Potters' Club Membership and Obligations
Membership is renewable each four-month session which begin in January, May, and September. Dues are $80 per session.
Attendance at the first meeting of each session and a minimum of two of three subsequent monthly meetings is strongly encouraged. Members are expected to contact their committee chairs if they cannot come to a meeting. Meetings are held the fourth Wednesday of each month at the Champaign Public Library, room 215, 7:00 pm, except for June and December.
New members may join at the beginning of a session or at any other time with the consent of the president, and should contact the secretary or treasurer for payment due dates. Dues for the first term are $40 if the session is more than half over. New or potential members are invited to attend any meetings before they join the club.
New members are expected to have previous experience so they can work independently. Applicable experience includes completion of the Champaign Park District's beginning pottery class, experience working in another studio, or an equivalent. The minimum age for club membership is 18 years old.
The club consists of four committees, each with its own chair: Clay, Cleanup and Maintenance, Glaze, and Firing. Officers include President, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership, Webmaster/Listserv, Committee Chairs, and Special Programs Chair. Members help maintain the studio and club by working on one of the committees and/or by serving as an officer.
Members work at the club sale held annually at the Taste of Champaign and contribute ten percent or three pieces, whichever is greater, of their work each session for the sale. This is the club's primary fund-raising event and money raised from the sale is used to purchase and maintain club equipment.
Only Champaign Park District class students and club members are allowed to work in the studio.
Members with great skill are asked to limit their production to a reasonable level based on the available resources of the club.
Studio Operations
Identify all pieces on the drying shelves with your name or potter's mark and the date. After each monthly meeting, the drying shelves are cleared of unmarked pieces that are dated more than one month old. Bisqueware left excessively long on the shelves may be glazed and put in the club's annual sale.
Only members of the firing committee who have been trained by the firing chair can use the kilns. Please do not place anything on top of the kilns because the lids are very fragile.
Do not leave clay on the wedging table or plaster bats. Please wedge excess clay and place it in a storage container.
Please do not put lumps of clay into the slip buckets.
Place unwanted pieces to be recycled in the plastic containers under the wedging tables. Break them into smaller pieces if necessary.
Brush the slab roller and roll back the canvas after use. Please do not fold the canvas.
Clean the wedging table with a brush, sponge, and water after use.
Clean glaze spills with a wet sponge or mop.
Clean wheels and stools with a wet sponge. Sweep and mop the area around the wheel when the wheel is turned off. Turn off the master switch if you are the last person to use the wheels.
Wash bats and put them away after use. Please do not use the heat lamp on the plastic bats because it will warp them.
Please leave the studio cleaner than when you arrived.