Apprenticeship Grant Program
GRANT PROGRAM MISSION
Established in 2019 and funded by an anonymous donor, Studio Potter’s Grants for Apprenticeships program supports emerging artists who want to become full-time studio potters and, conversely, mentor-potters who wish to take on an apprentice. This grant program honors the mission of Studio Potter and the legacy of its founder, Gerry Williams, by fostering individual careers in studio pottery, contributing to the life and future of ceramics, ensuring the continuity of a centuries-old tradition in non-academic education, and, most broadly, upholding humanitarian values.
STUDIO APPRENTICESHIP DEFINED
Studio-based apprenticeship is a form of person-to-person training that places work above theory and emphasizes intimacy and immersion. In the West, people commonly associate the history of apprenticeship with craft and trade practices in Europe during the Middle Ages, but traditions of lineage-learning have endured for centuries around the world. Apprenticeship continues today as a means of passing down knowledge from generation to generation and as a way for aspiring artisans to build professional communities and prepare for careers as studio artists.
