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- 2024 Monthly Pottery Studio Membership - Handbuilding and Wheel Throwing
2024 Monthly Pottery Studio Membership - Handbuilding and Wheel Throwing
Monthly ARTworks Vass Pottery Memberships are here!
Monthly memberships are perfect for beginners who want to create in a community environment, and they work equally well for more advanced potters seeking a place to expand their practice.
To join the ARTworks Vass Pottery Membership Program, purchase this listing, and pay for your first month of membership. Within 3 business days, you'll receive your welcome email. Upon receipt of this email, please establish your automatic payment of monthly membership dues. Once payments have been established, we'll contact you within 3 business days to schedule your Pottery Studio Tour and Orientation. Please note that automatic monthly payments are required for membership, and your payment plan must be established before we schedule your orientation.
What does ARTworks Vass Pottery Membership include?
Tier 1 - Base Monthly Membership Benefits
- Up to 10 pounds of clay, issued at the beginning of each month.
- 8 hours of time in our studio.
- 1 full shelf in a Bisque Kiln Firing
- 1 full shelf in a Glaze Kiln Firing.
- Optional - Use studio glazes, stain, and brushable wax OR source your own.
- A dedicated storage space for your personal tools and supplies.
- Use of our Slab Roller.
- Use of our Pottery Wheels
- Use of our hand tools, and we have a ton of them!
- More fun than you ever thought possible with the nicest people you can imagine!
- All at a cost of $99, without glaze use, or $129, with the use of studio glazes.
Tier 2 - Intermediate Membership
- Up to 20 pounds of clay issued at the beginning of each month.
- 20 hours of time in our studio.
- 2 full shelves in a Bisque Kiln Firing.
- 2 full shelves in a Glaze Kiln Firing.
- Optional - Use studio glazes, stain, and brushable wax OR source your own.
- A dedicated storage space for your personal tools and supplies.
- Use of our Slab Roller.
- Use of our Pottery Wheels
- Use of our hand tools, and we have a ton of them!
- More fun than you ever thought possible with the nicest people you can imagine!
- All at a cost of $179, without glaze use, or $249, with the use of studio glazes.
Memberships That Include Kiln Firing Only
- Memberships include monthly bisque or glaze firings of 1 Shelf, 2 Shelves, 3 Shelves, 4 Shelves, 1/2 Kiln, or 1 Full Kiln.
- At this time, no firing services will be provided outside of these Membership Levels.
- No clay or glazes will be provided.
Other Important Information:
- Registration allows for 1 person per Membership. Only those who register may use our Pottery Studio, Materials, and Equipment.
- Aprons are not provided. You may bring your own if you wish.
- Registrations are non-refundable.
- Click here to read the ARTworks Vass Disclosure and Liability Waiver for All Classes and Events
At ARTworks Vass, we'll do our best to ensure your success. Procedures for best practices and our studio procedures follow, and they'll be posted throughout the studio for your reference.
Membership
- Membership is for individual use only, and guests of members should not be present in the pottery studio without prior approval of the Studio Manager.
- Membership months begin on the 1st of each month, and dues will not be prorated. With this in mind, please carefully time when you join to maximize your member benefits in the first month of membership.
- Those who cancel and re-join our membership program more than once in each membership year will be assessed a $25 administration fee for each time that they reestablish membership.
- Requests for cancelation and changes between membership tiers require a 30 day notice by email to info@artworksvass.com.
Safety
- A clean studio promotes health and safety for all who enter.
- We take the safety of our Members and Guests seriously, and we have a strict "Leave It Better and Cleaner Than You Found It Policy".
- We ask that you allow at least 30 minutes to clean your workspace at the end of each studio sessions.
- "Cleaning" is defined as wet washing all surfaces on which you've worked including tables, tools, wheels, chairs, and the floor. This may require multiple washings to remove all materials from surfaces, and you should pay special attention to the areas on which you may have dripped, sprayed, or touched other surfaces and left a residue of raw materials. A streaky surface indicates that raw materials still exist on the surface, and it should be wet washed again until streak-free.
