What's happening in the studio? October - December 2023
The front gallery is closing. After 5 years of renting the front, suffering a pandemic for 2 of those years, it has not produced enough income to cover the cost of rent plus employees to run it. We will miss the sunshine in the evenings that streamed in from the windows.
While we were fully booked ahead in our classes during 2021 & 2022, in April 2023 class enrollments & memberships came to a screeching halt and engagement dwindled to practically nothing, despite having finally hired a great team of employees : a teacher, a marketer, & a studio tech. We hung on through the summer, but when enrollments did not increase in the fall, we had to look the beast in the face and stop pretending the gallery, store, and studio would improve financially. Today, for me, it feels like January 2011 in Alaska. A recession. Time to scramble the eggs, role some dice, and see what shakes out. But, art is always the first to go when the budget is tight. So I think I know how this ends. Time to pull back on the reigns and button up the hatches. Keep our nose to the grindstone, of course. Hard work never ends.
If you have items to pick up from an event (ie: throw down, private lesson, classes) or from an activity that you attended (ie: paint your pot, party, memberships, etc.) then now is the time to get in here and pick them up, especially if we have called you in the past to notify you that they are ready. If you are expecting to pick up something but haven't received a call, please check in with us to see what stage your items are at. Please understand that the employees are no longer working for the studio after 10/31/23. You may have to leave a phone message or send an email to contact us. After December 2023, we will be disposing of items not picked up, assuming they are abandoned.
We will continue to produce pottery work in the back though, just as we a have since 2006. Our focus will turn towards production pottery to sell at fairs around Alaska. We will continue to create for wholesale accounts, as well as online retail or in person at shows. Besides that, its a good thing we didn't quit our day job of bookkeeping, cause now we need it more than ever to continue covering the rents as best we can.
We will be needing volunteers to help with some chores around the studio, like we have needed in the past. We will trade volunteer time for studio time. This position works from 5pm-9pm on Mon, Wed, Fri nights. This is a one-person position for this role, in trade for some studio time on the wheels to make your own work when the studio work is done.
CO-OP STUDIO SPACE: We are looking for a couple other potters who know the ropes of studio life to join our co-op studio group to rent the space and take care of the place. Everybody plays, everybody works, everybody cleans. Being a potter is heavy work that requires muscles, responsibility, financial stability, diligence, intelligence, ethics, healthy living, leaving it better than you found it, recycling materials, sharing it with others of a peaceful nature. A small knit community that works together to cover the costs. Please contact Jenny by email if you would like to inquire about this.
We will still have some tools & clay for sale for a bit longer, but you'll have to find us around the back with limited hours starting in January 2024. Contact us to make an appointment before heading over if you need clay and other stuff. We will take in other people's items for kiln firing on a limited basis.
The front gallery is closing. After 5 years of renting the front, suffering a pandemic for 2 of those years, it has not produced enough income to cover the cost of rent plus employees to run it. We will miss the sunshine in the evenings that streamed in from the windows.
While we were fully booked ahead in our classes during 2021 & 2022, in April 2023 class enrollments & memberships came to a screeching halt and engagement dwindled to practically nothing, despite having finally hired a great team of employees : a teacher, a marketer, & a studio tech. We hung on through the summer, but when enrollments did not increase in the fall, we had to look the beast in the face and stop pretending the gallery, store, and studio would improve financially. Today, for me, it feels like January 2011 in Alaska. A recession. Time to scramble the eggs, role some dice, and see what shakes out. But, art is always the first to go when the budget is tight. So I think I know how this ends. Time to pull back on the reigns and button up the hatches. Keep our nose to the grindstone, of course. Hard work never ends.
If you have items to pick up from an event (ie: throw down, private lesson, classes) or from an activity that you attended (ie: paint your pot, party, memberships, etc.) then now is the time to get in here and pick them up, especially if we have called you in the past to notify you that they are ready. If you are expecting to pick up something but haven't received a call, please check in with us to see what stage your items are at. Please understand that the employees are no longer working for the studio after 10/31/23. You may have to leave a phone message or send an email to contact us. After December 2023, we will be disposing of items not picked up, assuming they are abandoned.
We will continue to produce pottery work in the back though, just as we a have since 2006. Our focus will turn towards production pottery to sell at fairs around Alaska. We will continue to create for wholesale accounts, as well as online retail or in person at shows. Besides that, its a good thing we didn't quit our day job of bookkeeping, cause now we need it more than ever to continue covering the rents as best we can.
We will be needing volunteers to help with some chores around the studio, like we have needed in the past. We will trade volunteer time for studio time. This position works from 5pm-9pm on Mon, Wed, Fri nights. This is a one-person position for this role, in trade for some studio time on the wheels to make your own work when the studio work is done.
CO-OP STUDIO SPACE: We are looking for a couple other potters who know the ropes of studio life to join our co-op studio group to rent the space and take care of the place. Everybody plays, everybody works, everybody cleans. Being a potter is heavy work that requires muscles, responsibility, financial stability, diligence, intelligence, ethics, healthy living, leaving it better than you found it, recycling materials, sharing it with others of a peaceful nature. A small knit community that works together to cover the costs. Please contact Jenny by email if you would like to inquire about this.
We will still have some tools & clay for sale for a bit longer, but you'll have to find us around the back with limited hours starting in January 2024. Contact us to make an appointment before heading over if you need clay and other stuff. We will take in other people's items for kiln firing on a limited basis.