My goal in founding Maryhill Open Artspace CIC was to provide craft facilities for long-term hobbyist use, create a welcoming community space, with charges that feel affordable and fair, to do this I have kept the facilities modest, and staffing minimal, and we operate to cover costs, not make a profit. We have successfully operated in this way now for two years.
My intention initially was to run very few courses and focus almost solely on untaught access, however the number of people happy to completely self-teach was limited, and the turnover of members has been higher than I expected, mostly due to our proximity to the university, so regular introductory courses have proven necessary to renew membership numbers (though we do have 24 members who have been with us over a year, and another 12 for more than 6 months).
We are currently in unsuitable premises for a pottery studio, and are also slightly tight on space, so in April last year I began searching for new premises, at the same time we were awarded £9K by Creative Scotland, thanks to our members contributing to a Crowdfunder, to cover the cost of relocating, and improving facilities. I want to dedicate 2 or 3 weeks each year to further fundraising activity, to include taster workshops and a pot sale, and money raised each time can go towards studio maintenance and improvements proposed by members.
The rest of the time it’s a deliberate choice to avoid running wheel ‘taster’ workshops as these would compete with members for use (and not add to membership), and a permanent shop or exhibition space would require too much management and staffing.
I was originally looking for premises near the current studio, but I struggled, and as our members come from across the West End and beyond, I started looking further afield. I plotted our members on a map to check the suitability of locations, and the new location in Downanhill is within walking distance of all members who currently walk, has parking for those who drive, and has better public transport.
We will hopefully be relocating in April (shortening our name to Open Artspace) and as well as improvements to storage and pottery facilities, funded by the Creative Scotland money, and proposed by long-term members, the new studio will include a separate classroom and small provision for screen-printing and jewellery. The separate classroom (and additional facilities) will allow us to diversify our course program, to cover the increased rent, and allow us to run kids-classes at cost, as it’s particularly important to me that all young people can afford to participate. As we will have much more storage capacity I would like to add a lower membership fee level, and I am also investigating an app entry system, with software for managing hourly access, which would allow us to be more flexible with access, I will consult with members on both of these things.