Person shaping a ceramic vase on a spinning pottery wheel, hands covered in clay.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership offers a creative home for your work in progress, along with ongoing guidance, open studio time to explore, and a supportive community of fellow makers.

$250 per month

Become a Member

Our membership program is designed for people who want a creative home — a place to regularly work with clay, grow their skills, and be part of a welcoming studio community.

Before becoming a member, we ask that all prospective members take a class at the studio. This helps ensure that membership is the right fit for both you and our community.

Taking a class allows you to:

• Get comfortable with the studio layout and equipment
• Learn our safety guidelines and studio practices
• Meet our instructors and staff
• Experience the atmosphere of the studio before committing

Our goal is simple: to maintain a calm, supportive space where everyone can focus on making great work.

We warmly welcome beginners — no prior experience is required to become a member.

Studio Access

Members can work in the studio during open studio hours:

Monday: 10am – 8pm
Tuesday – Sunday: 10am – 9pm
(excluding major holidays)

Membership Includes

Membership provides access to the full range of tools and resources in the studio, including:

• Personal shelf space for works in progress
• 15-piece monthly firing allowance (no firing fees)
• Access to our cone 5/6 Laguna dipping glazes
• Shimpo V-Lite pottery wheels
• North Star slab rollers and extruders
• Large work tables and wedging areas for hand-building

Members also enjoy:

• Weekly clinics for beginner and intermediate potters
• The ability to take our Beginner Wheel Class up to three times at no additional cost
• Member-only pricing on select workshops and visiting artist demonstrations

Note: Clay is not included with membership, but a selection of studio-approved clay bodies is available for purchase on-site.

Interested in Joining?

The best first step is to book a class and experience the studio firsthand.

Once you've taken a class, we’ll be happy to walk you through the membership process and answer any questions.

Interior of a modern creative space or cafe with high ceilings, large windows, a long white table with blue stools, wooden artistic sculptures of mushrooms, potted plants, shelving units, and decorative lighting fixtures.
Modern art studio with large windows, white table, blue bar stools, and outdoor city view.
Outdoor rooftop patio with tables, blue stools, potted flowers, and urban city view
Interior view of a pottery studio with tables and stools for pottery making, shelves with pottery supplies, and large windows letting in natural light.
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Interior space with large floor-to-ceiling windows, decorated with artificial trees and mushroom sculptures, high tables with blue stools, and a kitchen area with shelves.
Interior of a bright room with large windows, displaying climbing mushrooms and tree branch sculptures, and a shelved display of fish illustrations.
Indoor pottery studio with pottery wheels arranged in a semi-circle, large windows overlooking a marina, decorative wall mirrors, and leafless tree branch decor.
Interior of an art gallery or store with empty display cases, blue stools, decorative sculptures, and wall art including a large blue mural and an ornate mirror.
Interior view of a spacious restaurant with white and blue decor, wooden tables, and stools, featuring wall decorations including a large skeleton dinosaur, a sculpture of a woman, and various art pieces, with trees along the side walls.
Interior of a store with wooden shelves displaying various items, including candles, decorations, and nautical-themed objects, with nautical netting and artifacts hanging from the ceiling.
Colorful, modern cafe interior with vibrant pink walls, decorated with colorful masks, art, and hanging ornaments. White tables with blue and white chairs are arranged around the space, and large glass windows let in natural light. The ceiling featur

  • Adults 18 and older who have taken a class at Bitter Root Pottery (any location is fine as long as it’s a Bitter Root)

  • STEP 1: Reserve online and take class. Regardless of prior clay experience, it is required that you take a class as an introduction to our studio

    STEP 2: You've taken class; you loved it and you want to be a member at Aqueous! Call us during open hours and we will schedule a start date and member orientation with you. We will go through studio guidelines, set you up with a shelf and clay to start.

    STEP 3: Once you’ve gone through orientation and received a shelf, you’re officially a member. Make sure you understand the rules and guidelines. If you have questions, just ask. Happy Potting!!

  • YES! Regardless of experience, everyone must take a class to be approved for membership. This helps us get to know you a little more and show you how the studio generally works. We cannot bypass this step for anyone!

  • Awesome! We have lots of handbuilders at Bitter Root. There are plenty of workspaces throughout the studio for sculpting and handbuilding projects. If you don’t want to take a wheel class to be eligible for membership, you’ll need to book a private handbuilding lesson instead.

  • Email us. Once we’ve confirmed your prior membership status, we can discuss next steps on a case-by-case basis. Please be aware that we may still ask you to take another class so you can be up-to-speed with any studio updates and protocols (especially if you haven’t been a member for a longer period). Safety first!

  • No - membership is location-specific. You have full access to the studio where your shelf is located. However, if we have special events or workshops at other studios, you may take advantage of any membership discounts regardless of which location you are a member of.

  • Unfortunately - no, we cannot accommodate this. We love that you want to share this with your children but we kindly ask that you register them for Open Wheel class, camps, or privates. Staff can give you more information. This is in the interest of safety, organization, capacity, and making sure we know who is in the studio at all times.

  • We fire electric kilns for both bisque and glaze. Bisque is fired to cone 04/05 and Glaze is fired to cone 5/6.
    We do not fire outside of these ranges (no low-fire glazes or clays!!)
    Studio staff members operate the kilns. We load and unload the kilns on a daily basis.

  • Staff have a master list to track everyone’s firings. This is mainly to ensure that all members have gotten their fair share of the firings every month. Pots larger than 5”X5” may count as 2 points depending on how much space is taken up by your piece in the kiln.

  • Our clay is cone 5/6 only.
    Clay is not included in the monthly membership but members can purchase cone 5/6 stonewares and porcelains at the studio.

  • Monthly membership is $250 per month and does not include clay. It begins on the day you sign up and will expire 30 consecutive days after that date. Memberships are renewed monthly on an automatically recurring basis according to your due date.
    If you do not want to renew your membership, you must alert Bitter Root staff at least 48 hours BEFORE your due date to avoid any charges.

    Your membership and shelf is for your use only and is valid at the one studio where you signed up. Your membership benefits, including access to the studio outside of class hours, cannot be transferred to anyone else. Family and friends who are not members should take classes with staff.