Membership Information
About Membership
New members are required to make a 6-month commitment. You must apply and interview by pre-arrangement.
Members are provided with Work In Process (WIP) shelf space, 24/7 access to the studio, and access to the studio materials and services.
The studio operates on the honor system and honesty is expected.
For updated pricing please contact the studio.
We are no longer operating a waitlist for membership. If you are interested in joining the Members' Studio, please read the following information carefully.
Joining the Studio:
In order to operate the Members’ Studio as a cooperative space that is taken care of by its members, we need to be certain that anyone we invite for membership has the necessary skills, commitment level, and studio practices to be a good member of this community. The best way to do this is to see people in our new Teaching Studio first.
For experienced potters interested in long-term membership in the Members’ Studio, you should first join one of our 8 week Open Studio series.
If you are still building experience, please start with one of our taught courses before moving on to open studio. If you are unsure which would course would be most suitable please use the contact form at the bottom of the page to ask. If the course you are interested in is full, please join the waitlist for that course. You will get an email when the next round of courses is scheduled so you can register before it is opened up to the public.
Our class list (including both taught courses and Open Studio series) is available here: https://buffaloclayartcenter.kilnfire.com/classes
We will maintain a list of interested people from our Open Studio series which we will review periodically. You can join this list even if you are not quite ready to be offered membership, so you can continue to take to build any necessary pottery or studio skills. Being on this list does NOT guarantee that you will be offered a space in the Members’ Studio.
As space becomes available we will prioritize people from this list who are:
- Willing and able to work independently.
- Engaged in active making and who have enough availability to make good, regular use of the studio.
- Have strong enough pottery knowledge and skills to ensure that work made in the members studio is going to have good outcomes without assistance.
- Conscientious, taking good care of shared equipment and tools and cleaning up after themselves meticulously.
- Agreeable, polite and cooperative – able to share space and work with others comfortably.
- Interested in contributing to and being a part of the BCA community.
We will also consider how long a candidate has been connected to the BCA Teaching Studio through classes, workshops and Open Studio series.
We believe this policy will help us continue to grow our BCA community in a sustainable way, while eliminating the long waiting list. It is never going to be perfect, because there is simply far more demand than we can meet, but our hope is that we can continue to refine our offerings in the Teaching Studio to allow as many people as possible to get regular time with clay!
Open Studio versus Members' Studio
Our 8 week Open Studio series in our Teaching Space offer some advantages over membership and may be a better long term fit for some potters – please don’t only consider it a stepping stone for joining the Members' Studio. Please feel free to get in touch with any questions.