Toronto Potters Studio

This studio just simply will NOT reply to email. I’ve sent several over the past few months. They’re always met with complete silence

I am prefacing this review by noting that this type of class is highly instructor-dependent. Although my first experience at this studio was incredibly negative, my second experience (with a different instructor) was much better. That said, I feel obligated to share my experience and encourage whoever goes here to look into who their instructor is.The first instructor I was with had an authoritative teaching style. They demonstrated some techniques, but was not very hands-on when it came to students’ individual needs. For instance, the instructor verbalized students’ incorrect techniques/mistakes and told us how to adjust, rather than show us.The instructor’s tutorials also took a lot of time. What usually takes 10-15 mins at the start of class, they sometimes took 30-45 mins for.The instructor was verbally rude. They reprimanded us for creating pieces we wanted, or not making what we were “supposed to work on” that day, which deterred us from being creative and having fun. Students felt criticized, like we were walking on eggshells, and were nervous to speak up and ask for guidance.We were also instructed to do intense cleaning of the studio after class - much more than what’s usually expected. Usually, we’d allocate about 20 minutes of the end of class to clean up our workspace (eg. wheels, communal table, mop floor). This instructor had us do that, plus clean the chairs, windowsills, water bucket, sweep and mop the floor, and empty out the water into the janitors closet. This resulted in us staying 20-30 mins after class time, in addition to the 20 mins we had allotted (almost an hour total for cleanup). To avoid leaving so late in subsequent classes, students finished working on their pottery even earlier. One class, we only did pottery for 1.5 out of 3 hours, due to the instructor’s lengthy tutorial and cleanup. Halving our pottery time is just unacceptable.After the course was finished, the instructor only gave us two time slots to pick up our pieces. Usually, you’re given a handful of options, since people’s schedules vary. When I couldn’t locate two of my pieces, the instructor was unhelpful and even sent me a rude email.Of note, the studio also suggests you buy your own pottery tools (an added cost, on top of the cost of class). Most other studios offer basic tools, so this was surprising.Lastly, I adore doing pottery and value it as a therapeutic pastime, but this experience turned it into something very negative and anxiety provoking. I have subsequently had a wonderful instructor at this studio, but due to the first experience being so traumatic, I won’t continue or recommend this studio… Especially while there are there are several other, great studios in the city. Toronto Potters may consider offering surveys to their students to promote constructive feedback and a more inclusive, supportive environment.