$30,000 Grant Winner - what to do now?

[artmom111]

I just found out that I will be receiving between $15,000 and $30,000. I've got a brand new ceramics program. We have a kiln, and that's it - I need to get everything else. I would love all suggestions regarding floor plans, etc. the room I will be transforming is 24' x 22' and have the kiln elsewhere. I've got classes with 30 high school students. For sure, I want a pugger, slab roller, and some sort of sink, possibly a Cink that can handle clay. I've got an outside area that I'm contemplating screening and awning-ing so we can put the wheels outside. I just don't even know where to start. Please, PLEASE give me some suggestions so that's I make the right choices. Thanks very much!

[Rebel_Rocker]

You can probably get a kitchen sink (deep large stainless steel) from a closed restaurant for a good deal. I think you probably need to have a good mud trap built in the drainage though. The school I'm at have a 4 chamber trap that's actually in the concrete floor and it has an iron grid over it. Seems like a pretty nice way to go, the water goes through about 3 feet of pipe to the trap, and the trap is right there to clean out every several months.

That might require tearing up floor and relaying concrete... maybe not real cheap but would be worth it, having a trap outside the building after 20+ feet of pipe would be much harder to maintain.

I don't know if anyone makes a specific sink, I doubt it.

 

Wheels outside would probably need a secure locked fence, might be better to have them indoors.

 

I'd suggest making a drawing up, maybe a drafting teacher could help. Get measurements of a wheel (approx 2x3 feet and account for at least a foot of clearance all the way around). See how many you can actually fit in your space. Leave maybe 2x4 for a sink. I'd say 3 foot wide walkways between everything.

 

You'll need a plaster slab table for wedging and drying. maybe 3x6-8 feet.

 

Probably a nice table for slab work.

 

Room for glaze buckets, shelves for green, bisqued, glazed, finished pieces... misc tools for all clay work...

 

Sounds like a lot of work but could be a really fun project if you plan it well. Good luck.

[bellonart]

I would suggest going to a community ceramics studio and seeing what they have. If you don't have any locally, you could probably find some online. If you honestly have no idea what you're doing, maybe hire or ask someone who has their own studio to come in and see your space. Ceramics equipment is very expensive, fragile and very dangerous. It would be a shame to waste 15k on stuff you either don't need or won't use.

 

Good luck!