Open studio, explained
Open studio classes and open studio time are not the same thing.
Same building. Same wheels. Same shelf. In an open studio class, four instructors are on the floor teaching whatever you bring. During open studio time, nobody teaches at all, and that is the whole point of it.
Both use one of your classes for the month. Only one of them comes with instruction.
Side by side
One room. Two very different sessions.
There is no set curriculum at The Clay Hole in either one. You work on whatever you like. The difference is whether anyone is on shift to teach you while you do it.
Instructors teaching
Open studio classes
Bring any piece and any question. Teaching is the job.
- When
Monday to Thursday, 6:30 to 10:00 PM. Mondays also run 10:30 AM to 2:00 PM.
- On the floor
Four instructors. A pink shirt and a purple shirt on the wheel side, and the same pair on the hand-building side.
- Teaching
Yes, one on one, at your pace, on the piece in your hands. A first wheel lesson, a glaze question, a crack nobody can explain.
- Uses a class
Yes. One of your classes for the month.
- Cleanup
Everyone cleans. Your own space, plus one other part of the studio that needs attention.
- New members
Start here. Every first class is an open studio class.
Nobody teaching
Open studio time
Bring something you already know how to make. Then make it.
- When
Friday, 6:30 to 10:00 PM. Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM.
- On the floor
An open studio manager in a baby blue shirt. No instructors working.
- Teaching
None. No lessons, no tips, no quick look at your piece. By design.
- Uses a class
Yes. One of your classes for the month, the same as any other session.
- Cleanup
Everyone pitches in before they leave. The open studio manager has the checklist. It takes 5 to 10 minutes.
- New members
Not yet. Two open studio classes first if you are new to pottery, one if you already knew your way around clay when you joined.
Which is which, day by day
- Class: instructors teaching
- Open studio: nobody teaching
Monday
Class10:30 AM to 2 PMClass6:30 to 10 PMTuesday
Class6:30 to 10 PMWednesday
Class6:30 to 10 PMThursday
Class6:30 to 10 PMFriday
Open studio6:30 to 10 PMSaturday
Open studio10 AM to 1:30 PMSunday
Open studio10 AM to 1:30 PM
Same building, same equipment, same shelf. The only difference is whether anyone is there to teach you.
The one rule of open studio
Open studio managers do not teach. Please do not ask them to.
Our open studio managers are not allowed to give advice or instruction on anything to do with the pottery itself.
Not how to center. Not why a rim cracked. Not which glaze will run, how many coats to brush on, or whether a piece is ready to trim. Not a quick look. Not even a little.
That is a studio rule, not a mood. Many of our open studio managers are gifted potters, and they will still say no. Saying no is part of the job.
Open studio was built to be one thing: time set aside to simply work. No lessons, no demonstrations, nobody walking the room handing out advice. The moment someone starts teaching, it stops being open studio. It turns into a class nobody scheduled, taught by the one person whose job is minding the whole room.
So please take the no the first time. Pressing for an answer only puts them in an awkward spot between you and their job.
Instructors sometimes work on their own pieces during open studio too. They are off the clock, same as you.
If you want instruction, come to class. That is what the four instructors are there for.
What the baby blue shirts do
They run the room. The pottery is all yours.
An open studio manager is on shift for every open studio session. Their job is the building, the rules and the people in it. Never the piece you are making.
What they do
- Open the studio, and lock it up at the end.
- Manage the room for the whole session.
- Help with clay purchases.
- Enforce the studio rules, the same ones that apply in every class.
- Run the cleanup, and hand out the checklist so it gets done.
- Help with the basics of the room.
What they will say no to
- Technique of any kind. Wedging, centering, throwing, trimming, handles, attachments.
- Working out what went wrong. A crack, a warp, a collapse, a glaze that crawled.
- Glaze advice. What to use, how many coats, what goes over what.
- Checking your work. Whether it is dry enough, thin enough or even enough.
- Billing, accounts and level changes. Those go to a text at 385-241-5528, or to a pink shirt during class.
Stuck halfway through a piece at open studio. Save the question for your next open studio class, where answering it is the job. Or look it up in The Clay Hole University, 202 free lessons in the order a piece gets made.
The shirt colors
Three shirts on the floor. Three different jobs.
The color tells you who to ask. Pink and purple work the open studio classes. Baby blue works open studio time.
Main Instructors
One works the wheel side and one works the hand-building side. They open the studio, lead the room, show new members around on their first night and hand out shelf assignments.
Anything at all, including studio policy, membership and billing. They are trained far more deeply on all of it.
They are shared across the whole class, so a short wait for one is normal. A purple shirt can usually take a pottery question in the meantime.
Trade Instructors
Each one backs up a main instructor and spends the shift making rounds. While they are on shift, they are there for you, not for their own pottery.
Any pottery question at all. That is exactly what they are there for.
Billing, accounts, level changes or shelf changes. They will send you to a pink shirt, on purpose.
Open Studio Managers
They open the building, manage the room, help with clay purchases, enforce the studio rules, run the cleanup and lock up.
The basics of the room, buying clay and the cleanup checklist.
Anything about the pottery itself. No advice and no instruction, by studio rule.
The owner, the general manager, the studio manager and the creative team do not wear a set color. All seven roles are laid out on Who’s who at The Clay Hole.
Who to ask
A pottery question during an open studio class
Any pink or purple shirt.
A pottery question during open studio time
No one at open studio. Save it for your next open studio class.
Buying clay during open studio time
The baby blue shirt.
Cleanup during open studio time
The baby blue shirt, who has the checklist.
Studio policy, membership levels, billing, your account or your shelf
A pink shirt during class, or a text to 385-241-5528.
A problem, a dispute, or something too sensitive for a text
The general manager or the owner, one on one.
Before your first open studio
Five things to know before you use open studio time.
It comes later.
Your very first class cannot be open studio time. If you are new to pottery, come to two open studio classes first. If you already knew your way around clay when you joined, one is enough. By then you know the layout, the rules and the cleanup routine.
It uses a class.
Open studio time counts as one of your classes for the month, exactly like an open studio class does.
Bring a plan.
Come with something you already know how to make. There is nobody on shift to get you unstuck.
Everyone cleans.
Before anyone leaves, everyone pitches in. Ask the open studio manager for the checklist. It is a 5 to 10 minute job, and with no instructors on shift it only works if everyone does their bit.
Doors open 15 minutes before.
Not a minute earlier. The room is still being set up until then.
When you want instruction
Instruction lives in class.
Monday to Thursday evenings and Monday mornings, four instructors are on the floor for exactly that. Bring the question you saved from open studio.