Costs Explained

Tuition

Tuitions are partially refundable, less a $50 administration fee if you decide to cancel within 24 hours of sending in your registration. A full refund can only be issued if a class is cancelled by the Academy, in which case you will be notified within 48 hours of the first session.

Tuitions are non-refundable for requests to unenroll 24 hours after submitting your registration.

The course durations are either 10 weeks or 5 weeks. Each class session meets once a week during the day/time for which you are enrolled. Tuitions are not broken down into individual classes, or prorated for missed classes.


CLAY PRICING

(per bag)

$50  White Stoneware

$50  Academy Red Stoneware

$75  Porcelain

 

FIRING FEE

10¢ per cubic inch 

Firing of the work is a necessary step in the process and gives permanence and strength. The BISQUE-firing is the initial step that converts the clay object to a ceramic one, stronger and safer to handle for the glazing process.

The GLAZE-firing is the final step and done at a much higher temperature necessary to give optimum permanence for everyday use, plus melt the glazes to achieve the desired final result.

Pieces that are shorter than 4 inches in height or width will be charged at a minimum of 4 inches.

Any work brought to the kiln room and placed on the shelf will be fired.

The Academy, unlike most other non-accredited institutions, does possess a gas kiln, albeit a small one, for REDUCTION-firing, which yields carbon trapping and bright copper reds, celadons, and other traditional effects. In the spirit of providing options, the Academy also has electric kilns for OXIDATION-firing, which typically yields bright consistent results.

Students must recognize that the kiln facilities here, while great, are finite, in other words, modest in size and scope, and that energy costs only increase over time. Students are asked to keep the sizes of any work within manageable dimensions. Factored into the firing fees is the care that is given in handling your work while in the greenware stages, handling/loading and unloading of work in the kilns, maintaining the many glazes, as well as labor in firing the kilns.

Current Promotions

$100 Firing Fee Credit Promotion

This promotion applies exclusively to students enrolled in our 10 week wheel-thrown pottery and hand-building courses. Students must attend the first 9 consecutive sessions of class plus attend at least 3 of their included open studio sessions in order to qualify for this promotion.

Options below may apply to some students, not all:

CARE FEE (Optional)

This fee is completely waived for all work that completes both stages of firing. Once work is placed on a board for the staff to carefully wrap, store and maintain for each student, a care fee is applied only if a student decides to discard their work after its been wrapped an maintained. This fee is necessary and is charged the cost of both bisque and glaze firings. Any student can discard work without this fee as long as it is discarded at the wheel and not placed on the table to be wrapped/maintained by faculty.

TRIMMING SERVICE (Optional)

The studio offers a trimming service for students. Trimming fees vary by piece and complexity and the price ranges from $25-65 per piece. Students can request to utilize this service. In cases where a student is absent during the last trimming class and will not be attending any open studios after the last trimming opportunity, the studio will automatically trim a student’s pieces for them at their cost. Any costs incurred for this service will be automatically added to their end-of-term clay and firing invoice.

DIPPING SERVICE (Optional)

We offer a convenient dipping service for those who cannot attend one or both of their glaze sessions to glaze their own pieces. This service costs $15 per piece for one glaze choice and $25 per piece for two glaze choices.

ATTENDING ALTERNATE CLASS OTHER THAN OWN (Optional)

We understand students may not be able to attend their designated glaze session(s) or another sessions where a demonstration is given. For those students who want to glaze their own pieces on a different class day (provided there is space available) or attend another class other than their own designated class session, there is a flat $75 charge for this convenience. This will be automatically added to their end-of-term clay and firing invoice.

CLEANING FEE (This is NOT charged to those who comply with our cleanliness standards)

What is unknown to many students are the potential health hazards of breathing in dusts from any of the materials in the ceramic process, whether it’s from the clay or glazes. We ask that students cooperate in complying with these measures.

Students are required to keep their tools and wheels neat during class and open studio. We ask students to comply with a few basic tasks to minimize the potential for any extra mess beyond what’s acceptable. 


For example, students are required to:

  • Wipe your hands clean before retrieving a bat and before and after opening your clay bag

  • Keep the top of your water bucket free of clay

  • Keep your wheel pans and work surfaces neat

  • Keep clay on the wheel and off the floor


Students are aware that a certain amount of cleaning is expected to be completed by staff. However, if a student creates more mess than expected, due to their forgetfulness or unwillingness to comply, they will be charged a cleaning fee at the end of the term. Academy staff keeps track of these occurrences at the end of each class where issues with compliance are documented.

If any student repeatedly fails to comply with the few things we ask them to do, they should expect an additional cleaning charge (marked as such) added to their end-of-term/firing fee invoice. The Academy takes matters of health and care to studio conditions very seriously, and in severely challenging cases, a student can be forced to withdraw from the class altogether, without a refund.

 

OVER-GLAZING FEE (This is NOT charged to those who glaze as directed)

Students are warned about the hazards of applying too much glaze to their work. Not only will the piece itself be compromised but also cause damage to an expensive kiln and its accessories as well. In some cases the hardened glaze requires the extra time and expense to manually grind off the excess in order to prevent a serious cut to the skin.

A $25 fee will be applied for each piece that is over-glazed. If a student’s work is severely over-glazed, they will not be getting it back after the firing. An additional $25-45 fee (depending on severity) will be charged if we must grind a shelf due to a student over-glazing their piece.

PACKING MATERIALS

If you need packing materials when you pick up your work during the open house, you can purchase a pack-up kit for $20. This includes sturdy bag(s) and/or clay boxes and a set amount of bubble wrap or newspaper. If you come in empty-handed and need packing materials, or need us to pack up your work for you, a charge of $20 will be applied for the convenience. If you are not planning on purchasing a pack-up kit, you should bring adequate packing materials so that all your pieces arrive home safely.