Turning Earth Membership
Turning Earth membership is at the heart of what we offer - far more flexible than a class, and with access to more resources than in a home studio, it's the perfect mixture of the two.
With any membership plan you get your own personal storage shelf (approx. 90cmx45cmx45cm), experienced staff to fire your work, use of equipment and up to 30 litres a month set temperature firings. The only additional thing you need to buy is clay, which we sell on-site at affordable prices.
Membership includes anytime access during our opening hours, up to 15 hours a week. You can read more about our facilities here.
There are several different price structures to choose from, depending on the length of your contract, and how much you pay upfront. Our one-month-notice contract is just £245 per month(2-month minimum term), our 6 month pay-monthly contract is £230 per month, and our one year pay-monthly contract is just £220 per month.
If you want to get a real bargain, you can buy a block of months upfront. A three month membership costs £695 (so £232 per month), a 6 month membership costs just £1320 (so £220 a month), or you can pay £2550 upfront and get 12 months of membership for just £213 a month.
You can sign up for membership here.
Whether you’re looking to master your craft, or just put your hands in some clay and make something, Turning Earth will allow you to work at a pace that suits you. Come whenever works best for you, whether your free time is on a Sunday afternoon, or a Thursday lunchtime, or if it changes from week to week.
Turning Earth member Andrea Roman throwing. Image: Dunja Opalko.
Can I do classes?
Turning Earth holds regular classes. You can sign up for an 8-week course for £310, or a 12-week course for £470. Each class is 3 hours long.
What kind of technical support will I get?
There's always a mentor on site to advise members on how to use the equipment, and on the best way to carry out a project. This isn’t structured teaching, as such, but if you want advice on technique they’ll be happy to make suggestions. If you are a bit rusty, don’t worry, you are not on your own!
If you would like private tuition to learn a new process then you can get discounted tuition from Turning Earth mentors or technicians. This costs £27 an hour for one person or £40 an hour for two people.
Glazes are ready-mixed by our staff with test tiles so you can see how they will look on different clay bodies. Our studio assistants are on hand to pack the kilns, so you don’t need to worry about that.
Can I buy a membership for someone else?
Yes! Turning Earth membership and classes could make a great gift. Please just let us know the name of the recipient when you make the payment.
Can anyone sign up?
Yes, anyone can sign up, as long as they are responsible in the studio. If you are a complete beginner, we recommend you take an introductory class, but after that, you are welcome to become a member and keep practicing at your own pace. There’ll be people on hand to help you. Everyone has to start somewhere and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll improve.
Turning Earth membership is for people aged 16 and above. We cannot have younger children in the studio due to the risks inherent in using raw glaze chemicals, sharp tools, and electrical equipment.
Turning Earth is not set up to accommodate professional potters in the studio. Having one or more production potters in the studio would tie up our equipment and make it difficult for others to have access. We want to make sure that facilities are always available for our members whenever they choose to visit. If you are a full-time or professional maker wanting a fully equipped space to run your business then please look at joining In Production, our studio around the corner at 14 Argall Avenue. It has been designed especially for career makers as so many of our hobbyists have taken their practice to the next stage after spending time at Turning Earth.
What’s included?
Membership includes open studio, use of equipment, tools, and glazes, and up to 30 litres per month of standard temperature firing. Each member gets their own storage shelf (approx 90x45x45cm). More about facilities here.
Why a whole month?
Turning Earth offers monthly membership instead of hourly or daily rates because every piece you make goes through several steps and takes weeks to complete. You are given your own personal storage areas on-site to store your clay and work-in-progress between visits.
I’m a beginner. Is membership for me?
Turning Earth membership is for everyone—inquisitive beginners, off and on hobbyists, and experienced artists. There’ll always be someone on hand in the studio to answer your questions. But if you’d rather have something a little more structured, we run regular classes as well.
What else do I buy?
Clay is available for purchase at a discounted price. We also have basic tool kits and throwing bats available. If you want to add additional storage space, this can be bought for a small monthly add-on fee.
Why is there a limit on hours?
Turning Earth is set up for part-time use. This is how we keep costs down for everyone, because this way we can all get the cost benefits of hot-desking and equipment sharing. If we had full-time potters in the space it would tie up the facilities and it would give less value to our part-time members. For this reason, the maximum time a member can use in a week is 15 hours.
We don’t expect that all our members will want to use the studio as much as this. But even if you used it for less than half of that time, you still get great value from Turning Earth. If you come for 5 hours a week, for example, £185 a month still works out at around £12 an hour, compared to the £18 an hour of limited access you might get at other studios.
What happens if it gets really busy?
Our experience is that the equipment provided is plenty for the number of members, as people tend to come and go organically and use the studio at different times. However, on the rare occasion that all of our wheels are in use at a certain time, it would be useful if you could limit your use of that process to 3 hours. If this ever becomes an issue we'll purchase more wheels, but you’ll really help us out by being aware of it and being flexible.