Pottery Notes – Jones Street

WINTER WEEK 2 – January 13

STUDIO BUSINESS
Greenwich House Pottery Artists Exhibition – Call for Entries
Our spring exhibition in the Jane Hartsook Gallery will feature work from artists at the West Village and Chelsea studios. Please visit the office for a copy of the eligibility guidelines and entry form, then prepare to drop off your work between February 22 and March 2 during regular gallery hours. The opening reception will be on Thursday, March 13, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., in-person in the Jane Hartsook Gallery. 

Door Code
The door code for entry is 5-3-1. This code will only work during the hours that the studio is open. 

Glazing Grace Period: Fall Students Finish Up 
All work on the bisque shelves must be glazed and submitted for firing no later than Sunday, January 19 at 5:30 p.m. The bisque shelves will be completely cleared the morning of January 20; anything left on the shelves will be discarded to make space for new work regardless of individual students’ enrollment! If you have pieces left over from the pending cone ten firing due to our past gas line issue, please bring them to the cone ten shelf, or they will be subject to toss. 

Firing Slips are Essential
Staff will no longer be replacing firing slips that have been misplaced. If you lose a firing slip—for any piece for any reason—you will need to pay again for the firing and print a new firing slip.  

Please note that the firing system will allow you to pay for one firing at a time, so you will not risk losing any firing slips. If you wish to only pay for the bisque firing, simply select “None” in the glaze temperature box, and vice versa to only pay for the glaze firing.  

Welcome Sally
Please welcome our latest intern, Sally Hanks. Sally Joins us for a six-month intensive from Bennington College for three days a week shadowing our technician team. If you see her around the studio please say hello! 

GALLERY & RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Artist Talk: Gina Tibbott
Mark your calendars to join us on Tuesday, January 28, at 4:00 p.m. for an artist talk with recent artist in residence, Gina Tibbott. Gina Tibbott is a New York City-based artist whose ceramics practice is informed by her years working as a field archeologist. During her residency, Tibbott used Gisela Richter’s The Craft of Athenian Pottery published in 1923 as a jumping off point to create new work based on ancient forms. The talk is free and open to the public. 

In the Gallery: Soft Logic
Soft Logic features work from Alfred University’s 2025 MFA cohort: Erin Berry, Seowoo Choi, Sophie Gibson, Michelle Seo, Trae Story, Eva Tellier, Alvaro Villa, and Anna Wagner. On view through February 14. 

COMMUNITY EVENTS
Indoor Sidewalk Sale – February 1
It is time once again for our famous ceramic sidewalk sale. Invite your friends to join us on February 1, 12:00-4:00 p.m. at GHP West Village. Proceeds from this event will support operations at the Pottery. 

We would also love your help with this event. We need volunteers to help price and arrange pots, wrap work during the sale, direct traffic, and answer questions. Please visit the office to sign up or email pottery@greenwichhouse.org. 

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS: 

  • Ceramic Love Letter – a one-time family class for parents and kids. Saturday, January 25 at GHP Chelsea.  
  • Updating Ancient Surfaces – decorative techniques and materials with Gina Tibbott. Saturday, February 8 at GHP West Village.  
  • Valentine’s Day – are you or your friends looking for a special event with that special someone? GHP is offering wheel and handbuilding workshops on Friday, February 14 just for you! Details online. 

 

At-A-Glance Dates and Deadlines 

Through February 14: Soft Logic, in the Jane Hartsook Gallery
December 2 – January 17: Gina Tibbott residency
January 6 – March 22: Lizzy Chemel residency 
January 6 – 19: Glazing grace period
Sunday, January 19, 5:30 p.m.: Deadline to glaze or remove bisqueware 
Monday, January 20: MLK Day, GHP is open, and classes will meet as normal
Saturday, February 1: Indoor sidewalk sale at GHP West Village 

 

WINTER WEEK 1 – January 6

STUDIO BUSINESS 

Welcome! 
We hope that you had a happy and safe break, and we are excited to have everyone back! Whether you are a new or returning student, we ask that you carefully read the student guidelines for studio information and policies. Each week in class, teachers will read Pottery Notes, which contains all the studio updates you should know. If you miss hearing them read aloud, please check online or on the bulletin boards weekly to make sure you are aware of important announcements and deadlines. 

Door Code
The door code for entry is 5-3-1. This code will only work during the hours that the studio is open. 

Glazing Grace Period: Fall Students Finish Up 
All work on the bisque shelves must be glazed and submitted for firing no later than Sunday, January 19 at 5:30 p.m. The bisque shelves will be completely cleared the morning of January 20; anything left on the shelves will be discarded to make space for new work regardless of individual students’ enrollment! If you have pieces left over from the pending cone ten firing due to our past gas line issue, please bring them to the cone ten shelf, or they will be subject to toss. 

Studio Updates 
Our new radiators are in and working after a few repairs during the fall term. We are still calibrating the temperature settings and are aware it might be slightly too warm or too cool in different rooms during this process.  

Hot water will be restored imminently. The installation of a new hot water heater was delayed over the holidays but is expected on site very soon. You can create lukewarm water for throwing by mixing tap water with hot water from the temporary carafes on each floor. The temperature of the water does not affect the clay, and in fact, cool water will help prevent your hands and nails from drying out.  

Community Advisory Committee
GHP has reinstated our Community Advisory Committee. This group is composed of students and faculty, both long-time and newer to the Pottery from all disciplines of ceramics taught here. The purpose of the group is to help provide input and feedback as we move make studio improvements and face facilities challenges while powering into the next 100 years of art and advancement at Greenwich House. You will find a list of Advisory Committee members and contact details at the Message Center. 

