Teaching Center Policies & Procedures

If you are a visitor, student, resident potter, apprentice, or leaseholder with The Village Potters Clay Center, you must read the following and comply with what is required in areas that you occupy.

Policies & Procedures

(UPDATED March 2024)

Please Read Carefully Prior To Class.

Use this as a guide and reference for classes and open-studio policies. This is a multi-faceted facility that succeeds due to everyone’s respect for these policies. We encourage you to explore the various learning opportunities we offer.

Important Safety & Health Guidelines:

We follow all of the latest CDC guidelines regarding COVID-19 for public spaces and education centers. Please refer to their website for adherence.
Masks are optional. Please respect those that choose to wear masks. We do not know everyone’s personal lives and health circumstances.
Please refrain from coming in if you have symptoms of COVID-19, cold, or flu. If you have other viral-like symptoms we ask that you stay home or wear a mask.
If you experience symptoms of COVID-19 or flu while in the studio, please leave. You and your instructor can discuss making up missed class time.
Wash and sanitize your hands frequently.

Other Important Facility Information:

Our facility is wheelchair accessible via a ramp entrance at the Gallery.
During daytime classes, please park across the parking lot and not directly in front of the building.
Please enter and exit the teaching center through the double orange doors to the left of our gallery entrance.
Doors may be unlocked up to 10-15 minutes prior to class/workshop time.
Report any problems or concerns to your instructor or to a member of The Village Potters.
Public Bathrooms are to be used and located down the hall from the classroom. Follow signs.
No cell phone use in class unless you are taking pictures of pots.
Only students enrolled in classes may sign up for the open studio time.
Ask before you use a piece of equipment that you are not familiar with.
No smoking in or outside of The Village Potters.
Because of space and liability issues, guests are not allowed in the Teaching Center during classes or Open Studio.
Open Studio access must be signed up for in advance using the online calendar link via Calendly. Your instructor will email the sign up link to you. If you need to cancel an open studio time that you signed up for, you may do so in your Calendly confirmation email for each specific time slot.
Please label all your tools and clay with your name so they can be easily returned to you if they are misplaced

Cancellation Policy:

When registering for a class, you agree to the following cancellation policy:

Student Cancellation

Cancellation before 30 days to the start of class, students have the option to transfer their registration to a different class, receive a credit on their account equal to the value of the class to use for a future class within six months, or receive a refund (minus a $50 administrative fee).
Cancellation within 29-15 days to the start of class, students will receive no refund, but will have the option to transfer their registration to a different class, or receive a credit on their account equal to the value of the class to use for a future class within six months.
Cancellation within 15-0 days of the start of class, students will receive no refund and are ineligible for registration transfer.
To provide you the best experience possible in the class, we restrict our class sizes to only 10 registrants. By registering for a class, you understand you are making a commitment to the instructor and reserving a spot that someone else could potentially take.

The Village Potters Clay Center Cancellation

In the rare event that a class is canceled by The Village Potters, students will be given the option of transferring their registration to a different class, receiving a credit equal to the value of the class to use for a future class within six months, or receiving a full refund.
A minimum of 6 students is required in order for a class to run. If fewer than six students have enrolled, the instructor will reach out to each registered student a week before the class begins. They will provide an update on the situation and inform them of the specific day when a final decision will be made regarding the class status.

The Village Potters Teaching Center Policies and Procedures:

Everyone using the teaching classroom must cooperate in monitoring the space and following the procedures outlined in this guide in order to keep the program functioning smoothly.

Health and Safety:

Please refer to Important Health & Safety Guidelines at the top the page for COVID and masking protocols.
Close-toed shoes must be worn in and around the studio.
Cover all open cuts, especially on your hands. If you have open cuts on your hands, please wear gloves when working with glazes. Gloves are not provided.
No eating or smoking in the teaching center classroom.
All spills should be sponged / mopped immediately. A wet floor is a safety hazard.
Hair must be tied back or held back in a cap. Loose clothing must not be worn. Long hair and loose clothing might get caught in revolving parts (potter’s wheel or slab roller).
You must be fully instructed in the use of all equipment before using it independently.

Conditions of Community Teaching Center Classroom:

The room must be mopped after each class session and after your Open Studio use.
All tables, wheels, and the walls next to equipment must be wiped with wet sponge after use.
Clay scraps must be deposited in the designated areas.
Throwing slip must be placed in the appropriate bucket or poured outside, NOT poured down the sink. Everything should be dumped or cleaned over the buckets in the sink- nothing goes directly down the drain or placed in the sink if there is clay on it.
Student work is to be placed on assigned shelves marked for individual work:
- Works in progress must be stored on your designated shelf – Students should not allow their materials or work to cross the line on the shelf & should ask for assistance moving things that encroach on their designated space
- Greenware work that is ready for bisque has a designated shelf. Students must place their work there. Instructors will not assume dry work on your shelf is ready for bisque.
- Glazed work has a designated shelf. Make sure the bottom of all work is cleaned. Position work on the shelf so that it will require little or no moving to add other work.
Sinks should be wiped out at the end of class and open studio time. Do not leave tools or equipment in the sink area.
All tools, water containers and so forth must be cleaned and put away.
All bats are to be cleaned for next use and returned to the proper storage place after class and open studio. Bats cannot stay on student shelves.
Students can store pots on one ware board on their shelf at a time.
Instructors must ensure the door to the Raku / clay slop area is closed securely at the end of each class.
Mop the floor! No sweeping. The instructor/TVP personnel will dump mop water outside.
No tools should be left out in the teaching center.
In short, leave it the same condition or better than how you found it!

