Stay See Share /// Clay Coven
Clay Coven
For the last interview with Stay See Share series I chat with Kirsty, Lillian + Aimie from Clay Coven based in Leith, Edinburgh.
Kirsty, Lillian and Aimie met whilst all being members of the Edinburgh Ceramic Workshop and started chatting about their own space and what it would be. They don’t want to build a big commercial open studio, they want a studio that’s inclusive to all. They want to offer events, workshops and facilitation with a community focus and mental health workshops with clay.
When lockdown hit and they couldn’t get access to the open access workshop they had been using. So the coven jumped into action creating a makeshift workshop with one wheel in a family members shed! I love a shedio (shed/studio), it’s where the seed of Paper Houses Studio started out too. With the excitement of the idea starting to become reality they decided to do a Crowdfunder in order to grow and get a studio space in Edinburgh. I know how much effort goes into organising a kickstarter, the fear of “will folks back it”, as I done one a few years ago. Kirsty, Lillian and Aimie done brilliantly with their Crowdfunder, organising, promoting and running it all by themselves without previous experience of it. We had a pretty honest discussion about whether they would do another one. We were all saying though it’s a good way to connect with folks interested in your idea that actually there is so much to it so it would be a difficult one to weigh up if doing one in the future would be as suitable. After the Crowdfunder the hunt was on for studio space.
Image copyright to Clay Coven
The Clay Coven had a similar issue to I’ve had due to the location, finding a suitable but affordable space. In Edinburgh, like Aberdeenshire, renting property comes with a premium. But like Paper Houses Studio they were able to find a great starting space. They set up in Leith. Wanting the space to be accessible as possible for what they can get at this point in time. Developing the space, ripping up carpets and putting in sinks, was a learning curve which I could relate to very well. Your excited to get going but you need to get all the stuff sorted out before you do. However, at some point you just need to go for it and grow as you go. Clay Coven have already done some workshops since getting their space and have had great success with their firing service. This combination of services and workshops is something that sounds like it would work well especially when looking at planning in sessions to fit around other commitments. They also discussed how they would like to do workshops out in the community, taking a small wheel on the road. I thought this was a great idea, as it gets more folk in the community to know about the studio and what they do but you don’t just wait for folks to come to you but you go to them. This also ties in to being more accessible, as their space at the moment is upstairs going in to the community setting can take that barrier away.
At the moment the main income is via facilitation like firing folks work but they want to grow more of the art therapy and community focused elements. They are working with other organisations to do workshops for them but also now thinking about looking to see if there is any suitable funding available to grow this side of the workshop. We had a great chat about the pros and cons of going for funding but when it comes to testing things out or growing an audience or idea, I think funding is really vital support. Though it can be really scary, especially as a lot of work, research and writing goes in to applying for it and if you get knocked back it can feel devastating. Though when we were talking about this it reminded me of what Amy at Gaada had said, if it’s a no that time it might be a yes another time so apply again!
The conversation got on to how they were set up, business structure wise. At the moment like myself they are all freelance/sole-traders but a Community Interest Company (CIC) might be what they become in the future. Also like myself they felt they needed to test things out more and try their ideas before committing to such a big change. It was really good talking to a studio closer to the stage I am at. Being able to talk about challenges and idea that are facing us all at the moment. Just knowing that your ideas and concerns are legitimate is a comfort and confident booster.
Clay Coven Soap Dish Kit
Though this interview was the last as part of the Stay See Share project, I really feel that this is the start of what is coming. This research project has enabled me to have a network of folks running or developing studios with a community element. It’s given me a wealth of ideas to live test in the studio over the next year. I feel that this project is now moving in to the development stage, trying out these ideas, but also that I will continue these conversations with other studios and when possible, I’d love to visit all the studios I’ve talked to.
Read more from our Stay See Share blog series here - All the blogs. Plus keep an eye out for our video coming soon, sign up for the newsletter to be the first to get a sneak peek.