Studio Sessions
You can book studio sessions to work outside of class time. Each session is 4-hours long, can be booked in your respective classroom, and costs $10 per booking. The session calendar and registration instructions are posted in each classroom. You can book your session by visiting the Current Students section of our website and selecting Register for Studio Sessions. Friday evening studio session reservations are $5! Pre-registration is required, and staff will check registrations during each period.  

GALLERY & RESIDENCY PROGRAM 

Exhibition Opening
The opening reception for the new exhibition Soft Logic will take place on Thursday, January 9, 5:00–7:00 p.m. Please join us to meet the artists and see work from Alfred University’s 2025 MFA cohort: Erin Berry, Seowoo Choi, Sophie Gibson, Michelle Seo, Trae Story, Eva Tellier, Alvaro Villa, and Anna Wagner. 

GHP Residency
Please help us welcome our winter artist in residence, Lizzy Chemel. Lizzy is a New York City-based artist who makes sculptures in ceramic, found materials, wax, bronze, and cement. She uses mold-making to combine unlike objects that draw from her curiosity about undocumented ancestry. Adopted from Southern China and raised in California, Chemel’s works are influenced by ancient Chinese artifacts, translations, and folklore, as well as memories and iconography of her American upbringing. Be sure to stop by the residency studio to see what she’s working on while she’s with us through March 28. 

You will also see Gina Tibbott working in our studios until January 17. Gina is continuing as a special break resident in December and January.  

COMMUNITY EVENTS 

Community Town Hall
Save the date for a zoom town hall on January 23 at 6:00 p.m. An invitation will be emailed to all students and faculty shortly. Please RSVP to receive the link to the meeting .  

Indoor Sidewalk Sale
Invite your friends for our semi-annual sidewalk sale, which will be on February 1, 12:00-4:00 p.m. at GHP West Village. Proceeds from this event will support operations at the Pottery.  

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS: 

  • Ceramic Love Letter – a one-time family class for parents and kids. Saturday, January 25 at GHP Chelsea.  
  • Updating Ancient Surfaces – decorative techniques and materials with Gina Tibbott. Saturday, February 8 at GHP West Village.  
  • Valentine’s Day – are you or your friends looking for a special event with that special someone? GHP is offering wheel and handbuilding workshops on Friday, February 14 just for you! Details online. 

At-A-Glance Dates and Deadlines
December 2 – January 17: Gina Tibbott residency
January 6 – March 22: Lizzy Chemel residency 
January 6 – 19: Glazing grace period
Thursday, January 9: Exhibition opening, Soft Logic, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. 
Sunday, January 19, 5:30 p.m.: Deadline to glaze or remove bisqueware 
Monday, January 20: MLK Day, GHP is open, and classes will meet as normal
Saturday, February 1: Indoor sidewalk sale at GHP West Village 

FALL WEEK 12 – December 9

Locker Renewals – Now Online!
Renew your locker for winter term by using this link, or stop by the liaison office this week. If you are checking out online, please be sure to select your locker location. This will reserve your current locker. If you would like to change lockers, or get a locker for the first time (i.e. not renew) please visit the office during the first week of class in January.

Shine, Shine, Shine
On the last day of your class, we ask that all wheel throwers deep clean your wheel, splash pan, and stool; handbuilders please each choose one community supply (e.g. sort and fold canvas, wipe down the rolling pin shelf, or clean the dried clay off of the threads of a slip container so that it closes smoothly). Every tiny effort makes for a better studio experience for all.

End of Term Business

  • Glaze, glaze, glaze! We’ll fire a lot of kilns over the break. Please focus on glazing during the last week of class.
  • As we come to the final weeks of the term, we encourage you to wrap up all work in progress. If you are unable to finish a piece before the end of the term and ONLY if you are returning next semester, clearly label it with your NAME and WINTER 2025 with the orange tape provided in the classrooms. Any greenware pieces found unlabeled over break will be reclaimed, no exceptions. Staff will be working hard during the break to prepare the studio for the spring term.
  • Check your firing log through the self-measuring system and settle any unpaid balances.
  • Clear anything unwanted from your class shelves and renew your locker. Any tool/supplies left on the class shelves will be reclaimed, donated, or discarded during the break.
  • If you were unable to glaze all of your pieces during this term, you can come in during the first two weeks of the next term to glaze any remaining work, even if you are not enrolled in a winter term class. This ‘glaze grace period’ will run from January 6 to January 19.
  • Slipcasters must clean, consolidate, and clearly label any molds or works in progress with your name, class number and “winter 2025” using the orange masking tape provided. You may only leave these items in the slipcasting room if you will register in a moldmaking class for the next term.

Winter Break Pickup Days
While the Pottery will be closed December 17 – January 5, we will be open 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. on the following days only for students to pick up work (no studio access):

Friday, December 20
Monday, December 23
Thursday, January 2

In the Jane Hartsook Gallery
Be sure to check out the exhibition in the gallery, The Things I Want to Tell You, with work by April D. Felipe, Andréa Keys Connell, and Kensuke Yamada. United by a passion for using figurative ceramics to tell stories about human connection, each artist engages a different aspect of the figure’s narrative qualities to playfully tease apart the more difficult parts of being human.

At-A-Glance Dates and Deadlines
Now through December 20: The Things I Want to Tell You Exhibition in Jane Hartsook Gallery at GHP West Village
Monday, December 16:  Final day of fall term at GHP West Village
Tuesday, December 17 – Sunday, January 5: Inter-term break
Friday, December 20, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.:   GHP is open for fired work pick-up
Monday, December 23, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.: GHP is open for fired work pick-up
Thursday, January 2, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.: GHP is open for fired work pick-up
Monday, January 6: GHP reopens for winter term at 6:00 p.m.