School Programs

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HALF DAY WORKSHOPS // AT THE GALLERY

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1 HOUR GALLERY TOUR

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SPECIAL PROJECTS // IN SCHOOL

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Important Info

Groups are responsible for bringing the following number of adults to supervise and assist. There is no charge for accompanying adults.

• Pre-school: 1 adult for every 3 students
• Grade 1 – Grade 6: 1 adult to every 6 students
• Grade 7 and up: 1 adult for every 15 students

• Please arrive 15 minutes before start time and book transportation 15 minutes after end time to give your group time for backpack storage, handwashing, and washroom breaks.
• Full date visits are 10am – 2pm. If you need to leave before 2pm, please alert your instructor when you arrive at the gallery on the day of your visit. We do make a note of requests at time of booking, but the lead teacher is responsible to touching base with gallery instructors when alternate timings have been requested. If you need to leave at 1:30, we can remove 10 minutes from the morning workshop, 10 minutes from lunch, and 10 minutes from the afternoon workshop to shorten the program by 30 minutes without disruption.
• Half Day visits are 10am – 11:30am or 12:30pm – 2:00pm, with no lunch break.

Full Day visits: Please ensure everyone brings weather appropriate clothing for outdoor recess. Full Day visits include 60 minutes for lunch, including outdoor recess. During outdoor recess, gallery staff re-set the classroom for the afternoon workshop.

• For groups of up to 30 children: Lunch Break includes 30 mins eating in the classroom, followed by 30 mins outdoor recess. See map below for directions to Waterloo Park.
• For groups of 30+ children: The classroom/lunchroom cannot accommodate large groups at one time. When weather is nice, groups with 30+ students go outside to eat at Waterloo Park (see map below). During winter months and rainy days, students eat indoors followed by outdoor recess (there is room for 40 students in the classroom and 20 students in the gallery lobby).

Our team includes a limited number of instructors who speak French. If you request a French Language visit, typically the clay instruction is given in French, the gallery discussion is facilitated in English, and French vocab is incorporated whenever possible.

• Please allow 3-4 weeks for firing time. If you are making a project for a special event, please factor that time in when booking. Small groups or half-day visits may be ready sooner.
• You will receive an email when items are ready for pick up at the gallery.
• Please come to the front entrance during open hours and ask for items at the gallery shop. Thank you!

Pick up location: Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St North, Waterloo, Ontario

Pick-Up Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday-Friday: 11 am – 5:45 pm
Saturday: 10 am – 4:45 pm
Sunday: 1 – 4:45 pm

The gallery uses stoneware and fires to cone 6. We typically use 516 clay from Pottery Supply House (PSH).

Are items foodsafe? 

Items from full day workshops are glazed for a foodsafe finish that is dishwasher and microwave safe. Handwashing may prolong the life of your piece. 

Why is there a 3-4 week turnaround time for clay projects? 

• Items are air-dried for 1 week before they go in the kiln. This reduces chances that items will explode in the kiln. 
• Each kiln firing takes approximately 48 hours for items to slowly heat to up to 1800-2200F and then cool down again so they are safe to touch. The gallery typically does 3 firings per week. Multiple firings are required for glazed items. There is limited kiln capacity and multiple firings are required for large groups. 

Kiln process for full day workshops – using underglaze: 

• During a full day workshop, groups use a specialist ceramic product called underglaze to add colour to their wet/greenware clay on the same day that they make their artwork. Glazes only work on clay that has been fired already. 
• After your workshop, items are bisque fired (approximately 1800F). After being bisque fired, our studio technicians individually hand coat each item in a clear glaze. The glaze we use is transparent and glossy. Then items are put back in the kiln and fired at a higher temperature (approx 2200F). 
• Glazed items are dishwasher, microwave, and food safe. Handwashing items may prolong the life of your artwork.

Kiln process for half-day workshops – unpainted: 

• Unpainted clay projects are designed to be painted with acrylics back at school (video tutorial coming soon).
• Unpainted items are high fired to cone 6 but not glazed (low fire/bisqued items are still brittle).
• We do not encourage schools to glaze and fire unpainted items back at school because we cannot guarantee results. Sometimes glaze doesn’t adhere to clay that has already been fired to cone 6. If you would like to use ceramic paints, please consider booking a full day workshop. 

All in-person gallery workshops can be turned into in-school programs. Additional fees apply. Please request more information by filling the booking form.