CURRENT STUDIO
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
In 1975 a small group of potters were happily working together at Dromana Technical School before they were told the premises could no longer be made available to them.
The group applied to the council for work space and hence moved to a house at 61 Pier Street where they formed the Nepean Workshop of Arts and Crafts. Classes offered included pottery, painting, spinning and weaving. Membership numbered 130 but funds for equipment were hard to come by and that has remained true to this day.
These premises, however, had been lent temporarily. Unfortunately the house site was wanted by the Council again and the group was given a mere 24 hours to vacate before the local fire brigade moved in to demolish the house for a practise rurn. All the facilities and assets beloved by the members went up in smoke.
The group then moved to an old shed at the end of Pier Street and membership numbers continued strongly despite financial difficulties and dilapidated workshop problems such as flooding floors and no heating in winter. Determination and enthusiasm were the members’ greatest strengths and in 1983 they were even able to offer classes in pottery for a group of intellectually disadvantaged adults, classes which continue to this day.
In 1987 the group acquired our current premises at the rear of the Dromana Old Shire Hall, a facility obtained with the very generous help and influence of Rotary and Lions Clubs. We finally moved into our new premises in June 1989 and have remained here ever since.
Gone is the heyday of the arts and crafts movement of the seventies but Dromana Potters Group, our final incarnation, has survived to this day.
We have classes four times a week and our students seem to love what they do. We now have an annual exhibition and offer our members different pottery experiences such as raku, pit firings, sculpture and porcelain workshops and tours to see other potters at work.
We still struggle financially at times but our love of pottery, the chit-chat and laughter with friends as we pot and the excitement of taking our work out of the kiln sustains and nurtures our creative spirit and always brings us back to do it all again.
In 1975 a small group of potters were happily working together at Dromana Technical School before they were told the premises could no longer be made available to them.
The group applied to the council for work space and hence moved to a house at 61 Pier Street where they formed the Nepean Workshop of Arts and Crafts. Classes offered included pottery, painting, spinning and weaving. Membership numbered 130 but funds for equipment were hard to come by and that has remained true to this day.
These premises, however, had been lent temporarily. Unfortunately the house site was wanted by the Council again and the group was given a mere 24 hours to vacate before the local fire brigade moved in to demolish the house for a practise rurn. All the facilities and assets beloved by the members went up in smoke.
The group then moved to an old shed at the end of Pier Street and membership numbers continued strongly despite financial difficulties and dilapidated workshop problems such as flooding floors and no heating in winter. Determination and enthusiasm were the members’ greatest strengths and in 1983 they were even able to offer classes in pottery for a group of intellectually disadvantaged adults, classes which continue to this day.
In 1987 the group acquired our current premises at the rear of the Dromana Old Shire Hall, a facility obtained with the very generous help and influence of Rotary and Lions Clubs. We finally moved into our new premises in June 1989 and have remained here ever since.
Gone is the heyday of the arts and crafts movement of the seventies but Dromana Potters Group, our final incarnation, has survived to this day.
We have classes four times a week and our students seem to love what they do. We now have an annual exhibition and offer our members different pottery experiences such as raku, pit firings, sculpture and porcelain workshops and tours to see other potters at work.
We still struggle financially at times but our love of pottery, the chit-chat and laughter with friends as we pot and the excitement of taking our work out of the kiln sustains and nurtures our creative spirit and always brings us back to do it all again.