Helios Kiln Glass Studio Policies

Liability Waiver

All students and customers are required to sign a Helios liability waiver before taking any class or using Helios tools, equipment or materials.

Studio Safety

Helios provides eye and ear protection, but please remember that safety is the responsibility of the student and customer.

Closed shoes are required for the classroom and coldworking room.

We recommend students wear long pants, shoes with socks and natural fiber clothes.

Age Requirements

Students must be 18 years old or older to particpate in any Helios class or activity.

Classes, Registrations and Deposits

Reserving a Class Seat (Deposits)

For all classes priced at $100 (before discounts) or less, payment in full is required to register.

For all classes priced more than $100 (before discounts), 50% payment is required to register.

All balances are due before the start of the first class.

Cancellations - Classes Taught by Helios Staff

If there are still open seats in the class, students who cancel their reservation 30 days or more before the start of class are entitled to a refund of their deposit.

If the class is full, students who cancel their reservation 30 days or more before the start of class can apply their deposit to any other Helios class.

Within 30 days of the start of class, deposits are non-refundable.

Cancellations - Classes Taught by Visiting Instructors

Deposits for classes taught by visiting instructors are non-refundable.

Students who cancel within 30 days of the start of any class taught by a visiting instructor are required to pay the full class tuition.

After a student cancels, if Helios is able to fill all seats in a class, all or part of the deposit may be refunded at Helios staff discretion. In most cases, cancellations made within 30 days of class start will not be eligible for a refund (or waiver of outstanding commitment) of more than 50% of the full tuition amount.

Discounts When Signing Up for Multiple Classes

Students who register for three qualifying classes at one time are eligible for a 15% discount on class tuition.

Qualifying classes include all Helios staff taught classes with a non-discounted price of more than $100.

Students who are already enrolled in a qualifying class can register for additional classes and receive the same 15% discount on the new registrations.

Discounts are never provided “retroactively” to any class after the start of the first session.

Missed Classes and Make-Up Sessions

Students who miss a class due to illness or personal emergency may be eligible for a “makeup” session at the sole discretion of Helios staff. Make-up sessions are instructor lead and are intended to cover only the information required to continue within a class and may not include all information covered in the missed class.

Make-up sessions must be scheduled in advance. Students are allowed one free make-up session in a calendar year. There is a $25 fee for all make-up sessions after the initial free session.

Auditing & Observing

Due to the classroom size and in consideration of students who have paid to participate in a class, we do not allow "auditing" or "just watching".

This policiy does not apply to students have special needs (for example a hearing impaired student who requires a sign language translator). Please inform Helios staff of any such requirements in advance of the first class.

Open Studio & Firing Services

What’s Included in Open Studio?

Helios offers three levels of open studio (table time) at scheduled times during the week. “Blast” and “Full Access” are available for an hourly fee (measured in quarter hour increments). Hourly rates are available on our Open Studio Rates page.

Free open studio includes the following:

"Blast" Open Studio includes the following:

"Full Access" Open Studio includes the following:

All students and customers must be “certified” to use equipment. Please see this chart to see which classes count as certification for specific equipment.

IMPORTANT: Open studio does NOT include the use of any consumables (glue, tape, etc.) or glass. So that we can continue to provide free basic studio access, we are asking customers to purchase their own Glastac, etc. Studio scrap glass, frit, enamels, mica, vitrigraph and standard stringer, etc are for class and all-in-one projects only.

Kiln Firing Services

Helios offers kiln firing services for glass projects. Firing fees are based on shelf space and category of firing:

Basic Firing: One or two layer firing fired according to any one of our standard basic firing schedules.

Thick Firing: Three or four layers fired according to any one of our standard “thick” firing schedules and based on standard fiber board shelf sizes. “Thick firing” fees include necessary fiber paper and use of fiber board, pins, dams, etc,

Small Piece Firing: Multiple small pieces prearranged on a 10” square shelf according to any one of our standard “small piece” firing schedules.

Custom Firing: Any firing not covered above is considered a custom firing. Custom firings are offered based on kiln availability. See Paul for details.

Additionally:

Firing fees are based on occupied kiln shelf space and may be larger than the dimensions of the work being fired. For example, when slumping, firing fees are based on the size of the slumping mold (even if the glass only occupies part of the mold).

There is a minimum charge of 1/2 square foot per item fired (except for small piece firings described above).

We reserve the right to refuse firings services for work that we consider, at our sole discretion, production work (volume, repetitive and/or commercial) or offensive.

Helios will replace the glass for any project that breaks, over-fires, or results in large bubbles between the glass and the kiln shelf. Exceptions include custom firings and firings identified as “high risk” when dropped off at the studio. At no time will Helios be liable to a single customer for a single kiln load for more than the cost of the materials or $100, whichever is lower.

Changes to These Policies

Helios may, from time to time, update or change these studio policies. When we do, we’ll notify customers subscribed to our email list.

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