Quick Links to Purchase the Educator Membership:
SIGN UP here for new members – use this link if you do not have an account, and want to purchase a membership and create a new account.
Or, RENEW your membership as an educator – use this link if you already have an account and want to purchase the educator membership for your existing account.
Studio Potter is an excellent resource for teaching ceramics, especially for teaching remotely. Designed for educators to use Studio Potter as a teaching resource in their classroom, the educator package includes:
- ONE login for your classroom that may be accessed by faculty and students
- UNLIMITED access for students, in the classroom or remotely
- ABILITY to save articles to a personalized reading list for easy future access
- NEW articles every month
- ORIGINAL content every month written by artists, historians, educators, and students.
- SAMPLE LESSONS using archived articles
- 8,000 PAGES of archived content, all accessible through your account
- ALL ONLINE content easily searchable by author, title, or key words
- A NEW SP Events Calendar of virtual ceramic events to help plan for weekly lessons
- OPPORTUNITY for your students to be published authors on studiopotter.org. Click here to read a published student article that developed out of a Studio Potter inspired writing assignment
The educator package is $95 for a full year of membership for you and all your students
Resources for Teachers
To use Studio Potter's archive of ceramic articles as a resource, click the search option on our site. That will allow you and your students to search for a topic, artist, region, or technique. The archive contains every issue of Studio Potter ever printed. That’s over 40 years of history.
You can frame a question for your students and send them to our site to unearth what professionals in the field have contributed on the topic since 1972. Also, remember that the printed journals are already organized by theme. To that end, it is pretty easy to use one journal as a topic parameter.
To get you jumpstarted on the search engine, why not form a question-making exercise with your students? How many thesis questions can your class create that would set them on a road to research within the Studio Potter archive? Such brainstorming is a great critical thinking exercise. They don’t even have to consider what the Studio Potter archive holds to create questions.
However, we’ll also put forth a few options here to get your brains rolling in the right direction. Some topics pulled from the survey we are running to gauge audience interest have included:
How has technology evolved in contemporary ceramics and what are the positive and negative implications? What do you think will be the financial and/or aesthetic implications on the future of contemporary craft?
A search of the word “Technology” pulls up 17 pages of articles and volumes on our site.
“Towards an Aesthetic of Digital Clay”
“Richard Burkett on Computers: Then and Now”
“Craft's New Tomorrow: A Case For Technology In Craft-Based Education”
Sustainability. We just ran an article by Robert Harrison, but the topic is an ongoing concern in our field. Have your students research what professionals have had to say about the topic and then encourage them to interview actual professionals who are clearly working toward sustainability and those who are bringing in materials that might raise an eyebrow. In particular, I’m thinking of work that uses resin and solvents. How are people factoring in, if they are at all, their carbon footprint in the creative process? Maybe you can even have your students take a look at the processes in place in your own department. Have them use the Studio Potter archive, artist interviews, and your institutional guidelines. Have them bottom-line the price point too. It could turn into a great economic exercise and create an opportunity to have them think about the cost of creating their own studio.
Politics of being a craftsperson in the 21st century and beyond. The hashtag #potteryispolitical is another ongoing conversation and in our survey comments were polarized on the matter. “Leave it out altogether,” rang out in equal measure with, “Give more time to the politics at play in the field.” What does it mean to be political as a maker? Is the act of choosing the life of a maker a political act, even if your goal is to make a really good useful object? Does a maker have a responsibility to use surface and form to carry a more blatant message? Again, the archive and artist interviews can work together, plus you can add in the history of art beyond the field of ceramics. Have them look at the works of Honore Daumier, William Hogarth, Frida Kahlo, Thomas Nast, or just tell them they have to find three examples outside of ceramics as well as examples within ceramics. The Studio Potter archive is just one piece of the puzzle.
