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Now, I have bigger goal than making money. I am working to create a community that is interested in pottery. So far my approach has worked for me: more people are joining classes and the retention rate has been high. In a year, I expect to have a very nice studio space for myself (and others) which pays for itself and provides an income for me (teaching classes, selling pots). When all I have to do is mop the floor at the end of the day, I will call this retirement.    MatthewV


 


Reading another topic I saw this quote.  


 


I am getting to an age where the physicality of production pottery is starting to bug me.......old injuries from years ago are protesting miserably, volume sales are not the 'professional' markers they used to feel like, income diversity is becoming more important than volume, a functional pot for someone else is holding less interest than a sculptural one made for my own creative passion....


 


...... so some post production pottery planning (say that fast 5 times!) is now in the early stages.  I do teach a couple of classes a week and hire out my wheels and equipment occaisionally but I want to wind down my production studio over the next couple of years yet keep my yearly exhibition work going. My mind has recently been following MatthewV's train of thought.......


 


This week I have been offered a community arts space and a local council grant to lay the foundations for this venture.........my question here is that I would like to see this idea brainstormed in the forum by teachers, students and administrators alike...........so please lend me your thoughts, experiences, initiatives and original insights!


 


ta,


Irene


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Most of my ideas came from working that the Wellington Pottery Association in New Zealand. That facility was on city council land and therefore had almost no rental costs.

 

I was part of the committee and I looked over the expenses. It was very clear that the time people spent in the facility correlated to almost zero additional costs. The people who used the Wellington rooms the most gave back 10x what they got.

 

The costs of firing kilns are real. But that is an easy one for a novice to see so charging an amount that exceeds it is very easy.

Your (or other volunteers) time is sort of an imaginary expense. "I make pottery, not money" is part of my not-very-business-like philosophy.

 

My other observation was that it is essential to have a good start but still room to grow in the first year. It allows for people to make a positive difference and a feeling that they are part of something that is getting better.

 

Finally, having one person at the helm is very good.

 

...

 

And I am happy to see my dream of more public access to pottery in the world spreading :-)

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Mudslinger, it sounds like a lovely idea. I used to teach adult classes at a community center, but had to give it up because it didn't make sense timewise and moneywise given the demands of my studio business. But I often miss it, and someday when I retire or start scaling back my studio business, I would love to return to a teaching situation.

 

I have often thought about how I would administer a community studio. These thoughts are not based on first-hand experience, so assign them with a "theoretical" value only.

 

1. Members would pay a monthly membership fee, for unlimited access to the studio. Membership fee would cover the rent (or mortgage) on the studio. Members would provide a credit card number, that would be automatically charged every month. That way, I don't have to remind anyone to pay their fee.

 

2. Door would have a key-code access lock, so members can let themselves in anytime. Key-code would be changed anytime somebody's membership ends.

 

3. Whenever a glaze firing is unloaded, pots would be sorted by potter, then weighed. Members will be charged a firing fee that is based on the weight of the pots they produced. The fee would cover clay, glaze, utility costs. This way, heavy users will cover the costs of their resources used, while light users don't have to pay for resources they don't use. Members will pay for their monthly accumulated firing fees at the same time they pay their membership fee (again, automatically by credit card).

 

4. Every member will get a designated amount of shelf space, to store their tools, clay, and pots in progress. This will be strictly enforced. I think storage space is the biggest potential problem with group studios. If there is no oversight of this, a few potters will spread their belongings across the studio, without consideration of their fellow potters. In the studio where I taught, they used the designated shelf space system, and it was very effective.

 

5. One ot two nights a week will be "class night" for those who want instruction or a social gathering. I would also try to organize weekend workshops with visiting instructors, maybe once a year.

 

6. I'd have some strict cleaniness standards, and I would enforce them. I'd make it my own responsibility to keep the floor clean.

 

 

Again, these are just my theories, based on working and teaching in various studios, and seeing what works and what doesn't work. I know it sounds like I plan to be a dictator, but I don't see it that way. I think that these boundaries and expectations need to be firmly established, then they will exist quietly in the background. Creativity and freedom are much greater in an environment where conflict is kept to a minimum, and "respect for the studio" is the baseline expectation.

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mea, never think of yourself as a dictator, think of yourself as a shepherd.  you take care of the flock of studio users, you stand taller than the flock so you can see the dangers they never do.  of course you have rules, they are needed.

 

irene, what a great offer!  you have a lot of research to do.

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A benevolent dictatorship. I am doing pretty much what Mea suggests except the automatic payments.

 

 

The only thing not mentioned was clay.

The approach I am working with is the studio clay is free and everything not fired goes into the reclaim bin and reprocessed. The firing costs includes clay costs. This allows beginners to practice without the dark cloud of "I am not good at this and I don't want to buy and waste another bag" hanging over their heads. This method also reduces storage space and random bags of dry clay hanging around.

A similar story with glazes, which I very happily make. There will be no private glazes unless the containers fit in a persons cubby hole. If someone wishes to try a new recipe (and a test has been done!) a small bucket (3000g-5000g batch) can be mixed up for everyone to use.

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