I want to be honest about where Nice Pottery Club actually stands right now.
It’s not a studio yet. It’s not even an association yet. There’s no premises, no kiln, no official members. There’s an idea, a website, a first event on Eventbrite, and a lot of hope. That’s it — and I think it’s important to say that clearly, rather than presenting things as further along than they are.
What I can offer instead is the full vision. Where we want to go, how we’re planning to get there, and what that means in practice for people who join the club today.
Step 1 — Meet each other and see if the idea holds
Before creating anything officially, the first thing is also the simplest: checking that there are other people who feel the same way. That I’m not alone in looking for somewhere to keep practising pottery in Nice outside of a class.
That’s why the first step is an event as accessible as possible. A ceramic painting café — Palette & Tartelette, in Nice — on a Sunday afternoon. No clay needed, no tools, no particular level required. Just people who are curious about ceramics, gathered around a table, talking about what a community like this could look like and what it could become.
If this first meetup confirms there’s real interest — and I really hope it does — we move to the next step.
Step 2 — Form the association and launch weekly sessions
The natural legal structure for this kind of project in France is the loi 1901 association — a non-profit organisation, run by its members, with an elected committee and transparent accounting. It’s straightforward to create, relatively simple to manage, and it’s what will let us access a room at a local Maison des associations in Nice.
In practice, once the association is set up, the plan is to hold regular meetups and events at a local Maison des associations. Hand-building sessions are the obvious starting point — relaxed, self-directed, open to all levels. But what the club becomes depends on who shows up and what they bring. Themed workshops, talks, collaborative projects, events with partner organisations — we’re open to all of it. The community will shape the programme, not the other way around.
An annual membership fee will cover running costs — on a sliding scale, so that cost is never a barrier. The exact amount will be decided collectively, based on actual costs.
It’s not glamorous. It’s not Instagram-worthy. But it’s solid, it’s honest, and it’s the foundation on which everything else gets built.
Step 3 — Open our own shared studio
This is the big vision. The one that makes me want to get up in the morning and push this project forward.
A dedicated space of our own. Not a borrowed room for a few hours a week, not a slot in someone else’s schedule — a real community ceramics club in Nice, open continuously, run by and for its members.
Proper worktables. Labelled shelves. A complete, well-maintained tool collection. Pottery wheels. And eventually, a kiln on site — which would change everything, because it would mean no longer depending on an outside studio for firing, and being able to learn that important aspect of pottery.
In this space, full members would have their own key and their own shelf — the freedom to come whenever they want, at any hour. Casual members could book a slot during opening hours. Ceramists could display and sell pieces in the studio window. Occasional workshops could be run with guest teachers — sessions on specific techniques, approaches that don’t fit into open practice sessions.
We’re not there yet. To be completely honest, we’re far from it. But that’s where we’re headed — and every person who joins the club today, at this very early stage, directly contributes to making it possible. Founding members are the ones who will allow the association to exist, the sessions to happen, and the studio project to have the human and financial foundations it needs to become real.
Why it takes time — and why that’s a good thing
We live in an era that prizes speed. Launch fast, iterate, pivot. I understand that logic in some contexts. But for a project like this — a community space, run by volunteers, in a city where rents are high and associations are plentiful — moving fast would be a mistake.
A shared studio that opens too early, with too few members and too little funding, doesn’t survive. An association badly structured from the start creates tensions and problems that take years to untangle. And a project that seeks to impress rather than build something real ends up disappointing everyone — starting with the person who launched it.
So we’ll take the time it takes. Step by step. Involving members in decisions from the beginning. Being transparent about costs, challenges, and limitations.
This isn’t the fastest project. But I hope it will be one of the most lasting.