I am really interested in teaching a class on doing lifecasts, most likely of our hands. If it went well I would probably do it about 1-2 times a month and could pass the torch onto anyone else interested in teaching it. I’m wondering if there’s a way I can get money for the needed supplies. I’m still working on putting together an exact budget, but it would probably end up being around $50-60 a person depending on how much bulk I can get at once. It would be a make and take class.
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That would probably be under Creative Arts, so you’d check with @jrkriehn, largely because that sounds like it’d exceed that $200 that’s one of the limitations. @Bizwacky can also give us some tips.
It’s a situation where like an individual sample kit is $39 but a gallon is $200. If I can buy in bulk at the beginning it will be over that $200 limit for sure but then I would probably get 2-3 classes out of it. I’ll have to do some experiments to see exactly how much it’ll end up being.
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Yay!!! I’ve been waiting for you to create a class like this. 
I want to do my head though! 
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Yeah I think heads are super cool too but probably too much contact right now. Maybe next fall. Hands allows us to safely distance
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Hands will also let me get an idea of how it works. 
I’m so sorry, this is not a helpful response at all, but I just wanted to chime in that once the plague is over I would be SUPER up for paying for help/a class for life casting my head/face 
It’s a completely helpful response! Knowing people are interested makes it easier for me to justify putting this together. If it doesn’t work with DMS funding can always have people pool some money ahead of time to get supplies
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Are you talking about Alginate casting with plaster or plaster casting with clay?.
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Hanna -
this would require a vote of the committee (I can only approve expenses of up to $200 without committee approval.) We just had our March meeting this past week, so we can’t consider anything until April.
But - all you need to do is write up a proposal for the quantity and cost of products needed (it’s easiest to include links to the source you prefer to use) and submit it for inclusion on the committee meeting agenda.
If you can start a list of interested student/members, that provides you with some “proof of concept” for the committee. The cost may be prohibitive for some, so be sure they understand that it’s not just a “yay! cool class idea!” question but a “yay, cool class and HELL YEAH I would pay $50 bucks to cast my hands!” question. If you can, also provide info on how long the supplies will last (I.e. - if classes don’t make here or there, will the stuff go bad and be unusable? How many students should be able to complete a project before you run out of the substance?)
Sending it to me here on TALK (@jrkriehn) or at my makerspace email address ([email protected]) will ensure I get it. (any other email addresses are officially hit or miss due to spam exceeding my attention span…)
Once approved by the committee, assuming it does not exceed $500 total for all supplies needed, we can make the purchase. Either
(1) you can purchase on your own and submit receipts to me for approval - then submit to the Treasurer/Finance Committee/Bookkeeper for reimbursement, or
(2) I can direct our purchasing agent @Starreyedgirl to place the order for us. Since you are at the space way more often than I am, you can probably keep an eye open around the space for the delivered items (while in theory all mail should come through the front door, stuff gets delivered to the back warehouse doors - both by Ceramics and by Laser/Automotive pretty regularly. But it’s rare that anybody schleps said deliveries up to the Common Room from the back doors…)
You can also use the extra time to write up a class description (curriculum) and all to submit to the Honorarium Audit group. That’s the slowest part of the process. I’m kinda wondering whether they could provide you with feedback prior to actually scheduling on the calendar? @Edenblue - do you know? I would recommend planning on doing promotion once scheduled, to ensure people know it’s available. We’ve all kind of gotten out of the habit of trolling the calendar for cool stuff, ya know?
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No I am talking about a permanent mold with body safe silicone. It would be able to make several castings from the same mold which is why it is preferable in my eyes
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Ok certainly. I didn’t really know what the process was. I will do a demo and see if I can get a small class kit together for under $200, then put in a full proposal for April and beyond. The materials used should be quite shelf stable, so should last a long time. I’m not 100% sure what quantity is going to be needed per student so I will need to play with it myself and see how much I end up using
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Generally speaking, it’s not required to formally pre-submit the class to the Honorarium Group. It would certainly help to have a syllabus in the class description, but I have never had an issue with a class that’s making a thing that the student gets to work on and keep. The only class I’ve ever had refused was the field trip to JoAnne’s to discuss patterns and fabric types. And that was refused because it wasn’t on DMS property. I still held it as an event – it just didn’t get an honorarium.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but you can charge a $20 or $25 fee using the calendar system for taking the class without a need for a committee vote.
Yeah I could charge the fee but that doesn’t help much if I’m going out and spending money. I could presumably have people bring me cash and forgo the honorarium but I would rather do things through official channels if possible
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Unless the rules have changed there is nothing preventing you from receiving the honorarium and charging a fee for the class supplies. I would ask for the fee ahead of time so the no shows do not stiff you the fee.
From the WIKI.
Honorarium Rules
Honorariums are paid by the Dallas Makerspace to promote structured education about making. These rules are intended to encourage teaching topics which directly relate to making, including learning tools, software, methods, and techniques needed to make something. Honorariums are not intended to encourage the teaching of classes which have nothing to do with making, including subjects which are better learned through public schools or institutions of higher learning. Members may teach non-making classes, however these classes will not be eligible for honorarium.
Requirements
- Persons wishing to collect honorariums for classes must provide a fully completed and signed W9 to DMS prior to receipt of any honorarium, without exception.
- To be approved for honorarium, a class must be submitted at least 144 hours prior to the beginning of the event.
- All classes are subject to scrutiny especially where subject matter is vague, potentially unrelated to making, or instruction time is less than 90 minutes to ensure quality of material and value to the DMS and members.
- Instructors must provide a syllabus or detailed outline of the class to be eligible.
- Instructors shall not request or suggest any personal gratuities
- If an instructor donates his/her portion of the Honorarium to a Committee, then a W9 shall not be required.
- Only a single honorarium may be paid for any class.
- Honorarium can be forgone by the hosting member and designated to a committee
- Honorarium Auditors cannot discuss their own honorarium requests except through channels available to non-Honorarium Auditor.
- For the duration of their term, no Director serving on the Board of Directors may accept personal payment for honorarium. The 2019-2020 Board (Marshall Blatz, Julie Harris, Scott Blevins, Ken Purcell, James Henningson) will not qualify for Honorarium until 12 months after their terms have expired.
Honorarium Payment Policies
- Honorarium payments to teachers will $50.00 per class taught that meets subject and attendance requirements.
- Honorarium payments will be limited to four (4) per teacher, per month to begin with and this class limit will be periodically reviewed and adjusted to encourage more teaching or to control costs.
- Honorarium payments to committees will remain at the current level of $25.00 per class taught for the first two classes taught in which the teacher has elected to receive personal honorarium. Once a teacher has exceeded the two-class personal limit, the committee portion shall increase to $50.00 for any additional classes taught.
- Teachers will have the option to donate the honorariums they are eligible for to the committee of their choice at the time the class is posted on the DMS calendaring system.
Minimum Class Sizes
- For all honorarium classes 3 attendees are required to receive honorarium.
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For Tool Basics classes that met the minimum number of attendees 12 hours prior to the beginning of the class, the honorarium will be paid upon approval by a Director or the Treasurer.[8] - Honorarium auditors have the responsibility for enforcing these rules, however, their judgements may be appealed to the Board of Directors at the next available meeting.