Blue Cow Art Studio is at 62 Lyme Road, Hanover, New Hampshire, and is owned and run by Jenny Ellis. Classes, camps and events here should be fun, welcoming, and safe. These policies are here so everyone knows what to expect. Please read the sections that apply to your booking — and email hello@bluecowartstudio.com with anything you're unsure about. I'd always rather answer a question than have you guess.
Kindness and respect
Blue Cow is a place where people try things they aren't good at yet. That only works if everyone feels safe doing it. Everyone who takes part in a Blue Cow program — students, families, and visitors — agrees to treat everyone else in the studio with kindness and respect.
Dress for a creative mess
We get messy on purpose. Please send your artist in clothes that are allowed to get dirty. There are aprons in the studio for anyone who wants one, but paint has a poor sense of aim. Blue Cow isn't responsible for damaged clothing.
Real materials, real tools
We work with a wide range of materials and tools: paint, glue, hot glue guns, pastels, chalk, clay, cardboard, hammers, scissors, and other sharp things. Working with real materials carries real risk, and we manage that with instruction, close supervision, and clear rules. Accidents can still happen.
Everyone in the studio is expected to follow the safety guidance they're given: art supplies never go in mouths, tools are handled the way they were demonstrated, spills get reported because wet floors are slippery floors, and nobody runs.
Telling me what I need to know
When you register, you'll have space to tell me anything that helps me keep your artist safe and supported — allergies, medical conditions, medications, sensory needs, things that help when they're frustrated, or anything else you'd like me to know.
This isn't a screening test, and nothing on that list disqualifies anyone from Blue Cow. It's so I can plan. If something changes partway through a session, just tell me.
When someone's unwell
If your artist isn't feeling well, please keep them home — it keeps everyone else healthy, and nobody makes good work while miserable.
Please don't come to the studio if, in the last 24 hours, your artist has had a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea, or if they have a persistent cough or anything else that might be contagious. If someone arrives unwell, or starts feeling unwell during class, I'll call their adult to come and collect them.
There's no credit for a class missed through illness. I know that's not the fun answer — see Cancellations below for why, and for what I can do instead.
Snow days and closures
Blue Cow follows the Dresden Interstate School District. If Hanover schools are closed for weather, or after-school activities are cancelled, our children's classes are cancelled too.
Adult classes are cancelled by phone or email before the class start time.
If Blue Cow has to cancel a session for weather, I'll try to schedule a make-up on a Saturday at the end of the term, if possible. That session would be for any adult or kids who missed class for weather that term — basically a hive of activity to make up studio time!
Arrival, absence, parking, and pickup
Let me know about changes. If your artist will miss a class, arrive late, or be collected early, email ahead when you can. Parents and guardians are responsible for telling me about absences, late arrivals, early or late pickup, and anything unusual about how their artist is getting to or from the studio.
Who can collect your artist. At registration you'll list the adults authorized to pick up your child. I won't release a child to anyone who isn't on that list without hearing from you directly. Please include anyone who might collect them, even occasionally — a grandparent, a neighbour, another parent on the carpool.
Walking to and from the studio. We're at 62 Lyme Road, directly across from Richmond Middle School. If your artist will walk here or home on their own, tell me at registration so I know to expect them. Blue Cow doesn't currently collect students from other schools.
If you're running late. Classes end on time and I'm often teaching again straight after. There's a 10-minute grace period; after that a late fee of $1 per minute applies. Please call if you're delayed — I'd much rather know than wonder.
Parking. Please drive thoughtfully in the parking lot, as there are folks coming and going into the studio building. Our parking lot has plenty of spaces, but if for some reason it's full there may be parking available on Lyme Road. There's no parking along Lyme Road N (Rte 10 N) during the school day, but after about 3:15pm you may park along the field sidewalk if needed. Parking is also available outside of school hours on the north side of Dresden Road, directly across from the studio's parking lot. Two spaces in our lot are marked for the exclusive use of the building's apartment — please leave those free.
Snacks and food
Blue Cow doesn't provide snacks. If your artist comes to the studio straight from school, they're welcome to eat a snack from home in the snack area before class starts. If you're dropping off, please have them eat beforehand — it's hard to make art hungry, and harder to make art while eating.
Food stays in the snack area and off the art tables. Please tell me about any food allergies at registration. We're NOT a nut-free studio; tell me about allergies and we'll work out what your artist needs.
Medical care and emergencies
In an emergency I'll call 911 first and you immediately after. At registration you'll give me emergency contacts and permission to seek emergency medical care for your artist if you can't be reached right away.
There's a first aid kit in the studio, and the Hanover Fire Station is just down the street on Lyme Road.
Medication. Blue Cow doesn't administer medication of any kind. If your artist carries an epi-pen, an inhaler, or anything else they may need, tell me at registration, make sure it comes with them, and show me where it lives.
Behavior
The studio runs on freedom and trust, which means it can sometimes be louder and more active than a typical classroom, and that's ok!
