Unstable Arts

The build happened in evenings, weekends and annual leave, around full time jobs.

We passed breakeven and met our business plan targets at least two years ahead of schedule. The studio now pays a wage to one of the directors who built it, with a second to follow.

I did most of the hands on work myself. The roof came first, repairs and repointing and chasing leaks, because there was no point starting inside while water was still coming in. Then the ceiling, insulated, boarded and painted, and lino over the floor upstairs. I built the timber partitions that make the studio pods. Downstairs I took whole walls out and put in two breeze block and concrete pillars, casting the pads they stand on, to hold that floor up.

I plumbed in four sinks and the accessible toilet, waste and copper both. Contractors did the scaffolding, and I put in the big Velux windows, because the space needed light. I built the workbenches, and worked out the floor plan and the way people move through the building with my co-directors.

Before we could open we needed planning permission, the business permits, fire safety sign off, and the risk and safety paperwork a room full of kilns, wheels and torches needs. We wrote the induction every member does before they touch anything, then advertised the space and filled it.

I teach the beginner throwing workshops on a Monday and run the member inductions. We priced the throwing classes too high to start with and brought them down, which is when they started filling. Alongside the memberships the studio runs workshops, classes and clubs, rents out the gallery space, and sells materials to members from a small shop.

What I want next from it is to run workshops for people who could not otherwise pay for them.

The jewellery bench started from nothing. I researched the craft and the equipment, specced and bought it, installed the bench setup, and wrote the induction and documentation that goes with it, covering silver, brass and gems.

The studio was built so it doesn't depend on a director standing in it. I built the booking system, set up the payments through Stripe and Tide, and put the internal documentation on Notion.

I run the entry system and the access scheduling on it. Every member has a fob, so the building knows who's in it and when, and I pull that into occupancy reporting built with AI tooling. It told us the studio is quieter in person than the membership number suggests.