- An 8 foot cold water sink is provided outdoors for heavy cleaning.
- Indoors, we use a two-bucket system to avoid clay and glaze particles from being passed into our plumbing or water system.
Clay, Glazes, and Other Materials
- Our studio clay is a Cone 6 Speckled Brownstone by Highwater Clay.
- The maximum monthly clay allowance included with Membership expires at the end of each month and will not carry from month to month.
- Clay will be issued to members on the 1st of each month, and it will be placed in the member's individual storage area. If the prior month's clay is still in this storage place when the current's month clay is being distributed, no clay will be issued unless the member requests it later in the month.
- We use a variety of commercially prepared and hand mixed glazes. All will fire to Cone 6, and we typically fire to 2200 degrees during our glaze firings.
- Membership levels that include use of the studio's glazes do not include use of the owner's brushable glazes, use of stroke and coat glazes, use of underglazes, or use of her personal dippable glazes.
- Members who enroll in levels that do not include studio clay and/or glazes must provide us with a complete list of all clays and glazes that they'll be using. This list will be sent by email to info@artworksvass.com. It should include the name of each clay or glaze, the manufacturer's name, the maximum cone firing that's recommended for the clay or glaze, and a photo of each product that you plan to use.
- Your submissions will be reviewed, and before firing any work on your behalf, you may be asked to test fire your clays and glazes to ensure compatibility with our kiln firings. If this happens, we will make an exception and extend your first month's kiln firing space into your second month of membership.
Studio Use and Equipment
- Studio Time is available now on a drop-in basis on the honor system.
- As our Membership Program grows, we expect to implement scheduling for studio time as needed.
- Studio Time expires at the end of each month and will not be extended from month to month.
- After your orientation, you'll be issued a key to our pottery studio, and you'll be granted 24/7 access. Please be aware of your personal safety at all times when using the studio, especially if you access it outside of our regular hours while the gallery is closed. If at anytime you feel unsafe in the studio, call 911, and ask for assistance from the Vass Police.
- Cameras are in place in the pottery studio, and they will detect your arrival.
- Studio Hours do not transfer from month to month.
- Wheel use is not available during scheduled Wheel Throwing Classes, and you can find our class schedule under the "Classes and Events" tab at the top of our website, www.ARTworksVass.com.
- Our Slab Roller will be secured with a lock and chain at all times. When you're finished using it, please secure the lock and chain in a manner that allows no rolling motion of the equipment. (Generally this works best in a figure 8 shape.) If you're in doubt about how to secure this, please ask.
- Before using our Pottery Wheels, we ask that you complete at least one Wheel Throwing Session with our Resident Pottery Instructors. If you're a more accomplished potter, please discuss your specific situation with our Pottery Studio Manager before attempting to use any of the wheels in our studio.
- The Pottery Classroom Space will not be available during scheduled classes. You will be able to hand build in another location in the studio during these times.
Kiln Firings
- Kiln space expires at the end of each month and does not transfer from month to month.
- For the purpose of membership, a full kiln shelf is sized at 26 inches across, less the space that it takes for 8 posts, measuring 2 inches wide each, to hold the shelf. Full Kiln Shelves will allow for 9 inches of vertical space, and additional shelf space may be purchased to fire taller pieces. (A cardboard template of a kiln shelf, with the outlines of posts, is available in the pottery studio.)
- Work should be moved to the kiln house only when a full shelf is ready to be fired, and it should not be placed there until a full shelf is ready. (The cardboard template of the kiln shelf should be used to ensure that your work doesn't exceed your membership limits.)
- Work moved to the kiln house should be placed on the correct shelf for bisque or glaze firing, and it should be labeled with your name, cell phone number, the date, and the number of pieces included.
- We generally fire a bisque kiln weekly and a glaze kiln at least two time each month. Additional firings are added as needed.
