How To Be A Studio Tech
Fridays, 10am-1pm
Want to take a peak behind the veil of a community studio? Our How to be a Studio Tech course offers you the opportunity to see all the work that goes into ceramics that is happening behind the scenes. In this class, students will learn how to load and program kilns, reclaim clay, mix glazes, perform glaze tests, and work with plaster. If you’re a potter who has always wanted to learn the skills required to be a technician in a community studio, or learn some skills for running your own personal studio, this class is for you. Class runs for 6 weeks with a class size of 6 students, taught by Paul Distelzweig and Tiffany Saw. A certificate of completion can be given on request, pending full attendance of class. This class does not come with studio access, and there will be no makeup classes.
Curriculum (Schedule changes semesterly due to studio/teacher availability):
Week 1: Reclaiming clay, plaster wedging board making and clay capturing
Week 2: How to make a glaze – measuring, mixing, sieving, measuring specific gravity and viscosity
Week 3: Anatomy of a glaze, testing, and glaze labs
Week 4: How to load an electric kiln for bisque and cone 6
Week 5: Kiln maintenance, diagnostics, error codes, troubleshooting, replacing thermocouples, replacing relays, and replacing elements.
Week 6: How to load a gas kiln, firing, cones and cone packs