and avoiding microwave to prolong longevity of the pieces,” said Hanson.

After selecting the pottery and paint colors customers spend anywhere from one hour to three hours working on the piece and then leave it at the store to be fired, a process that takes 1-2 weeks. When it is ready, Sota Street Studio can call or leave a text, and customers can pick up their work.

Sota Street Studio is open based on walk in seating that’s available, but they do have a reservation request form on the website for parties over 10. On days that they’re open they have specials for everyone, like senior day, ladies night, kids day, date night, and family day. There’s also a ten percent discount to military or veterans.

Children tend to gravitate towards figurines of Baxter the Cat and unicorns while adults are fond of the gnomes at Sota Street Studio.

For those who can’t make it into the studio, there’s a grab and go option where customers can customize their projects at home and have someone bring it back to be fired.

Last Saturday was the official grand opening, though they were quietly open the week before. Business is doing well so far with March booking up quick–they have 7 reservations for larger parties already.

“People can customize a piece any way they want, with baby feet and hand prints, really create a keepsake,” said Tami Hanson.

(Left to right) Johnny Hanson, Kylana Lott, McKenzie Lauwagie, Marlowe Carson, Desiree Carlson, and Tami Hanson at of Sota Street Studio in downtown New Ulm. Tami and Johnny Hanson are the new owners of Sota Street Studio.