Departments
The Moravian Pottery & Tile Works: A Working
History Museum
APPRENTICESHIP FAQ
What are the hours that I am required to work?
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The Tile Works is open every day. We have a small staff which covers all production and tours during the week. We rely on apprentices to help us with these obligations. As a result your schedule will be either a Sunday, Monday and Wednesday schedule or a Wednesday, Friday and Saturday schedule. Whichever schedule you are assigned will be kept consistent throughout the session. During those days you will be working from 8:30am to 5:00 pm. There is a half hour lunch break and 15 minute break in the morning as well as a 15 minute break in the afternoon. You will total 24 hours each week that you work.
What will I be doing during the work time?
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You will be doing all the tasks required for the production of Moravian tile. These tasks include but are not limited to the following:
Mixing local clay
Pressing tiles
Making and setting mosaics
Hand painting & Glazing tiles
Unloading and loading kilns
What is the pay rate for the hours worked?
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The current pay rate is $7.35 per hour worked under production supervision.
What about housing?
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Once accepted as an apprentice we will provide you a list of people in the area who have offered to house apprentices. You will need to contact them for rate and accommodation information. You will also be provided links to the local papers as another option.
What kind of work can I make on my own time?
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Tiles and mosaics, of course! Apprentices view this as an opportunity to develop a new body of work within the realm of tile. Generally if they were not making tiles before, by doing so here they attempt to free themselves from old baggage and perhaps gain a fresh eye on their past work. Your wares will be fired in the same production kilns as our standard wares. Our tradition in American Arts and Crafts utilizes local clay. We are working in a very specific slice of American ceramic history and offer a method of working as well as an historical perspective. Studio spaces are small – it basically consists of a table about 6 feet long and some shared areas. You are free to use your personal studio space anytime that you are not scheduled to work in production. You won't be able to bring in or create new clay bodies or glazes. We do not allow throwing in our studio, we do not have wheels nor room for them…you will be working with our wonderfully irregular local clay and our standard lead glazes producing tile and mosaic of your own design during your personal studio time. All ware is fired in our production kilns with our standard production tiles to Cone 05. We stack our kilns specific to our tile and mosaic pieces which precludes vessel making or sculpture. We cannot accommodate tiles more than an inch or so thick. Due to the nature of our facility we can not allow the use of other clays or glazes.
What materials are available to me?
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Local terra cotta clay
Puritan Plaster (up to 100#)
Our standard glazes
Cement (up to 100#)
Sand
You may also use our colored clays but you must pay for the cost of materials.
What kind of experience and or education should I have?
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We seek apprentices who at the least have a basic background in ceramics. We do not expect you to know about tiles and/or mosaics. Most of our applicants are undergraduate and graduate level Fine Art majors in ceramics.
When will I be able to work on my personal work .
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You can work on your own tile/mosaic work anytime the Tile Works is open and you are not scheduled to work in production. You will also be provided a key and security clearance so that you can work beyond our normal business hours..
Call , write or email us with any additional questions you may have?