Open Access Supervisor – Volunteer Role

The Workshop has operated successfully for a number of years without staff, but we are dependent on volunteer-members to be able to offer access to the facilities to our members in a safe and supportive environment.

Open Access sessions are when members book in to use the facilities to work independently in the Studio. For more information see Your Open Access and About the Studio.

These sessions are supported by an Open Access Supervisor (a volunteer-member) to make sure that health and safety guidelines are followed. They also help users with accessing / buying materials and equipment.  

These are not teaching sessions. Only members who are confident in a process, who have already been trained or have taken a workshop can book to use Open Access.

Extending Open Access: We would like to extend the opening hours available to members so that those in work and education and with other daytime responsibilities have more opportunity to use the Studio.

We currently only offer limited Open Access sessions (usually 3 hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings) and we would love to offer an evening and occasional weekend sessions (excluding dates when workshops are taking place.)

What is involved and can you support us?: We are looking for members who would like to become more involved in SPW and make more use of their membership to become Open Access Supervisors.

  • Open Access sessions are independent working sessions, so you will not be expected to teach
  • Open Access sessions are usually for 3 hours
  • You do not need to be proficient in all the printmaking processes we use
  • You will be offered induction and training to make sure you feel confident before you start
  • We can partner you with other volunteer-members so that we maintain regular cover if you have other personal commitments on any date.

What we offer you: We really value our volunteers and offer a number of benefits:

  • An hour of free studio time whenever it suits you for each hour spent as an Open Access Supervisor (usually 3 hours for a session)
  • Induction and training in Open Access supervision including Health and Safety
  • Priority booking for workshops on our Workshop Programme
  • Occasional opportunity for subsidized training on workshops

By volunteering with SPW you will become part of the SPW team and support us and our thriving arts community. You will have the opportunity to meet other artists and share expertise and ideas, to enjoy working in our friendly studio alongside others, as well as have time to progress your own artwork. If you have time to contribute and would like to explore the possibility of joining the team, we would love to hear from you. Please see Getting in Touch for how to contact us.