Mother-daughter business partners Linda Christen and Sam Dooley noticed after the COVID-19 pandemic that people were seeking spaces to unplug.

It’s part of the reason they founded Maine Clay Collaborative, a new pottery studio on Hanover Street offering classes, artist-led workshops and open studio hours for all levels of potters.

With Christen’s 30 years of experience at the wheel and Dooley’s background in business, the two make a great pair.

“When I started pottery, I was a stay-at-home mom, my youngest, Samantha, was 3,” Christen said. “This was in the 90s, and I think there was a small surge of interest in handcrafts at that point in time.”

Now, they’re seeing another surge of people flocking to handcrafts and hobbies.

Halle Kirsch of Gray works with clay at a beginners’ class at Maine Clay on Hanover Street in Portland on Sunday. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

“The more computers are in our lives, the more we want to be doing something with our hands,” Christen said.

Maine Clay Collaborative joins an already bustling collection of local pottery studios. There’s Handful Studios on Forest Avenue, Running with Scissors in East Bayside and longstanding studio Portland Pottery — with two East Bayside locations and a supply store in Massachusetts — to name a few.

Karen DiCenso, one of the owners of Portland Pottery, agreed that interest has ramped up in the past few years.

“It really took off right after COVID,” DiCenso said. “People were watching ‘(The Great) Pottery Throwdown’ and they were like, ‘I can do it.'”

DiCenso said she loves seeing new studios pop up in the area because they contribute to the mission of “getting as many hands dirty as possible in Maine.”

DiCenso and business partner Jennifer Martini — both longtime Portland Pottery employees — took over the business two years ago after the original owners of nearly 30 years, Lisa Bonarrigo and Chris Bruni, retired.

Krystal Yavicoli, center, teaches a class of first-timers at Maine Clay on Hanover Street in Portland on Sunday. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

Both Portland Pottery and Maine Clay Collaborative offer multi-week courses at multiple levels, as well as one-day sample classes. Portland Pottery also has programs for kids and summer camps.

Portland Pottery’s Washington Avenue building was full of potters on Sunday, some working on projects by themselves and others taking guided classes.

“I’m retired now, I did pottery before, when I was working, and I would go twice a week and love it. And once I retired, I said, ‘I’m doing more pottery,'” said Judith Murphy, of South Portland, a Portland Pottery student of 11 years.

“I had a really stressful job, so when I came here, I didn’t think about work, I didn’t think about the three kids and the dirty house at home, all I thought about was this,” Murphy added. “So it’s very zen, and that was very appealing to me.”

Classes at Portland Pottery are so popular that the business implements a lottery system for introductory sessions and keeps a waiting list.

Last spring, Portland Pottery added a location on Fox Street — just down the hill from the Washington Avenue studio — with a focus on beginning learners. They have about 530 students between the two locations and more than 50 staff members who keep the operation running.

Alex Campbell of Portland shapes clay at a pottery wheel during a beginners’ class at Maine Clay on Sunday. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

A newer and smaller studio, Maine Clay has seen its own success since starting classes in October. The studio has 102 potters right now, and 75 people on its waiting list.

“All of our classes this semester have sold out,” Dooley said.

Mary Delaney moved to Brunswick during the pandemic and wanted to connect with new people. She took a pottery class with Christen at Portland Pottery — where she taught before opening her own studio — and she was hooked. Now, she’s a regular face in the Maine Clay studio.

“I’ve always been really artsy, and I was looking for something to do that did not involve a screen and was very tactile, and you literally get your hands dirty here, which I love,” Delaney said.

Delaney said she loves that pottery has allowed her to make friends of all ages.

“I can understand why it’s been such an explosion, and so many people are getting into (pottery),” Delaney said. “Because you can’t look at a screen. Your hands are filthy, dirty. It’s very hard, and you have to go slow, and be very calm and do nothing but concentrate on the clay.”

Enrollment for the next session of classes at Maine Clay Collaborative opens on March 1. Portland Pottery starts new sessions every eight weeks, and those interested can sign up for an email list for information on specific enrollment dates.