Class Logistics

• Arriving for class: Plan to arrive no earlier than 5 minutes before your class begins. This allows our instructors and staff time to prepare the space for you and ensures classes can begin on time.
• Cleanliness: We take cleanliness and safety very seriously at our studio. We expect all of our students who utilize our TC classroom work hard to maintain our cleanliness standards by following the cleaning procedures we use.
• Cell Phone Use: Please limit your cell phone use during class so as to not disrupt an instructor’s demonstrations or learning experience for other students. You are welcome to use your phone to take photos of your work or progress. We ask that you step outside the classroom to take calls. Please take photos only of you and your own work, not of other students.
• Guests: To ensure space and safety for all, guests are not allowed in the Teaching Center during classes or Open Studio.

Safety & Respect

• Inclusivity: We are committed to maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. We value inclusivity and kindness.
• Footwear: Close-toed shoes are required at all times in the studio. This protects your feet from dropped tools, clay, and other potential hazards.
• Hair & Clothing: Long hair should be tied back or tucked into a cap, and loose clothing should be avoided. This prevents them from becoming caught in moving equipment like the potter’s wheel or slab roller.
• Restricted Areas: Some spaces in our building are private working studios for other artists. Please enjoy only the Teaching Center spaces designated for TC student use, and do not enter any other areas unless invited.
• Nonsmoking facility: Smoking/vaping are not permitted anywhere inside our clay center.
• Safety: To ensure the safety and well-being of everyone in our community, firearms and weapons of any kind are strictly prohibited on our premises, whether concealed or openly carried.

• Clay Types: Only Laguna or Standard clay purchased from The Village Potters may be used in our Teaching Center classroom. Clay used in the classroom must also be from the “approved clay list” posted in the studio. We are a manganese- and barium-free facility.
  
• Included Clay: One 25lb bag of clay is provided with your class registration. Additional bags must be purchased from our gallery. Using more than two bags of clay per session will incur an additional firing fee (fee set per extra bag) to cover the additional firing and glaze costs.
• Firing Policy: Only work created at The Village Potters, during your TC class time or open studio, will be fired here. You may take work in progress home to complete (e.g., to decorate the surface of a piece you threw or built in class), but only work originated at The Village Potters will be fired at our facility.
• Scheduling: Firing schedules will be set by instructors and the studio manager. Every effort will be made to fire all student work so it can be picked up within two weeks after the final class.
• Firing Atmosphere: Our Teaching Center classes fire cone 6 oxidation unless otherwise specified in the class description.

Firing Disclaimer

The Village Potters Clay Center will take every precaution to ensure the safety of your work. However, due to the delicate nature of the craft and various unavoidable and/or unpredictable risks throughout the process we cannot guarantee that your piece will remain intact or produce a certain result. Risks include, but are not limited to:

• Cracking or breaking during drying
• Warping or distortion during firing
• Glaze defects or unintended color variations
• Accidental damage during handling or transport

By participating in our pottery classes or using our studio, you acknowledge and accept these risks. Although The Village Potters will attempt to complete student firings in a timely fashion, there is no guaranteed date or time frame when student work will be unloaded from kilns. Class participants will be notified when work is available for pick up.

• Independent Working: Open Studio is uninstructed work time in the Teaching Center classroom for our students. Students must be able to work independently to  take full advantage of this extra studio time.
• Access: Open Studio is only reserved for students currently enrolled in our Teaching Center classes.
• Reservations: Open Studio time must be reserved in advance, by using the online calendar link provided by your instructor (sent via email).
• Tracking Hours: Our students are expected to sign-in and out of Open Studio and log their used hours.
• Additional Time: More Open Studio time can be purchased. Extra hours are dependent on availability (dictated by things like how full our other TC classes are) and instructor approval.
  –   Extra hours must be paid for in advance.
  –   More hours, beyond the Open Studio hours included with your class registration, are not guaranteed.
  –   Additional firing and glaze fees may apply.

By purchasing a class registration, 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 $75 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. In the event of emergencies, we will work with you to find a fair resolution.
• To provide you the best experience possible in the class, we restrict our class sizes to only 12 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.

TVPCC 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 six 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.
• We reserve the right to have an equally qualified instructor sub-in for an instructor should that instructor be unable to teach a class.