Welcome Back, Studio Friends!

/in /by

As of June 22nd, we are open again for summer classes, camps, workshops, studio member visits! Any other visits are by appointment. It has been so heartwarming to see students back in the studio!

Generally, our hours will be 12-8PM on M, T, Th, F, and Saturday 3-8PM, but we will open earlier on Saturday if there are registrants in the workshops. Workshops will be offered throughout the week online and in-person.

We are offering 4 different themed online clay-at-home classes in July/August. Check out the options here.

 

Online Clay Classes

/in /by

As parts of the state’s economy open back up, we are holding to our June date. Obviously we have little control over that, as it depends on community health and government regulation.  We have many folks in our community or in our homes who are elderly or at-risk, so we are offering two different hand-building online clay classes so that no one feels rushed to return to the community studio. They start next week. Click on the link below for details.

1️⃣Pots of Purpose: For Sipping, Scooping, and Serving
2️⃣ For the Love of Flowers & Plants: Vases and planters traditional and unique

Beginner-Intermediate. Materials kits available if you are new. Each week includes 1.5hrs making-together time, with images to inspire, demonstrations, and optional office hours if you need them!

https://550arts.as.me/OnlineClay

Open limited hours for curbside pick up starting 4/17/20

/in /by

We will be open 12-2 on Fridays and Saturdays for curbside service starting 4/17/2020! All purchases should be made IN ADVANCE through our online shop so we can get your order ready for a quick pick up. On good weather days we will roll a cart out front for hands-free service, or you can call when you get here and someone will bring your order to you.

Order online: https://www.550arts.com/giftshop/

The open times can be used for:
✔️Drop off of unfired work students/members have made at home, BUT we will only fire work made with clay bought here. On good weather days we will just roll a cart outside for you!
✔️pick up of clay, tools, underglaze colors, etc.
✔️pick up of any Take & Make Project Packs
✔️pick up of workshop pottery made before March 7th
✔️pick up any of our curated limited edition handmade gift bundles

See you soon! Stay Healthy. Stay Happy.

/in /by

UPDATED 3/27/20: As per the governor’s orders for a shut down of “non-essential” businesses, we are cancelling Spring classes and closing temporarily until June 8th. Our hope is to begin offering classes and weekend workshops then. The Summer Session of classes begins June 22nd.

We were going to try and hold out to give everyone a chance to stop in, get clay and finish up final pots, but it doesn’t look like we can do that. We are cancelling classes for the remainder of the week and will also only be open limited hours. The hours for the next few weeks are:

Tuesday 3/17: Closing at 3:15PM
Wednesday 3/18: 1-3PM
Thursday 3/19: CLOSED
Friday 3/20: CLOSED
Saturday 3/21: 11-4PM
March 22-April 5th: CLOSED

You can glaze any remaining work, pick up clay and clay tools, or trim final pots on Saturday. Alternatively, you can err on the side of caution and wait until we open up again. Any memberships will be extended by the period of time we will be closed and we will be flexible with any make ups that need to happen to finish up your work.

Please stay posted on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

A Happy Place. A Safe Place.

/in /by

These are troubled times.

In times like these, where isolation is the cure and mass hysteria is at large, it is important to have a happy place to be. Just as important, it is important to have a safe place to be.

As a result, we are upping all efforts to keep the studio clean and safe for all users. We are hoping to stay open, but will only do so if it remains safe for the workers and all our studio friends. If you are feeling sick or have been in contact with anyone who has recently traveled, please stay home! With all these additional precautions (on top of all existing silica dust precautions), we are keeping the studio as safe and clean as we reasonably can, given that it is a community studio and a shared space.

Some of the precautions we are taking include the following:

1) Daily, often many times a day, wiping down door handles, light switches and common surfaces with disinfectant
2) Encouraging all users of the studio to wash their hands with soap right when they enter and before they exit
3) Providing hand sanitizer
4) Soaking common tools (ie. pottery sponges and throwing tools) in a sanitizing bath between users
5) Mixing in a small amount of bleach into the final rinse buckets in the clay studio
6) Opening outside doors and turning the HVAC fan on, weather allowing, to encourage clean air flow
7) Proving a lenient make-up schedule for any students or members, in case they get sick

We encourage you to make decisions that are right for you. Even if we close temporarily, we will be here when this all passes.

If you are looking for something to do to take your mind off the hysteria, the spring class session begins the week of April 6th! We still have space in many of our pottery, stained glass, watercolors and drawing classes. Acrylic Painting is off for the session. Learn more: 550arts.com/classes

See you in the studio, Friends. Stay Safe and Stay Healthy Out There.

Kick off 2020 with some YOU time.

/in /by

Everyone can be creative! Sometimes you just need to give yourself time to do it.

The Winter Session of classes begins the week of January 13th. We will be offering pottery (10-wk), acrylic painting (8-wk), drawing (6-wk), and stained glass (10-wk) classes for the winter session!

