Partnerships

How Partnerships Work

We create a custom program, adapted to the needs of your population and to the strengths of NCC’s teaching artists. NCC works with our partners to secure grant funding and we are dedicated to finding continuing partnerships to make these important programs available to a broader audience. We welcome conversations about ways in which to ensure long-term collaborations to sustain these important programs and learning opportunities.

Site staff work with NCC’s teaching artist and help to assemble students for the class and assist throughout the session. The teaching artist demonstrates a project and helps students through the steps, guiding, conversing, and providing accommodations during the class session. Projects are brought back to NCC for firing and clear glazing and returned when they are finished. The teaching artist set’s up the space and cleans up after class.

Projects include a variety of functional and sculptural creations: bowls, spoon rests, ring holder, musical shaker, seasonal figure (leprechaun, evergreen tree), healing hand dish, owl, angel wall plaque. Up to 15 individuals at a time can participate (with sufficient site staff assistance).

Clay Events (handbuilding at your location)
One-time 2-hour workshop – Great for libraries, youth groups, school pods, out-of-school time programming, scout troops, etc. Start at $400 for a group of 25.

Artist Demonstrations (at your location or at NCC)
Whether on the potter’s wheel or through handbuilding, an NCC teaching artist can show your group the wonders of clay as they transform a lump of clay into an object! This short introduction to this marvelous medium can be individually geared for the interest and skill level of your group. Set up a demonstration for your location or add a demonstration onto your visit to NCC (link to tour page/info).

Artists Residencies (handbuilding at your location)

  • Grade level Residency, 2 hours + with each classroom over the course of 2+ weeks.
  • Multi-grade Residency, 2 hours + with each classroom over the course of 2 – 4 weeks.
  • Full School Residency, 2 hours + with each classroom over the course of 4 – 6 weeks.
  • Out-Of-School Programming, 1-2 hours afterschool weekly over the course of 5-24 weeks.
  • Community Class, 1.5+ hours of repeating weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly workshops over 4-8 weeks.
  • Aging Adult Residencies (See our ART@HAND page for programming specifically designed for 55+), 1-2 hours of repeating weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly workshops over 8+ weeks.

Every partnership is unique depending on the number of students and the number of hours NCC teaching artists spend with the classes, so each partnership has a different cost. The average school residency is $6,000 for 250 students and 15 hours with each class.

NCC has limited grant dollars available to help offset the cost of these clay residencies to our school and other partners. We are happy to work with schools and organizations to raise funds and subsidize costs of arts learning activities

Partner locations provides

  • Work-surface and seating for participants
  • Access to water for clean-up
  • Disabled access to building and room in which clay work will occur
  • Faculty/staff to be present for the entirety of the workshop/residency
  • Volunteers to assist (as necessary/feasible)

NCC Provides

  • Teaching Artist – a qualified instructor and professional artist
  • Clay, engobe, glaze, tools, and firing facilities
  • Administrative support for partnership development and scheduling
  • Transportation of materials, equipment, and projects to and from the location

Collaboratively – we design the clay experience

  • Representative contacts NCC
  • Discuss residency and clay experience possibilities
  • Design program based on students, grade levels, interests, cross-curricula learning, and a group’s particular needs
  • Work together to provide a complex clay arts learning experience with a rewarding and tactile art form.

Creative arts experiences can have a positive effect on a child’s life, impacting their present and their future. Reach out to NCC to discuss pricing and scheduling to work with your group!

Example Projects

Imaginative Creatures, Bowls, Mugs, Fairy Homes, Lidded Vessels, Relief Tiles, and more are all possible clay creations! NCC will work with you to find the right projects for your group. There will be learning about the techniques of clay construction but it will feel like play!

Previous Partnerships

We know that our partners are wonderful resources about the interests, skills, and histories of their communities and residents they serve, and we actively seek your input. Our teaching artists focus on developing projects, lesson plans, and the technical aspects of each partnership. We work with our partners to fine-tune these programs to meet the needs of their constituents. Healthy collaborations are vital to the success of each program. Read about our partnerships below.

ClayToGo Checking in to 2022

The fall of 2021 brought about a marked return of NCC’s outreach programming in the community! We were not quite back to…

Partner Spotlight: Ebenezer Ridges

While many of our partner organizations have not been able to resume programming due to the various constraints on senior living facilities…

Inquire About Booking

We are now engaging in planning for 2023 calendar year outreach programming. 

All activities are conducted with safety accommodations in mind. Reach out to discuss how NCC can help you provide arts learning opportunities with your group at outreach@northernclacenter.org!

Inquire now