The Clay Place Re-opens for Fall 2020!
 |
 |
| UVA IS EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THE RE-OPENING OF THE CLAY PLACE The Clay Place is the Umpqua Valley region’s only community Clay Studio! For beginners and lifelong learners (artists never stop developing!), we offer classes with instruction in a variety of ceramic techniques. For those with prior experience in ceramics, we offer a flexible open-studio schedule, with access to a full service ceramics studio, including electric and kick wheels, glazes, and firing. Our classes are open for teens and adults. After a lengthy closure necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now pleased to be opening our doors again, and inviting community members into our newly renovated studio space! Our studio space now features new lighting, new fans, new wiring, a fresh paint job, a new industrial sink, and some new shelving. We hope that you can join us for this fall semester, and become part of the thriving clay community that has grown up over the years at The Clay Place. As we have in the past, we offer two different registration levels: |
| 10-Pack (for those with prior ceramics experience, hoping primarily to utilize open studio hours): a 10-pack gives the registrant 10 blocks of studio use, or 20 hours of studio time. | Full-Pack (for those who have little prior ceramics experience and need instruction from our two highly knowledgeable Clay Place instructors; also suitable for those who plan to utilize a larger amount of open studio hours): a Full-Pack gives the registrant 35 blocks of studio use (or a total of 70 hours of studio time). |
| COVID-19 has changed some of our policies and the structure of our classes. In order to allow for social distancing, we must limit the number of people in the Clay Place at a given time. This means that our registration policies have changed slightly. Our two registration levels now guarantee a certain number of blocks of studio time, but registrants will need to sign up for the specific times they wish to utilize the studio. A sign-up sheet for specific blocks of studio time will be posted at the entrance to the Clay Place (outside the large orange door), starting the week of September 22. Registrants may sign up for all the spots they intend to use right away, or they may wait until later in the semester to sign up. The hours that the studio will open are listed below in this email. Those taking a clay class for the first time are encouraged to sign up for blocks of time on Wednesdays or Thursdays, when instructors will be present to help you with your ceramics goals! |
| Fall 2020 Studio Schedule September 30 – November 24, 2020 The Clay Place will be open the following hours: Mondays: Open Studio, 10am-2pm Tuesdays: Open Studio, 10:30am-2:30pm Wednesdays: Instruction and Open Studio, 3pm-7pm Thursdays: Instruction and Open Studio, 11am-3pm Fridays: Open Studio, 3pm-7pm |
WHAT’S NEW AT THE CLAY PLACE? |
OUR SPACE The Clay Place has recently undergone some exciting renovations! We have new lighting, a new industrial sink with hot and cold water, new fans, and new shelving, as well as a fresh coat of paint! These renovations would not be possible without the support of our community of volunteers, including both regular Clay Place artists and our Board of Directors. Please stop by to see our new space starting on September 30! |
THE CLAY POD The Clay Place now has its very own podcast, The Clay Pod. Bi-weekly, we bring you interviews with artists and educators from the region who work with a variety of ceramics media. The Clay Pod offers exciting and informative content! Our goal is to introduce you to strategies for ceramic creation that respond to the unique context of the Umpqua Valley region and its artists. Head to the Clay Place website to stream our first episodes! |
FALL 2020 FEE STRUCTURE We have a new fee structure for Fall 2020 at the Clay Place. These new fees take into account our commitment to paying our instructors and studio techs a fair wage for their expertise, and their increased responsibilities during the epidemic. It also reflects 10-Pack (Non-UVA Member): $135 10-Pack (UVA Member): $125 Full-Pack (Non-UVA Member): $235Full-Pack (UVA Member): $215 |
Our weekly themes, for those who will be attending on days when instruction is offered (recommended for beginners): Week 1: Coils, pinch pots, soft slab bowls and the physics and chemistry of clays. Week 2: Soft slab mugs, joining leather-hard slabs, hump molds, tiles, surface and texture. Week 3: Kick and electric wheel throwing; cylinders and under glazes. Week 4: Kick and electric wheel throwing; bowls; glaze theory and application. Week 5: Kick and electric wheel throwing; plates and glazes on pots. Week 6: More glazing, stains, oxide painting and larger pots. Week 7: More glazing, stains, oxide painting and larger pots. Week 8: Extruder, molds, coil and throw techniques and more surface decoration. Need to buy more clay, for your classroom or your personal use? The Clay Place is a distributor for Clay Art Center in Takoma, WA, and Ted Isto can order you clay, glaze materials, and other ceramics-related items at excellent prices! Contact UVA for details. The Clay Place also keeps a wide variety of clays in stock, so whatever you are looking for: chances are we have it, or can order it for you. |
| YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY ARE OUR CONCERN We are a community and your safety and health matter to us! Because the Clay Place is an indoor public space, cloth face coverings (masks) will be required in the studio, until such point as Oregon regulations discontinue the need for masks. UVA and the Clay Place comply with all state and local requirements for public safety in the pandemic, and will keep all registered artists apprised of any changes in studio safety requirements. We appreciate your help, and your support, in these difficult times. |