Studio Use

Members have the right to access the studios they are approved to use. Any member engaging in studio or machinery use that they have not been granted access to may be potentially excluded from future studio access.

Members have the right to a safe, clean and accessible community space. Members are responsible for making sure they are trained and experienced to use any machinery or tool that they intend to use.

Members are expected to clean up after themselves and assist others as needed in the cleaning of communal studio spaces. The expectation is to leave a space as clean, if not cleaner, than when you entered it. Hamilton Craft Studios reserves the right to charge cleaning fees to members who repeatedly leave the studio in disarray.

Storage is available for an additional monthly fee.  If you are not taking advantage of this offering it is expected you will remove your materials when you leave the studio at the end of the day.

Members have the right to use the communal tools, machinery and spaces so long as they do so with care and respect. Any damage caused to a tool, machine or studio infrastructure must be reported immediately. The cost of repair will may be invoiced to the member who caused the damage, accidentally or otherwise. Repeated damage may result in replacement fees or membership termination at the discretion of the HCS directors.

No member shall remove, borrow, loan out, hide, or otherwise disappear any tool or property of Hamilton Craft Studios. Tool loaning/rental is a possibility, but must be cleared with an HCS staff member, logged appropriately and returned in a timely manner.

Hamilton Craft Studios will do its best to maintain a safe, inclusive and harassment free space for all members and the greater Hamilton community. We aim to support our makers in all stages of their creative endeavours, but we also hope to bring our love for craft and community into our city through acts of service and community care. If you have a project that would benefit our community outside of our doors, we encourage you to discuss it with our staff.

Hamilton Craft Studio reserves the right to revoke memberships without compensation should a person be deemed unfit to share our space with our community. We will not take this step lightly and will follow a procedure of review in order to determine outcomes of conflicts within our community studio. Payment for any infraction, service or fabrication materials must be paid immediately.

Accessibility and Safety

Our space and pricing are designed to be as accessible as possible, while still supporting the infrastructure needs of our organisation. Donations from fundraising and outreach will be accepted and in most cases matched by our available funding for subsidies and sponsorships.

Sliding scale and open studio days will be made available to give underserved persons an opportunity to join us in the studio and benefit from our space, machinery, volunteers and contributing members.

Our restrooms are gender neutral and wheelchair accessible, and there is a barrier free restroom on the first floor. Our wood studio is on the second floor and our textiles and ceramics studios are on the third. We have an elevator that must be operated by an employee. Should you require elevator access we are available to bring the elevator to you anytime you need it. Please call us on the studio phone and we will come downstairs promptly. Call 647-567-3486

Our infrastructure (tables, seats, storage) is generally accessible and can be modified for any persons requiring it. We have built everything ourselves with as much universal usage in mind as possible, and we are happy to assist members by outfitting spaces to make them more accessible as needed. We appreciate your patience as we make amendments to our infrastructure in these instances.

2S-LGBTQ+

HCS is creating and maintaining a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment for 2S-LGBTQ+ community members, staff, guests and instructors. HCS aims to sustain visibility and a sense of community throughout the studios.

We are committed to building equity, promoting inclusion and offering a safe space to all 2S-LGBTQ+ persons and engage a zero-tolerance policy for any action or language that is offensive, excludes or derides any person based on their sexual orientation, preferences or identity.

Anti-Racism

Any person engaging in discriminatory actions forfeit all rights of membership and involvement at Hamilton Craft Studios.

We recognize that our founders and board of directors are caucasian, and that Black, Indigenous and Racialized People are underrepresented in our community, within the studio crafts we serve and corporate structure of our business. We will be able to better address this as HCS engages more directly with individuals who identify as BIPOC by creating opportunities within our company for hiring, shareholding and membership.

We are committed to doing the internal and external work to create an anti-racist studio environment that all BIPOC feel safe in and are confident to participate within.

We encourage all white and white-presenting members, employees and participants to engage the content linked below and make sure they are actively contributing to creating an anti-racist environment within our facility. Please visit this link: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/edit

LandBack

Hamilton Craft Studios is situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas. This land is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, which was an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek to share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We further acknowledge that this land is covered by the Between the Lakes Purchase, 1792, between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

Today, the City of Hamilton is home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we recognize that we must do more to learn about the rich history of this land so that we can better understand our roles as residents, neighbours, partners and caretakers.

We further acknowledge that our business is created within a society that has benefitted from the colonisation of North America and the unfair, unjust and criminal treatment of the Indigenous people of this land. We are committed to creating space for and doing our part to give power and agency back to the Indigenous community of Hamilton.

Personal Integrity

No artist / maker shall infringe on the intellectual property of any other artist, within our studio or outside of our community of artists and makers. No member will monetize work that is directly recognizable as or intended to replicate the style or designs of another artist.

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