Jump on in to a class, try it out in a 1 day workshop, learn something new, have a little bit o’ fun, and then create something handmade while you’re at it!

Browse classes & workshops and sign up here: https://www.550arts.com/classes/

NH Open Doors this weekend!

/in /by

We are a stop on the NH Open Doors tour this weekend! NH Open Doors is a celebration of handmade across the state, and, you know us, we are all about handmade.

Join us anytime this Saturday from 11am – 9pm to shop our selection of handmade items, where we host the creations of over 45 different makers. We are not an upscale hard-to-relate-to gallery with crazy expensive art, we are a “handmade for everyday life” kind of shop where most of our items are $20-60 and the items are meant to be used! We also have a lovely selection of items that are all under $10.

New in the shop are three DIY gift pack stations. Put together your own bath & body basket, decorate a “Let Love Grow” plant pot with a live succulent, or make a Tea Lover’s sample pack. We also have the work of new artisans in the shop – sterling silver jewelry, mosaic jewelry, stickers and prints, cups from over 20 ceramic artists across the country, and sooooo many plants.

We will also have a little game or two you can play to win discounts in the shop or some studio merchandise!

Come visit!

Registration for Summer Classes & Summer Art Camps is now live

/in /by

Summer Registration is now Open!

Adults and teens can sign up to learn Pottery, Stained Glass, Drawing or Acrylic Painting in a 10-week session (drawing only 6 weeks) by going to this link: https://www.550arts.com/classes/

Beginners always welcome!

 

Kids Summer Pottery & Art Camps Registration Open!
Refer a friend and you both get 5% off registration!

Arts Explorer! (7-12yo):  Spend a full day camp exploring music, theatre, movement arts, mixed media visual arts and clay arts. No experience in any art form is needed! This is meant to be “exploratory”. Before and after care is available. Click here for the camp policies.  

Click the links below to Sign up:

July 8-12, 9AM-4PM each day: Arts Explorer! Week 1 (7-12yo)

July 15-19, 9AM-4PM each day: Arts Explorer! Week 2 (7-12yo)

July 22-26, 9AM-4PM each day: Arts Explorer! Week 3 (7-12yo)

 

Tween/teen wheel throwing (10-18yo) An afternoon weeklong intensive on wheel throwing and clay work. No clay experience is needed! We will cover the basics of the pottery wheel, hand sculpting and surface decoration. 1:30-4PM each day. 

Click the links below to Sign Up:

June 24 – 28, 1:30-4pm: Teen Wheel! (10-18yo)

August 5 – 9, 1:30-4pm: Teen Wheel! (10-18yo)

 

Mindfulness practice to get you through the week…

/in /by

We are delighted to be able to share our space with Kathryn Costa, author of a beautiful Mandala tutorial book, creativity coach, and teacher. She is offering Mindfulness Mandala Art Classes at our space on Tuesdays with a different mandala lesson each week.

The mandala lesson will be offered twice each day, afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m. and evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. Sign up for one, two, or every class. Each lesson stands on it’s own so you can pick and choose the class that piques your curiosity and works best for your schedule.

Each week features:

  • a new mandala art lesson
  • guided meditation to gently awaken your creativity
  • demonstrations and easy to follow step-by-step instructions
  • a theme to create mandala art for self expression and insight

Browse projects and sign up here: https://truenortharts.com/studio550/

2019 Valentine’s Date Night Ideas At Studio 550

/in /by

Valentine’s Date Night Ideas At Studio 550

 

Sure, Roses are okay, chocolates are always great, but making something together is the way to really remember the day.

Studio 550 is excited to host a variety of Date Night ideas for the month of February.  Beginners are welcome in all workshops! No experience is necessary! Workshop participants are invited to take 10% off any additional purchases in the handmade gift shop during the night of their workshop. All workshops are respectfully BYOB.

Rose Stained Glass Ornaments – Learn all the steps of making a stained glass rose sun catcher. Assorted Fridays and Saturdays during the month. Sign up here.

Succulent Plant Arrangement – You’ve seen them at weddings and on Pinterest, now make your own plant arrangement with a wide assortment of succulent, sedum, and rosette plant babies. Bring some greenery into your home. Sign up here.

Adult’s Night Out! Clay Sculpting – Come create something fun and functional once a month with guided instruction. In February we are creating salt and pepper shakers and next month we are making charcuterie/cheese boards. To see future projects, click the link! Sign up here.

Date Night in the Pottery Studio Get a crash course on the pottery wheel with the assistance of a trained instructor. Each person gets their own wheel. All instruction and materials to create at least one food-safe and microwave-safe piece of handmade pottery per person. Extras can be kept for $5 a piece. Workshops are held Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year at 6PM and 7:30PM each evening. We are also hosting a special 7:30 session on Wednesday, February 13th at 7:30PM. Sign up here.