SBRANFPOTS@aol.com on mon 17 mar 97
Folks,
we too at The Potters Shop and School offer "unpaid" studio assistant
positions. They are designed and appropriate for those looking for studio
access, materials, instruction, etc. Individuals have to work a minimum of 6
hours a week and we both get a great deal. We get someone to help us out with
attending to much needed studio chores. The assistant gets a place to work, a
staff of professionals to help them grow as a potter, and a professional
studio and business environment in which they can have a valuable experience
to help them with their future career path. We do our best to not exploit our
assistants, we lay out all of the expectations and responsibilities as well
as understanding the reality of being able to take advantage of using the
facilities if one has a "real" job and other committments. We've been
offering this kind of experience for a long time and have many more greatful
alumni than not.
Steven Branfman
The Potters Shop and School
Dannon Rhudy on mon 17 mar 97
Steve, all,
I agree. Again. Many could not work at all if they did not have
access to such arrangements. It is not so easy if one has a)no
money for equipment and/or b)no place to put said equipment.
Besides, it hardly seems a problem - if you don't think it's the
right thing to do, then -gee, hate to be simplistic - DON'T DO IT.
Dannon Rhudy
potter@koyote.com
message----------------------------
.......Folks,
we too at The Potters Shop and School offer "unpaid" studio
assistant
positions. They are designed and appropriate for those looking for
studio
access, materials, instruction,......
Sam Cuttell on tue 18 mar 97
At 09:10 AM 3/17/97 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Folks,
>we too at The Potters Shop and School offer "unpaid" studio assistant
>positions. They are designed and appropriate for those looking for studio
>access, materials, instruction, etc. Individuals have to work a minimum of 6
>hours a week and we both get a great deal. We get someone to help us out with
>attending to much needed studio chores. The assistant gets a place to work, a
>staff of professionals to help them grow as a potter, and a professional
>studio and business environment in which they can have a valuable experience
>to help them with their future career path. We do our best to not exploit our
>assistants, we lay out all of the expectations and responsibilities as well
>as understanding the reality of being able to take advantage of using the
>facilities if one has a "real" job and other committments. We've been
>offering this kind of experience for a long time and have many more greatful
>alumni than not.
>
>Steven Branfman
>The Potters Shop and School
>
>
Most apprentices aren't this lucky!
We need to learn that "unpaid" does not equal "not compensated". I, for
one, would have loved to be offered the opportunity to exchange 6 hours
of labour for a full week of studio space PLUS instruction.
Keep up the good work!!
sam - alias the cat lady
Melbourne, Ontario, CANADA
http://www.geocities.com/paris/3110
Look for me at NCECA - I should be easy to spot. I wear long,
colourful skirts....
and, oh yeah; I have purple hair.
Tadeusz Westawic on tue 18 mar 97
Hi All,
I remember as undergrad in early 70's how frustrated I was that I could
not get weekend and other "off schedule" access to pot shop at Monmouth
College (now Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey). Other
students had such access, but I was not an Art major (Computer Science
and Mathematics '75). Although I received high praise (and grades) for
my clay work, I was discouraged from persuing pottery for a living. The
reason given was that a young male with wife and small child needs to
put family first. But I did get-in two semesters on wheel and two
semesters glaze chemistry.
Okay with me. I can easily see myself exercising this same divertive
influence on a youngster. I advise my art talented son to be an
electrical contractor so he can build a business, sell it, and then
become an artist. The view from middle age is just, well, different.
During the span of my computer career I built two wheels and two very
small raku kilns and never had the time to persue clay art. But Life
runs its own course, and we are the dancers, not the dance itself.
I came out of massive life trauma in mid 80's with new partner, her
children, new name and $20,000 cash. Everything else was ruins. I told
my love that I thought I had one more rainbow chase in me and would she
like to come along? She said yes without hesitation, this at a time when
I was by any measure, a "loser".
In '88 we arrived in New Mexico. I tried a few different things: I
worked a rehab agency, and I taught Mathematics. But these things didn't
work out. My bride, meanwhile, was finishing her degree at local
university. She and friend were running a raku one night when instructor
failed to show-up for finish, and she called me. We finished the firing
and I was hooked once again. The smell of burning sawdust and shredded
paper!
So, having learned "the hard way" to persue what I love, rather than
what is most lucrative, I decided to be a potter. I signed-on as a grad
student and lived in that studio. I was still teaching Math there, and
so it was somewhat easy to get keys to ceramic facilities as grad
student-faculty member. I got the "clay mixer" work-study but did much
more. I repaired kilns, washed equipment, kept inventory organized and
never missed an opportunity to put Fine Arts Chair on the spot by asking
for more work in exchange for more privilege. I dogged that guy for
instruction on firing kilns, and after a year he finally relented and
taught me. Six months later I was doing most ^10 reduction firings in
the gas kilns and student bisques in the electrics, and still mixing the
clay and anything else. I was not "kicked-out" when he did his saggar
work, either. I was a real pain in the ass, but it was the only way.
Two and a half years, lots of work, little money, and no regrets. I got
what I went-in for; the facility and the opportunity. I would have done
it for free. Hell, I would have paid for the opportunity.
So, my hat is off to those who "exploit" upstarts by working them for no
pay. Who put up with mismixed glazes, ruined kiln shelf, burned-out
mixer motors and the difficult adjustment to not having their own studio
to themselves in the wee hours, not to mention vapid tastes in
background music. God bless you all.
Tadzu
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