What is not ok is anything that makes the studio unsafe or unwelcoming: bullying, violence, unsafe use of tools, or repeated disruption after being asked to stop. If that happens, I'll talk with your artist first. If it continues, I'll call you. If it continues after that, I'll ask you to collect them, and in rare cases ask that they not come back.
There's no refund or credit for time missed when a student can't continue for these reasons.
Taking artwork home
Work needs to dry, and ceramics need to be fired, so most pieces go home a week or more after they're made. Glazed ceramics can take two to three weeks — sometimes longer if we're waiting to fill a kiln load.
Please collect finished work within 30 days of the end of your session. Studio space is limited and I can't store work indefinitely.
Photographs and video
Blue Cow photographs and films classes, camps, workshops and events, and uses those images on our website, on social media, in marketing, and in our own records. Taking part in a Blue Cow program means you agree that you and your artist may appear in those photographs and recordings, and that Blue Cow may use them without payment or further approval.
We never publish names alongside images.
If you'd rather your artist didn't appear in anything we share publicly, email me and I'll make sure they don't. I'd much rather know up front than take something down later.
Photos taken by families. You're very welcome to photograph your own artist and their work. Please don't photograph or share images of other people's children.
Registering and paying
Payment in full reserves your spot. Registration isn't complete until you've paid and received a confirmation from Blue Cow. If you don't get that confirmation, you aren't enrolled — please check with me rather than assuming.
At registration you'll complete a one-time permission form and agreement. Signed forms can't be edited afterwards, so if something changes, ask me for a new one and I'll send a fresh link.
Keeping your details current is up to you: phone, email, address, emergency contacts, authorized pickup, and anything medical. Email me whenever something changes.
We accept credit card, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. Full payment is due at registration — Blue Cow doesn't currently offer payment plans or scholarships.
Class sizes and waiting lists
Classes are deliberately small, so that everyone gets real attention and I can actually help with the thing you're stuck on. That means classes do fill.
When a class is full you can join the waiting list through the booking system, and I'll be in touch as soon as a spot opens.
Cancellations, credits and refunds
Supplies are bought and staffing is planned around who's enrolled, so a late cancellation is a cost I can't recover. Cancel early and I can refund you or hold the value as credit; cancel late and I can't. I'll always try to be fair — every situation is different.
If you need to cancel
Cancel in writing more than 14 calendar days before the program start date and you can choose either a refund of what you paid, minus a $25 administrative fee, or full studio credit — good for a year from the cancellation date on any Blue Cow class or workshop.
Within 14 days of the start date, bookings are non-refundable and non-creditable.
Cancellation requests must be in writing, to hello@bluecowartstudio.com.
Missed classes
There's no credit, refund, or private make-up for a missed class, an absence, or a sick day — including when you know about it in advance.
If Blue Cow cancels
If I have to cancel an entire class, camp or event outright — low enrollment, illness, anything else — you choose: a full refund, or credit toward something else.
If a single session is cancelled partway through a term, I'll schedule a make-up where possible.
Serious illness, injury, or an emergency
Life happens. If something serious comes up — a significant illness or injury, or a death in your immediate family — email me and tell me what's going on. I handle these case by case and I'll do my best by you.
Staying in touch
You can add your email to the Blue Cow newsletter at registration if you'd like occasional news and classes. It's optional, we don't share your address, and every email has an unsubscribe link.
Questions
Email hello@bluecowartstudio.com or call 603-443-2203.
Blue Cow Art Studio, 62 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755.
Permission to participate
By registering, you give permission for your artist to take part in Blue Cow Art Studio programs, including the use of the materials and tools described in these policies.
If you are registering yourself, you're confirming that you're able to take part safely, and that you've told me anything I need to know in order to support you.
Risk, release and liability
What Blue Cow programs involve. Making art here means working with real tools, real equipment and real materials, and that carries real risk. Depending on the program, that includes but is not limited to sharp tools such as carving tools and craft knives; heat, including hot glue and a kiln; materials such as clay, glazes, paints, inks and dusts that can irritate skin, eyes or airways; hand tools; and the ordinary hazards of moving around a shared working studio, including wet and slippery floors.
No list can cover everything. This is a working art studio, and the risks that come with that are accepted whether or not they appear above.
What you're acknowledging. You acknowledge that these risks exist, that Blue Cow manages them through instruction, supervision and clear rules but cannot remove them entirely, and that you accept them for yourself and, where you're registering a child, on their behalf.
Release. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release and hold harmless Blue Cow Art Studio, its owner Jenny Ellis, and its instructors, employees and volunteers from claims, demands and liability for injury, loss or damage arising out of participation in Blue Cow programs — while at the studio, arriving or departing, or on any studio outing. This does not apply to injury, loss or damage caused by gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
Personal property. Blue Cow isn't responsible for personal property that's lost, damaged or stolen at the studio. Please leave valuables at home, and put a name in coats and bags.
If part of this doesn't hold. If any provision of these policies is found to be unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
Governing law
These policies are governed by the laws of the State of New Hampshire.
Blue Cow Art Studio · 62 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755 · Jenny Ellis, owner.