by Clay Connection member
Meredith McEver
The Clay Connection offers a variety of benefits to its members. In addition to monthly educational programs, a biennial conference featuring well-known potters, community service projects, sales opportunities, and social events, the Clay Connection maintains a lending library and publishes a quarterly newsletter. Our monthly programs, pot-luck dinner, biennial conference, and sales events provide opportunities for individual potters to meet and share information. Our institutional memberships allow our members to meet other crafters in the local area. The Cracked Pot newsletter and member-wide emails provide easy methods of distributing information to our member potters.
Becoming a Member
First, print and complete a membership form.
Print Clay Connection
membership form (PDF)
Then mail the form with a $35 check payable to The Clay Connection to:
The Clay Connection
c⁄o Vice President/Membership
Post Office Box 3214
Merrifield, VA 22161-3214
The membership year begins in October and ends the following September. Individuals can become members at any time during the year; however, all memberships expire on 30 September. The membership fee is not prorated. Membership benefits begin immediately upon receipt of your dues. In early September, our Vice President for Membership begins reminding members that renewal fees will be due in October.
by Clay Connection member
Marianne Cordyack
Membership Benefits
Arts Council of Fairfax County
Founded in 1964, the Arts Council of Fairfax County, Inc. is a not-for-profit membership organization designated as Fairfax County's local arts agency. Through partnerships with schools, individual artists, and other cultural and community organizations, the Arts Council creates and supports programs, activities, and policies that integrate the arts into the lives of all Fairfax County residents. Arts Council funding is provided by the Fairfax County Government, the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA), the National Endowment for the Arts, corporations, organizations, and individuals. The Arts Council is located in the Fred M. Packard Center at 4022 Hummer Road in Annandale, Virginia For more information, visit the Arts Council's web site.
Artisans United
Artisans United is a non-profit organization serving as a network for local artists and crafters. It is located in The Fred M. Packard Center at 4022 Hummer Road in Annandale, Virginia. The Clay Connection has been a member guild of Artisans United since 1992. Benefits available from Artisans United are extended to all Clay Connection members.
Artisans United is involved in a number of activities and offers a variety of benefits to its individual and guild members. Its many activities include community outreach opportunities, a cooperative craft gallery, and a center of operations. For more information, visit the Artisans United web site.
by Clay Connection member
Sheila Ford
Networking
'The exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions'
(Source: Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary)
Virtually all activities sponsored by The Clay Connection provide opportunities for potters to exchange information and services, i.e., to network.
Our monthly programs, holiday dinner, and sales events provide opportunities for individual potters to meet and share information.
Our institutional memberships in Artisans United and the Arts Council of Fairfax County allow our members to meet other crafters in the local area.
The Cracked Pot newsletter provides an easy method for distributing information to our member potters.
The Biennial Mid-Atlantic Clay Conference gives potters the opportunity to spend four glorious days immersed in various aspects of their chosen craft surrounded by individuals who 'understand'.
Members Gallery
The Clay Connection maintains an online gallery of the work of its members. This provides a venue for members to display their work, explain to viewers what their work means to them, and provide a link to their own web sites for viewers interested in purchasing their work.
Lending Library
Contains over 30 separate tapes organized into 6 separate categories (biography; business; decoration; firing methods; forming methods; and history). Tapes are available at monthly meetings for current members to borrow for a four-week period. A small fee ($4 per tape) covers the cost of a pre-stamped and addressed mailer used to return the tape to the lending library. If the tape and unused mailer are returned in person, $3 of the fee is refunded. The remaining $1 is used to expand the titles in the library.
Volunteer Opportunities
Want to help with the Clay Connection? We always need volunteers and it's a terrific way to get to know fellow potters. Click here for a list of opportunities.