Legacy Studios
Hello and welcome to the Legacy Studios page. Legacy Studios is a significant undertaking, and to ensure its success, I am looking for the right team of potters to help bring it to life.
My role is to manage the foundational elements of the project—designing the space, overseeing renovations, installing the kilns, and handling all associated setup expenses. Once completed, the space will feature three studios, a dedicated kiln room, and a gallery.
I am seeking three experienced potters with strong web and social media profiles who are interested in being part of the creative development of Legacy Studios. The selected potters will be responsible for managing the daily operations and logistics once the studios are open.
My vision is to provide this space as a gift to the pottery community; my focus is to build this facility and then step back to allow the chosen potters to lead and operate it independently.
If you are interested in being part of this exciting project, please send me an email through the contact form.
I have to say that this is one very exciting project! It is going to be such an amazing space for the island potters with both studios, kilns and a gallery to sell their work. Presently we are beginning work on the renovation plans for the site which is home to the Ladysmith Chamber of Commerce. The renovations will begin March 2027 when the Chamber vacates the premises to move to their new location at the historic train station on the waterfront.
The Vision:
As you enter Legacy Studios, you will be greeted by a gallery showcasing the resident potter’s work. There will be three studios for the potters with one of them being visible from the gallery. The studios will not be open to the pubic but will add to the visitor’s experience of artisans at work. We envision a hive of creativity and an abundance of finely crafted original tableware as well as one-off pieces.
Renovation work
The renovation of Legacy Studios will occur in two stages. The area that the Chamber of Commerce is in won’t be vacated till March 2027 but we can start work on the kiln room before then. The kiln room will house a Bailey gas kiln, model # FL DLX 34/22, that has been generously donated to the project by Harvey Abramson. We also plan to equip it with a, yet to be acquired, electric kiln and spray booth.
Gas kiln rentals
While the gas kiln will be primarily for the resident potters’ use, we plan on giving potters who are working full time at their craft the opportunity to rent the gas kiln so that they too have the option of firing in reduction. Gas kilns are costly and few potters have access to them; we are delighted to be able to expand the island potters’ creative ventures in this way.
Clay sales
Purchasing clay here on the island is not always the easiest, and we want our potters to be able to source Canadian clays that aren’t readily available. To that end, we are in the process of setting up a joint venture with Victorian Art Glass out of Victoria where we will become a mid island sales point for selected PSH clays as well as dry glazes. To start, the dry glazes will be the cone 6 glazes featured in my first book, My Life as a Potter.
Peter Pugger Pug mills
Aside from the renovations, we are also hoping to purchase two Peter Pugger Pug mills for the studio’s potters use.
Donations much appreciated
As you can imagine, this will be a costly project, and we would welcome donations. We will be setting up a go fund me campaign in a few months so that people can help us with the purchase of the pugmills and other equipment.
We will share our excitement with you and keep you up to date on the progression of things through our social media, stay tuned!
Potters helping potters, it’s a good thing!
Potterly yours,