June ‘21: Survey Results, Board Recruiting, and more!
Originally Posted May 27, 2021
A heartfelt thank you for your thoughtful responses to our Community Survey. We received over 500 responses(!) and are overwhelmed by your generous offers of time, skills, and support.
As I read through the responses to the survey, some trends stood out:
41% of you get to the studio by car, but proximity to public transportation was a frequently recurring write-in request.
The most important aspects of Pottery Northwest were location & programming; moving to a location outside of Seattle was not a popular idea
More classes and more beginner classes specifically
Better physical accessibility within the studio spaces
While our location options in Seattle are limited to what is currently available for lease, we are taking your feedback to heart as we plan our upcoming move and as we look further into the future in hopes of a more permanent location. We are searching for approximately 8000 square feet of space and are following up on possible locations in two different areas now.
The survey has also driven home how we’ve not done a good job of communicating about certain things. A few specific examples are board service and scholarships.
Board Recruiting
As a non-profit, we are always seeking passionate and engaged volunteers to join our board of directors and work together with our staff to strengthen the organization and cultivate our community
There is a three-year term commitment (with a maximum of three terms)
We have a rotating, 1-year term student representative board position
We also have a rotating, 1-year term artist-in-residence representative position. We plan on reimagining this relationship to include more resident voices and deeper collaboration.
More details and the nomination form can be found at https://potterynorthwest.org/call-for-new-board-members/
Scholarships
We have two existing scholarship options available for classes, monthly studio access, and clay. The first is a financial need-based scholarship and the second is a fellowship for artists and students from communities that are underrepresented and under-resourced in the arts. This includes but is not limited to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and religious or cultural minorities.. We continue to refine these programs as we learn more about what resources are needed by the community.
Apply at https://potterynorthwest.org/scholarships/
Additional updates
Our organizational assessment has been completed by Carmen D’Arcangelo of Valtas Group and we are starting to digest the information that has come out of that. The assessment is intended to help guide our executive director search and conversations about current and future priorities to help Pottery Northwest achieve its mission and live its values in the most equitable way. On a related note, we have formed a small working group made up of staff and board members tasked with re-evaluating our mission statement with input from students, residents, and other community members.
We have engaged with a company called Bambee to function in the HR generalist role and to conduct an audit of HR practices. They are currently reviewing our handbooks and policies. We expect additional and ongoing work on our policies as a result of continued learnings from our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) assessment. We will also be implementing our mandatory annual training through Bambee. This is in addition to workshops and cohort meetings provided by Seattle Arts & Culture for Anti-Racism, Seattle Works, and others.
Over the last couple of months, we’ve identified and interviewed with a number of DEIA consultants and are on the verge of making a selection to move forward with. We have also added a specific budget to prioritize DEIA work such as additional training along with initiatives focused on the BIPOC community such as scholarships, grants, and programming.
I would also like to acknowledge that given the additional challenges currently facing our organization, I was naively optimistic about the time and energy it would take to make meaningful headway on our commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization. While I don’t feel like I have concrete or satisfying progress to report at this time, this work is a top priority and the most important part of every conversation we are having and every decision we are making.
Masks (Still) Required
We were excited about the CDC's recent announcement too!
To assure the highest level of safety, we are continuing to require masks and social distancing when at Pottery Northwest, even if you are fully vaccinated. Due to individual circumstances, not everyone who wants to be vaccinated has had the opportunity. Coverage rates are lower in primarily Black and Hispanic communities in King County as well as for youth per the King County Department of Health. Once we are confident it is safe for all of our community to do so, we will revisit our guidelines and be sure to communicate all of this information via email and signage in the studio.
Thank you for understanding and continuing to keep our community safe!
Studio closed this Monday, May 31
A final note that the studio will be closed this Monday, May 31 in observance of Memorial Day.
Jennifer ‘Fuj’ Fujimoto, she/her
Interim Executive Director
Pottery Northwest
fuj@potterynorthwest.org