I sometimes work at a community pottery facility close to my home. I have used it for quite a few years now, and it has been running for 23 years under the name of Artbase studios. Run by the council, it provided a warm, supportive environment to anyone who wanted to drop in and make a pot. There was no curriculum and no teaching as such, but if you wanted to know how to do something, skilled instruction was at hand. I once took a friend of mine who fancied having a go, and her quote perhaps best summed it up.
"This place is like something out of a dream," she said.
I couldn't agree more. What a magical place it is. There are professional potters, extremely skilled amateurs, people who've never tried it before and everyone in between. There are people in their twenties through to pensioners.
I have learned so much there, and would never have had the chance to experiment and grow in my own practice without it. I have made good friends and have grown as a person and a potter there.
Sadly, Salford council don't see it the same way and we are closed as of 29th June 2008.
We have formed a committee and a group under the name of Salford Community Pottery in order to try to continue autonomously, but at the time of writing, the future looks pretty bleak.
I'll keep you posted...
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3 comments:
jmbyngzElizabeth,
I am so sorry to hear of your pottery space closing. I can empathize so well with how you all must feel. It makes me teary to think of it. Why does government always thing the first place to cut a budget is the arts? Are they all that soul-less? Guess so. (And, yes, I can relate to how difficult it must be to juggles all the community needs when faced with the economics of modern life, but jeezely crow!)
Love your new heart key hanger but I REALLY love that glaze you so admire! It's yummylicious, as my granddaughter would say.
Thanks for the nice comments on my blog. It's always nice to hear from you.
Fond regards,
Michele
Okay, that weird string of letters was the word verification and I got my curser (curses!) in the wrong place....I am not having a fit. Really.
Hey Michele,
welcome back! Yeah it's sad about the pottery that's for sure... It's more than a place where people make pots really. Sounds soppy but there are a couple of older ladies that go that have been widowed and both said it was a lifeline to them at the time. How does a government quantify that? Pottery beats antidepressants for them that's for sure!
I'm not dependent on the place for somewhere to fire, but getting to know other potters has been great and I will miss our regular meetings immensely.
It's always great to hear from you too Michele, thanks for your positive comments!
If you're around and have the time, check out the new version of the glaze and let me know what you think!
Best wishes,
Elizabeth
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