What’s in the Value of a Membership!
We have memberships at our community pottery studio! These memberships allow locals to access the studio space to create work inside or outside of our store hours. Members get a personal key code to enter the studio between the hours of 6am-10pm! What else does a member get?
Membership Benefits!
8-50 hours/month of open studio time
Buddy pass (to bring a friend once a month during store hours)
Free recycled clay
Ability to use the space for remote work or hanging out
Fresh commercial clay from KY Mudworks available to purchase
Amaco glazes & underglazes available to purchase
Wheel throwing area
Hand-building area
Glaze room
Dipping glazes
Basic tools
Some specialty tools
Community events
Pop Up Markets
Ability to sell in our retail space
Dedicated storage space
Studio tech aid
Sometimes folks come in the studio and look at the pricing of memberships. The response we normally get is “Oh, so it’s $XX per hour.” You COULD think about it that way, but it’s missing a huge chunk of what the membership includes, so no, it’s not as simple as an hourly breakdown. Let’s look more fully at what goes into all this stuff!
The biggest impact (and what makes the studio possible) is a lot of manual labor on behalf of a studio tech.
What does a studio tech do?
Here are all the behind the scenes tasks that keep the studio open and available for members.
Clay recycling! (Checking on water content, manually breaking down chunks, stirring reclaim, drying, wedging ~50 pounds per week)
Studio cleaning! (Wiping down shelves, cleaning windows, sweeping, plant upkeep, moping, bathroom upkeep, sink refresh, etc.)
Mixing glazes! (Confirming consistency keeping them blended so they don’t settle, making test tiles, making glaze walls, etc.)
Making glazes! (Keeping up with inventory, creating new glaze recipes, testing glazes, etc.)
Kiln Loading! (Keeping your precious creations as safe as possible for bisque and glaze firings)
Kiln Repair! (Grinding shelves, refinishing shelves, chiseling out glaze disasters, salvaging cookies, ordering kiln supplies, element upkeep)
Retail! (Keeping shelves clean and organized, updating inventory, ordering packing supplies, writing out member checks)
Inventory! (Keeping up with clay ordering and other studio needs like toilet paper!)
Answering Questions! (During our open hours [Wed-Sat 1-5] you’re able to ask questions and get help on your projects)
This doesn’t include the other things that get managed at the studio like our electricity bills, general supply ordering, class scheduling, accounting, repairing wheels, internet, phone, scheduling private lessons, taxes (ew), prep work for classes, etc! Are you dizzy yet!?
When we look at memberships, it’s our goal to keep them as affordable as possible considering all these other factors (physical labor and bills) that get rolled into the expense of keeping the studio open for members!
Let’s pull back the curtains on the studio expenses! We calculate membership costs based on 2/3 of the overall load of the studio. The other 1/3 is accounted for by classes and private lessons! Retail pottery sales are our “profit” and are what allow us to buy new glazes, extra features, and keep costs as low as possible. Hopefully someday our retail sales will also allow Kay to pay herself (lol), which would be amazing. Kay is obviously in it for the love of the game, but she cannot work pro-bono forever. Kay & Matt want to have some little beebs and less financial strain at home! This means she needs a real job (*insert crying emoji).
This is where the numbers game starts to really show up.
So how much does it cost to run a community pottery studio?
This answer is super variable depending on geographic location, studio size, employees, rent vs. mortgage, all that good stuff. We’re in Northern New Hampshire (Gorham), so our bills are probably lower than something you might find in Portsmouth or Boston. We do rent, however, which does make our costs higher than a lot of other spaces.
You also have to think about how much you want to get paid. Most studio techs are going to make anything from $15-$40/hour. At our studio, Kay is the main studio tech, and she’s chosen NOT to draw a salary while the studio is getting settled. This isn’t possible for everyone, so how do you pay for studio techs when you can’t foot another bill? Another way to help with studio costs is to trade! If someone wants to recycle clay, maybe they get some extra hours in a month. Some studios offer work-trade where members will commit to a task in exchange for their hours or a reduced membership cost. It’s not possible for every member to do this as community studios have to pay bills no matter what, but it might be something to consider if you’re struggling with the number game!
We have around $3000-3700/month in bills and wages (this varies depending on electricity, repairs, classes, and supplies) each month. Simply dividing our bills by our memberships isn’t really an accurate way to share the load. Instead, a 70% portion of the cost is divided by our 20 membership spots.
Here’s the rough breakdown of how we’ve calculated membership costs per dabbler member per month:
Utilities & Rent - $65
Tech Hours - $25
Repairs & Supplies - $15
TOTAL: $105 / Dabbler
Utilities include things that allow us to operate like electricity, phone, website, printing, wifi, and insurance. Our insurance is pretty high, for example, because our members are able to be unsupervised. Our electricity is also pretty high if we’re firing the kiln pretty often. Supplies occasionally get broken or worn out. Last month we lost three wire tools, four sponges, went through a fridge of bevies, added a new stamp, and finished off a glaze. All these things get rolled into how much the studio costs!
If you’re looking at these numbers and saying, “Wait, I pay less than this every month.” You’re probably right! Our goal is to make the studio as accessible as possible without compromising the ability of the studio to keep moving forward, hosting member events, and exploring new facets.
Once you join as a member, you’re in at the price you’ve committed to. If you choose to alter your membership, cancel and return at a later date, you’ll come in at the current membership pricing. Obvious disclaimers: other community studios might operate in different ways.
SO when you’re looking at your membership and figuring out where the value lies, think about it in its full scope! There’s SO much that goes on behind the scenes to keep the space active and ready for you to make some amazing creations. The beauty is that while you’re making, you don’t have to think about any of this.
We’ve got it covered.
Just come, exist, and create something that brings you back to the present.
