ADULT CERAMICS STUDIO POLICY
2109 Cottle Drive
Access Arts’ mission is to make arts more accessible to the underserved and provide learning opportunities in the arts to the whole community. Our goal is to provide an encouraging atmosphere to enhance the learning experiences of students in our professionally equipped facilities.
Cone 04 Earthenware is the studio clay for all classes at the 2109 Cottle Dr. studio. If students wish to use a different clay, they must receive permission from the Studio Manager, Eric Ordway.
Open Studio hours (times for practice outside of class) are available to students as part of their class registration. Open Studio hours are as follows during class terms:
Students are encouraged to make as many pots as they like to keep or sell, however, the class fee only covers a certain amount of supplies:
Classes canceled due to weather or illness of the instructor will be made up as soon as possible. You will be notified by the instructor if class is canceled for inclement weather, so make sure your instructor has your correct contact information.
Makeup classes will not be provided for individual students who miss class due to personal reasons. Please plan your schedules accordingly and make the most of your 6 classes.
Students producing work outside of the Access Arts studio may pay to fire full kiln loads of items at the following rates: $55 per bisque load and $75 per glaze load. These firings must be approved in advance by the Studio Manager.
Students must clear shelves at the end of each session. Any work left on your shelf will be discarded.
You will need to pick up your finished work at any open studio times offered at the start of the following session. Open studio times remain the same for each session. If you do not retrieve your work by the end of the 3rd week of the following session (usually about 5 weeks from the date of your last class), we will be discarding it.
All questions, encouragements, criticisms, and concerns that are not directly related to class lessons should be submitted via email to accessarts@schoolofservice.org. These will be reviewed together by the staff.
KILN FIRING POLICY (as of 7/1/21)
At Access Arts, we know how difficult it can be to wait for something that you worked hard on and really care about. In order to keep things running smoothly, we ask you to follow these guidelines:
We will always do our best to make sure the studio functions as efficiently as possible, but things do happen (kilns do misfire sometimes!) We’ll continue to do our best in the face of whatever issues arise and keep you informed.
Cone 04 Earthenware is the studio clay for all classes at the 2109 Cottle Dr. studio. If students wish to use a different clay, they must receive permission from the Studio Manager, Eric Ordway.
Open Studio hours (times for practice outside of class) are available to students as part of their class registration. Open Studio hours are as follows during class terms:
- Tuesdays and Thursdays: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
- Saturdays and Sundays: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
- There are no Open Studio hours between class terms. This is the time we utilize to fire kilns and prepare for the next session.
Students are encouraged to make as many pots as they like to keep or sell, however, the class fee only covers a certain amount of supplies:
- Students are responsible for their own clay. At the beginning of each session, one 25lb bag of clay will be given to each student. Each student must re-use, re-wedge, or forfeit whatever clay is put into reclaim. Unused clay will not be refunded at the end of each session but may be given or sold to classmates.
- Once the student has run out of clay they may purchase more by check or online where class registration is located ($35/25lbs). You may only retrieve more clay DURING your class time (NOT during Open Studio hours).
- Firings and glazes are included with the price of clay.
- Students are not allowed to adjust glazes or make new ones. Amaco glazes have test-fired stable and are permitted. All changes or issues with glaze must be addressed by Eric Ordway.
- Students are given an apron to use during the class session. At the end of the session, the apron should be left on their shelf so we can wash them and distribute them to students in the next session. If you wish to keep your apron, they cost $15.
Classes canceled due to weather or illness of the instructor will be made up as soon as possible. You will be notified by the instructor if class is canceled for inclement weather, so make sure your instructor has your correct contact information.
Makeup classes will not be provided for individual students who miss class due to personal reasons. Please plan your schedules accordingly and make the most of your 6 classes.
Students producing work outside of the Access Arts studio may pay to fire full kiln loads of items at the following rates: $55 per bisque load and $75 per glaze load. These firings must be approved in advance by the Studio Manager.
Students must clear shelves at the end of each session. Any work left on your shelf will be discarded.
You will need to pick up your finished work at any open studio times offered at the start of the following session. Open studio times remain the same for each session. If you do not retrieve your work by the end of the 3rd week of the following session (usually about 5 weeks from the date of your last class), we will be discarding it.
All questions, encouragements, criticisms, and concerns that are not directly related to class lessons should be submitted via email to accessarts@schoolofservice.org. These will be reviewed together by the staff.
KILN FIRING POLICY (as of 7/1/21)
At Access Arts, we know how difficult it can be to wait for something that you worked hard on and really care about. In order to keep things running smoothly, we ask you to follow these guidelines:
- All work placed on the greenware rack or glaze shelf by the end of the 5th week of the class session will be fired by the beginning of the following class session.
- Any work placed on the greenware rack after the 5th week will only be fired after work turned in on time. It may or may not be finished by the next session, depending on volume.
- Sometimes work gets rejected due to thickness or issues with glaze on the bottom. This is entirely at the discretion of the Studio Manager when they are loading the kilns. If you were expecting work to be out of the kiln, but it isn’t, please check the reject cart and get it back into circulation as soon as possible. Please pay close attention in class so that you can avoid the reject shelf altogether.
- Pots must be fired in a way that avoids thermal shock. Loading, heating, firing, cooling, and unloading a kiln typically takes 2-3 days IF everything happens flawlessly. Please understand this reality and try to be patient.
- Thermal shock refers to the potential cracking of pots due to dramatic temperature changes (ex. taking Pyrex from the oven and putting it straight into the fridge).
- If you prefer to have your own kiln fired for the standard fees, you are welcome to take advantage of that and queue up.
We will always do our best to make sure the studio functions as efficiently as possible, but things do happen (kilns do misfire sometimes!) We’ll continue to do our best in the face of whatever issues arise and keep you informed.