Newbury Pottery Studio in Boonton started as a place to create, sell and teach the art of pottery.

But owner John Hedges says it turned into something much bigger.

"We then introduced the drag aspect to the studio, and it's just gone crazy, it's wonderful... It's almost like the pottery is secondary," he says.

In October 2024, Hedges and his wife Sage introduced the first drag pottery class in response to the community shutting down the idea of drag story time at the local library.

"I just was seeing what was going on in the world... And I thought to myself, 'Hey, we have this studio, we have this space, and we can do what we want with it,'" said Sage Hedges.

It's now turned into a safe haven and community hotspot for people of all identities.

"A lot of times when you're queer or other, it's just, it's hard to find people that are like you or you also feel isolated or alone, so having a place where you can go out and be yourself... It just opens up the world for people to know that they're not alone and they have a place to go find community," said resident drag queen Kay Gorgeous.

The studio holds drag classes once a month but has plans to expand to more days in the future. For more information on classes and other events, visit the studio's website.