Pottery Studio Assistant

The Pottery Studio Assistant is responsible for making slipcast and slab formed pottery, finishing pottery to meet quality standards, and assisting with other studio tasks. The ideal candidate will be detail oriented and work in a clean and organized manner. Pottery Studio Assistants also assist the pottery program in fulfillment of wholesale orders and optimization of pottery making processes. Work daily on tasks relating to fulfillment of orders, and other duties common to the production of functional ceramics. Additionally, provide exceptional customer service to event attendees, students and walk-in customers, demonstrating good working practices and the dedication to craftsmanship required to be a successful studio potter. Must be available to work some evenings and weekends.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist the pottery studio in the fulfillment of wholesale ceramics orders according to production schedule.
• Produce wheel thrown, slip-cast, and slab formed ceramic pottery.
• Daily glazing of production ware, kiln loading, unloading, basic kiln maintenance.
• Clay making including mixing and pugging clay to keep clay level adequate for daily slab production and monitoring of casting slip.
• Produce standard production items, including both slab formed and slip cast pieces, according to production schedule determined by the Production Manager.
• Assist production manager with throwing preparation (i.e. weighing and wedging balls of clay) and finishing thrown pieces (i.e. stamping and signing pots, attaching handles, etc.)
• Mixing and sieving glazes for studio use, keeping glaze levels high for production and classroom.
• Complete basic ceramics studio maintenance such as cleaning and organizing of work areas, tools, and equipment.
• Monitor clay levels in-studio and greenhouse and pug/mix batches of clay as needed.
• Refine and implement processes under the direction of the Production Manager.
• Interact with walk-in customers, monitor open studio hours, host pottery painting parties and events.
• Complete weekly inventory count and help pack outgoing wholesale orders.
• Work efficiently, pay attention to detail and perform duties in a clean manner.
• Other duties as needed.

Requirements:

• 1-2 years of ceramics studio experience required
• Bachelor’s degree in ceramics preferred
• To perform this job successfully, an individual should have basic computer knowledge such as Microsoft Word, Internet Research and E-mail
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, stand, squat, bend, kneel, push, pull, reach with arms, and handle/feel objects. Must have the ability to lift up to 40 lbs.