nota 3

The Open Studio Handbook
How a small community of makers shares space, tools and time
Every Thursday evening the old print shop on Alder Street fills with people who make things. Painters set up by the north windows, letterpress regulars claim the back room, and somebody always brings bread. This handbook collects what we have learned about running a shared studio: the routines that keep it pleasant, the tools we pool, and the small agreements that let thirty strangers become a crew.
Why share a studio?
Rent is the obvious reason, but it is not the best one. A shared room puts your work next to work you would never have seen otherwise. A ceramicist explains glaze chemistry to a comic artist; a photographer borrows a weaver's loom for a still life. The cross-talk is the point.
A studio is a place where unfinished things are welcome.
What we agree on
Clean as you go. Leave a table the way you would like to find it.
Label what is yours. Unlabelled supplies on the commons shelf are fair game.
Ask before you borrow. Even from the shelf, a quick note helps everyone keep track.
Quiet hours run from 9 to 11 on weekday mornings.
Shared equipment
The table below lists what the membership owns together and who keeps each item in working order.
Equipment    Location    Steward    Booking
Etching press    Back room    Mara O.    Sign-up sheet
Kiln (cone 10)    Yard shed    Theo P.    48 h notice
Large-format printer    Office    Ines R.    Calendar
Light table    North windows    Anyone    First come
Opening the studio
Switch on the main breaker by the door.
Open both skylights unless it is raining.
Start the kettle. This step is not optional.
Check the booking sheet for the kiln and press.
Membership
Membership is pay what you can, reviewed every season. New members shadow a regular for their first two visits, and everyone takes one cleaning shift a month. If you have never made anything before, you are exactly who we hoped would show up.
Questions go to the front desk, or to the notice board by the sink. Visit the community board for events.