Wheels:

Wheel heads and splash pans must be cleaned after each use.
The floor around the wheels must be cleaned of any spatter or water.
Wheels are to be turned off after each use. If needed, please unplug ANY equipment by firmly holding the plug – do not pull from the cord. Place the cleaned splash pan back in place and the stool upside down on the table. Place your foot brick and pedal on the wheel ‘table’.

Glazing:

Glazing can only happen when an instructor is present.
Glazes must be sieved and stirred prior to use.
Glazes must be applied by brushing or dipping, unless otherwise stated by the instructor.
Wearing gloves is highly recommended, but not required or provided.
Check pieces to make sure glazes are wiped off the bottom before placing your work on the glaze cart. Work must not be “over-glazed.” If you are unsure, ask your instructor.
Clean up the glaze area when finished. Rinse all brushes, bowls, pouring cups, stir sticks, and so forth and return them to their proper places.
Make sure the glaze names on the lids match the names on the buckets. Work only from one open bucket at a time to avoid cross-contamination.
Inform the instructor if a glaze bucket is empty, low, or becomes contaminated.
If you think a glaze is too thick, ask your instructor about it. Do NOT thin out a glaze.
Make certain that all equipment is thoroughly cleaned of glaze before returning it to the proper storage area.
Wipe with a wet sponge all table and wheel surfaces.
Mop the floor!

Kiln:

Instructors and studio apprentices are responsible for firing student work.
Instructors and the studio manager will establish a firing time for your class.
Students are not allowed to load or unload kilns.

Clay:

Only Laguna Clay provided or purchased from The Village Potters may be used.
One 25lb bag of clay is provided with class registration. Additional bags must be purchased in the gallery. If you purchase more than a second bag of clay you will be charged an additional $45 fee for additional glaze and firing costs.
Hand grinders and Dremel tools can be used to remove dripped glaze from pots after safety instructions have been given by the instructor.
All grinding and sanding must occur outdoors. Proper breathing and eye protection must be worn.
No work made outside of class may be fired at the teaching center. You may take works in progress home to complete, but only work originated at The Village Potters will be fired.
For beginner classes, any work over 8” in any direction will be bisque fired on a space-available basis. Firing of oversized work may be delayed until there is room in a kiln. Such pieces may incur additional fees for glazes and glaze firing in the following increments: 8-10” = $5 fee, 10-12” = $10 fee, 12-14” = $15 fee. *Large work must be discussed with the instructor; size constraints will be determined at the discretion of the instructor. No student work may exceed 14” in any direction.
Follow instructions when using the slab roller. Secure loose clothing and hair to reduce the chance it will get caught in machinery.

Open Studio:

Open Studio access must be signed up for in advance using the online calendar link via Calendly. Your instructor will share that sign up link with you.
Open studio gives priority to the first to sign up on the calendar link.
If you accidentally sign up for the same time slot twice or need to cancel an open studio time that you signed up for, please open your Calendly confirmation email and cancel each specific time slot as far in advance as possible so that it can become available for someone else to sign up.
Please note that if you show up late for your reserved Open Studio time it still counts towards your hours (i.e. if you reserved a spot 10am-1pm and you come 11:30-1pm, it still counts as 3 hours since a spot was reserved during that time).
Depending on the class registered for, each student will receive 8, 12, or 16 open studio hours with each class session. Open Studio hours are posted in the studio and information is on the sign up link (unless a special event necessitates cancellation).
Students who miss classes may only make up two missed classes (up to 5 hours) in Open Studio. When possible, arrangements with your instructor may enable you to make up a missed class by attending a different class date.
Open Studio is not an instructed session, so students must be able to work independently to take full advantage of this extra studio time.
If a student uses all of their allotted hours of Open Studio before the end of a class session, the student can have their instructor request additional on their behalf. If permission is granted, the student can purchase the approved hours for $10/hour in the gallery. Students are not guaranteed additional Open Studio hours.

Class Cancellation Policy:

Whenever possible, classes will be consecutive weeks. If holidays fall on class days during a session, no class will be held that day and it will be stated in the class description.
If weather or other circumstances require The Village Potters to cancel or postpone a class, students will be notified with as much notice as possible. A makeup class day will be coordinated and announced by your instructor.
The Village Potters weather closing policy typically follows that of Asheville City Schools. If you are unsure whether or not you have class during inclement weather, please contact your instructor.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these policies and procedures, please speak with your instructor or contact us via email or phone.