Riverhouse Create · Questions
Questions and answers
What people ask before they come: booking, credits, what to bring, children, field trips, and how to find us.
Booking and credits
How do I book a class?
Pick a date on the class schedule and book the session you want.
Every regular class costs one class credit, and you can book right up to the moment it starts, as long as there is a place left.
What is a class credit, and what does one cost?
One credit is one class, in any of the four studios.
A single class credit is $50.
Do my credits expire?
No. Your credits stay in your account until you use them, so there is no rush.
Do I have to join to take a class?
No. A single credit books any class without a membership.
Membership is $30 a year, and it is what opens the member four-class pack to you: four credits for $130.
Taken together the first time, membership and the pack are $160 for the first year, then $30 a year.
Do I need an account?
Yes. Your account holds your credits and your bookings, so you can see what you have coming and cancel a class yourself.
Your first visit
I have never done this before. Is that all right?
Beginners start every week, and they sit at the same table as everyone else.
Sit down and say it is your first time, and the teacher will put something in front of you and get you going that morning.
What do I need to bring?
Yourself. Clay, tools and the house glazes are already in the pottery studio, and the thread, needles, hoops and frames are out on the needlework table.
If you have a piece of your own on the go, bring it.
How big are the classes?
Small. The teacher works at the table beside you rather than from the front of the room, and one of them pulls up a chair next to you.
How long does a class run?
The open studios run three hours.
Children's Pottery on Saturday morning is one hour, and the children who come are welcome to stay on afterwards.
The classes
What is open each week?
Tuesday mornings the pottery and needlework studios are both open. Thursday afternoons are drawing and painting. Saturday is pottery again, with a children's class before it.
Workshops go deeper over a day or two, and they are listed with the special events.
Is Life Drawing something extra?
No. The last hour of Thursday's Drawing & Painting Open Studio is Life Drawing from a dressed model, and it is included.
There is nothing extra to book and nothing extra to pay. If you would rather stay with your own piece, do that instead.
When do I take my pottery home?
Not the same day. Your piece dries on the shelf for a few days, then it is glazed and fired in the studio's own kiln a few steps from the wheel you shaped it on.
You come back, find it on the shelf, and carry home something finished.
Who teaches here?
Working artists — you sit at the table with the person who makes the work, and you can ask them anything.
The teachers page introduces them, and the schedule names who is in the room for every date.
Children and field trips
Do you have classes for children?
Children's Pottery runs on Saturday mornings, an hour in the clay, and everything they make is fired and kept for them.
Anyone under nine needs a parent to stay with them.
How do I bring a school or group out for a visit?
Tell us about your group on the field trip page and we write back within two working days.
Sending that does not book a date and there is nothing to pay: nothing is booked until we have agreed a day together.
How many children can come, and what does a field trip cost?
A half day fits up to 24 children, at $36 for each child.
That covers both studios, the clay, the paint, the thread, and the piece each child carries home.
What if the cost is difficult for our school?
Say so on the inquiry form. We can cover up to 3 children in every group of 14, and it stays between us.
Events and staying over
How are special events different from classes?
Events are paid in dollars rather than credits, and each one has its own price.
The refund terms are set for each event and shown with it, so have a look before you book.
Can I stay overnight for a weekend event?
Yes. There are six beds on the property, at $100 per guest, per night, and you choose a bed when you book the weekend.
The place on the event itself is on top of that, for each of you.
Getting here
Where are you, and how do I find you?
Riverhouse Workshop is at 63777 State Hwy. 59, Stockton, Alabama 36579, on 150 acres in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta — about 40 minutes from Mobile or Fairhope and 25 from Bay Minette.
Turn in off Highway 59 and the house is right there behind its fence, pines standing on both sides.
Call 251.406.2311 if you get turned around.
How do I reach you with something this page does not answer?
Call 251.406.2311 or write to hello@riverhousecreate.com.
If plans change
What happens if I have to cancel a class?
Cancel at least 36 hours ahead and the credit goes straight back to your account, ready for another day.
You do not need to explain why. Open My Bookings and press Cancel on that class.
What if I cancel later than that, or you cancel the class?
Your place still opens up for someone else. If it is taken, your credit comes back to you; if it is not, the credit covers that class.
If we are the ones who cancel, your credit comes back whatever the timing — even if you had already canceled late.
How do I stop my membership?
Stop it any time from your account. The next renewal simply does not happen, and the credits you have already bought stay where they are.
Is Riverhouse Create a nonprofit?
Yes. Riverhouse Create is operated by Riverhouse Workshop Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
That is why the prices are kept within reach.