- For all glaze firings, each piece must be clear of glaze on the bottom to prevent sticking. If work is not properly cleaned, it will not be fired in our kilns, and it will be glaze fired only after you clean it. (If we fail to notice glaze on the bottoms of your piece, or if your glaze runs off of your piece, you will be solely responsible for kiln shelf cleaning and repair and kiln repair.)
- Although it may be fired in the following calendar month, to be counted as your current month's member benefit, your work must be placed in the Kiln House and labeled by 5:00 on the last day of the month.
- Additional space in our Bisque Kiln or our Glaze Kiln may be purchased online. Click here to order additional Kiln Space.
- No extra pottery pieces, above those that are included in your current membership level, should be placed in the Kiln House until after additional shelf space for them has been purchased. If you've purchased additional kiln space, please indicate this when you label your work in the kiln house.
Memberships that Include Kiln Firing Only
- Kiln Firing Memberships are designed for those who need regular kiln firing service to complete work that they create in their own space and with their own clays and glazes.
- Kiln Firing Memberships may be purchased at monthly levels of 1 shelf, 2 shelves, 3 shelves, 4 shelves, 1/2 kin (Up to 2 shelves.), or full kiln (Up to 4 shelves.).
- Membership levels defined by "Shelves" may be divided between bisque firings and glaze firings. For example, a 3 Shelf Membership may include 1 bisque shelf and 2 glaze shelves this month and 3 bisque shelves next month.
- Membership levels defined by 1/2 or full kiln may not be divided between bisque and glaze firings. For example, a Full Kiln Membership may include a full bisque kiln this month and a full glaze kiln next month; it may not include a 1/2 bisque kiln this month and a 1/2 glaze kiln this month. (Instead, this can be accomplished with a 4 Shelf Membership.)
- Members who enroll in levels that do not include studio clay and/or glazes must provide us with a complete list of all clays and glazes that they'll be using. This list will be sent by email to info@artworksvass.com. It should include the name of each clay or glaze, the manufacturer's name, the maximum cone firing that's recommended for the clay or glaze, and a photo of each product that you plan to use.
- Your submissions will be reviewed, and before firing any work on your behalf, you may be asked to test fire your clays and glazes to ensure compatibility with our kiln firings. If this happens, we will make an exception and extend your first month's kiln firing space into your second month of membership.
Training and Educational Opportunities:
- Upon becoming an ARTworks Vass Pottery Member, our Studio Manager will provide you with an orientation, a tour of our studio and kiln house, and a review of best practices.
- While you'll pick up tips, tricks, and best practices from your fellow Artists, no formal pottery instruction is included in the price of our memberships.
Optional Services at an Additional Cost:
- As scheduling allows, "Rush Firing Service" may permit you to jump to the front of the line for a bisque or glaze kiln firing at an additional cost of $50 plus firing costs. Please ask us if we can accommodate your request for Rush Firing before making your purchase online.
- Click here to order Additional Member Products and Services
Abandoned Artwork and Supplies
- Unless other arrangements are made, work in all stages of production will be considered abandoned after 90 days, at which time those pieces will become the property of the studio.
- Unless other arrangements are made, work in all stages of production will be considered abandoned after 30 days of the end of membership, at which time those pieces will become the property of the studio.
- Unless other arrangements are made, tools and supplies will be considered abandoned after 30 days of the end of membership, at which time they will become the property of the studio.
By choosing to create and fire your pottery with ARTworks Vass, you shall indemnify and hold harmless ARTworks Vass, Jean Skipper (Owner), Beth Roy (Pottery Studio Manager), and anyone else associated with ARTworks Vass for any pieces that crack, break, blister, explode, and also for those that achieve an unsatisfactory result.
By choosing to fire your pottery with ARTworks Vass, you will be responsible for any damage to our kilns or kiln shelves caused by your pieces should they melt, explode, or damage the kiln during an otherwise proper firing. This includes your responsibility to clean, refinish, or replace all shelves and equipment damaged by the firing of your pieces.
Register online here, or contact us with your questions at info@artworksvass.com or 910-245-4129.