Finally, assign them three random articles. Metaphorically, throw a dart at the wall. One parameter though, tell your students to choose from articles that are at least five years old. From the three articles, ask them to choose one and then continue the conversation by finding out how it has evolved. Ask them to respond to the topic from their lens. Your students don’t know all the “rules” yet. Your students have unencumbered vision and might find new paths for all of us to consider.
Additionally this article, Lesson Plans and Resources for Online Teaching, is avaliable for members. It includes ten specific ideas for remote lesson plans using Studio Potter that other educators have developed and used in their own classroom, listings of social media groups for ceramic educators, and other online resources for educators.
We've also published full issues on education: Education V46N2, Teaching & Learning V36N1, Education V16N1
Testimonials from Educators using Studio Potter in the Classroom
"As a group we explored the Studio Potter website and had discussions about the content. They chose to read and report about clay topics that interested them. Their responses were thoughtful and a joy to read. The Studio Potter is a vast archive of information and the students chose articles to read and discuss that I would not necessarily have picked for them. They learned more about ceramics research in a semester than I would have normally put into the curriculum. This semester has changed me. In the future, I will always have an online component to my ceramics courses. Taking the time to exposure my ceramics students to online clay culture is invaluable." – Anne Beyer , Adjunct Instructor , Paducah School of Art & Design
"With so many beautifully written real-life stories, articles, and tips instantly available to my students, they were able to keep their momentum going and continue to learn and think in new ways. The articles we read were relatable and relevant, and they helped students to learn more about topics such as the importance of critiquing their work, the connection between handmade pottery and homemade food (accompanied by an at-home baking assignment), and the use of ceramics for social justice, just to name a few. Any topic I wanted to introduce, I simply typed in the key words to the search bar, and a whole list of options appeared. I uploaded links to specific articles from the online journal to Canvas, and my students read and wrote reflections about them, one of which was even published in the journal’s May edition. So, while we weren’t allowed to get our hands dirty in the studio at the end of the semester, our minds stayed sharp and on task, thanks to this generous gift from Studio Potter. I am truly grateful." – Jill Allen, St. Joseph’s University
Frequently Asked Questions
How do we subscribe, or can I get my library, clay club, department to subscribe annually?
Click here to be taken to the sign up page. You don't need a paypal account to complete the transaction- paypal does allow you to check out as a guest.
Is this only offered to Universities?
This package can be purchased by anyone. We’ve designed it to be useful for educators of all types, including professors, k-12 teachers, community studio teachers, and more.
Can other arts organizations sign up for this?
Yes!
How do I give the students access?
Simply share your username and password with your students. (Don’t worry, the website does not save your payment info and students can not alter the password or other account settings)
How do I change my password?
The educator account does not allow a user to change the password, username, or any other account information. If you would like to change your password, please email membership@studiopotter.org to request the change.
How do I save articles to my "saved articles list" for students to read?
Your account comes with a feature to save articles, and view the “saved articles” list for later reading – or for sharing with your students. To add an article to this list, click “save article” in the top right corner of the page while you are reading an article. (The save option only shows up when you have scrolled down a page slightly). To view your saved articles, go to the “my account” page, or click this link. https://studiopotter.org/membership/saved-articles
How does a student subscribe after they graduate?
Students can visit https://studiopotter.org/membership/become-member and sign up for the individual membership.
Can my students' writing be published?
Yes! We publish student writing pieces regularly, and submissions are always welcome. Students do not receive an honorarium for their publishing. Our editor will work with accepted submissions to get the publishing-ready. Submit writing to Jill Foote-Hutton, editor@studiopotter.org, to be considered for publishing. Submission guidelines can be found here: https://studiopotter.org/about/write-sp
Is library membership available?
Libraries can subscribe through their subscription agency, or contact membership@studiopotter.org to sign up for a library membership. Library memberships include IP based access and username/password access for an unlimited number of users, and cost $120 annually.
Have a question we didn't answer? Contact membership@studiopotter.org.