Rules, Policies and Considerations

  • Manhattan Youth is not responsible for the loss or damage of work or personal property.

  • Please be respectful of other students' work and space. 

  • Each student is given shelf space. Please keep your shelf organized. Please finish pieces so they don’t accumulate. Studio tools and molds are not to be stored on student shelves. Boards should be kept to a minimum. 

  • You must be upstairs and out of the building by the end of class.  Plan you time accordingly to include clean-up 20 minutes prior to end.

FULL SESSION POLICY

WITHDRAWALS & REFUNDS:  If you decide to withdraw up to one week before the first class you may receive a refund for the class fee’s (tuition plus firing deposit) minus $100. ONE WEEK PRIOR AND After the first class (before the second) you may receive a refund with a deduction of $200 from full tuition. After that point there are no refunds available.    

MISSED CLASSES: We do not issue reimbursements or provide make-up classes for those missed due to student illness or other circumstances that fall outside the Centers control. You may not attend another class as an alternate make-up class. We do not pro-rate for missed classes. We encourage you to make up your missed time during the numerous open studio sessions.

If you are not continuing to the next session, no wet clay 2 weeks prior to you last class so you can complete the process of firings and glazing. Summer sessions we clean out the studio. 

  • If you aren’t finished and need an additional session there is a $35 fee per open studio day.

4 WEEK WORKSHOP POLICY

WITHDRAWALS & REFUNDS:  If you decide to withdraw up to one week before the first class you may receive a refund for the class fee’s (tuition plus firing deposit) minus $100.  After that point  up until the first class (before the class) there is a refund of your tuition minus $150. After that there are no refunds available.  

Workshops 4 weeks  MISSING A CLASS  There are no makeups   

ALL SESSIONS AND WORKSHOPS
 CANCELED CLASSES If Manhattan Youth has to cancel a class due to weather, emergencies, etc. we will schedule an extra open studio during that semester exclusively for students who are enrolled for that particular class. 

Clay

  • Please use recycled clay before opening up new boxes

  • When taking fresh clay make sure to close clay bags securely and return bag to the proper place. Do not leave studio clay out on the tables or wedging board.

  • Be mindful of clay usage. Keep scraps wedge-able when possible. 

  • Slip and trimming scraps go in the slip bucket for white or mocha clay. There is also a bucket for bone dry clay. Leather hard clay may be dried until bone dry to be recycled or placed in a plastic bag with water to become re-wedgeable. 

  • Your fee covers low fire clay cone 04 white, bone white and mocha.

Glazes

  • Please use glazes judicially. 

  •  Make sure the lids are on securely. Keep jars clean, especially lids.

  • Be careful not to get glazes mixed with other glazes.

  • Please read the jar for application. Some glazes require special signage in the glaze room – particularly glazes that contain copper!

  • Glazes are not always reliable, the nature of the material and application do not guarantee success or replication of prior results. 

  • If the bottom of your pieces are not thoroughly clean we will not fire.

  • If you have a particular reason to stilt your piece you need instructor permission. 

Clean up

  • Give yourself enough time to totally clean up so you can be out at the end of class. Evening classes and open studio – out the FRONT BUILDING DOOR by the end of class.

  • Pottery Wheels- At the wheel, while the tray is still on, clean as much as you can and put slip from there into bucket, then proceed to clean rest of wheel. Excess clay/slip should go in the plastic bin in the sink.

  • Boards, tools and bats should be cleaned leaving no traces of glaze or clay. Return everything to its proper place.

  • Clear your area, leaving no glaze, clay, tools or bats on any of your work surfaces. Check your area before you leave.

  • Excess slip put in bucket not sink.

  • Bats should not be used for long term work storage. Remove pieces from bats as soon as possible.

  • Please keep studio cleaner than you found it.

FIRING FEE POLICY- PLEASE NOTE MINIMUM FEE IS $45 (NO ROLL OVER )

  • Initial minimum non-refundable fee of $45 with registration. Cost per piece is .06 cents per cubic inch.

  • If that minimum fee is used up you will be notified when your credit card will be charged for the additional work. If you have no card on file payment is due before second firing.

  • Firing fees are calculated at a rate of .06cents per square inch, plus a flat fee of $.50 for handles. 

  • Pricing will be rounded UP to $.0050 Example: item $2.215 (or below) the cost will be $2.21 if its $2.216 (or above) cost will be $2.22. 

  •  Minimum fee for firing is $1.00. 

  • Small flat pieces can be stacked up to 6” and measured as one. If they will be glazed on both sides and stilted you need to get an instructor signature and there will be an extra charge. 

  •  The fee is for both bisque and glaze firings.

  • There is an additional fee of $1.00 per piece for stilts

There will be a measuring box for you to easily measure your ware (height, length and depth) and a calculator to compute the fee (height x length x depth x .06cents). 

  • Each individual ware to be bisque fired will need a slip either underneath or inside it. 

  • For glaze firing fill out a white slip with date (no charge).

  • For additional firings (3rd) you will need another ticket to be priced again****

  • The monitor stacking the kiln will collect the tickets. We will track the fees you use – you can track them as well if you like. 

  • We will double check size and charge and correct if necessary.

No work will be bisque fired without a ticket.

**** If your piece has been underfired or placed in the kiln touching another piece of pottery we will re-fire with no extra charge. Your instructor will inform you.  Any application issues (glaze applied too thin or thick), you are unsatisfied, glaze didn’t come out as you expected, dripping, etc.) you will have to fill out a new slip to pay for re-firing .