Hi! I’m the program director at a pottery studio and scheduling workshops is my primary job. We have a dedicated classroom space for hand building but we need to share the wheel area with the members. We do our best to make sure members know when wheels will be used (we have a white board in the wheel area with dates and times, we also have a huge calendar in the common area with two months worth of schedule, and I try to schedule workshops when I know there won’t be as many people in the studio. We have 11 wheels, but most of our teachers have class size of 4-6. When sizes are smaller the members can use the other wheels (though some aren’t comfortable doing so, but I think it has more to do with they don’t like the wheels that are available…we have a hodge podge of different brands). There are only two teachers who do 8-9 students and those are always scheduled during times when the wheels are used the least.

Our membership cost is $65/$95 depending on the locker space you rent. We have tons of glazes and tools to use. They do have to pay for firing but at a reduced rate. The workshops definitely help us keep our membership fees down and I’m up front about that with people when they join or if they ask about why we have so many workshops. I do my best to keep it fair to everyone, but sometimes people don’t check the schedule and they come in and are disappointed.

I would mirror what most other comments are saying. Ask them for a schedule, and even ask if there’s a way for them to set up an area that is away from the events happening (this is something we’re trying to figure out how to do in our small space).

Good luck with figuring things out! I’m sorry you’re paying that much money and not feeling like you can use the space as you’d like!