12th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational set for Saturday, September 10
Collectors and pottery lovers will have access to the latest works by leaders in the rich tradition of North Carolina pottery when potters from across North Carolina and surrounding areas return to Mint Museum Randolph for the 12th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational on Saturday, September 10, 2016.
Fifty outstanding North Carolina potters and two South Carolina potters have been invited to participate in this year’s event presented by the Delhom Service League, the ceramics affiliate of The Mint Museum, promoting ceramic arts and education. They’ll come from Seagrove, Western N.C., the Catawba Valley, and the Piedmont, and set up their booths in a tent on the lawn of the museum with remarkable works in clay – useful wares including mugs, teapots and jars, as well as over sized pots, contemporary art pottery, and sculptures. It’s like a shopping tour of the state’s best potteries all under one tent in one day. Attendees have the opportunity to get to know the potters as well as their work.
The addition of Winton and Rosa Eugene, from Cowpens, S.C., to the lineup of potters broadens the regional focus while keeping the spotlight squarely on North Carolina pottery traditions. Other well-known participating potters include Akira Satake, Ben Owen III, Cristina Cordova, Eric Knoche, and Julie Wiggins. Every year, hundreds of pottery enthusiasts line up in advance of the opening to gain access to the day’s best treasures.
The Delhom Service League dedicates the 2016 Potters Market Invitational to Daisy Wade Bridges (1932-2015), and is proud to honor her by establishing the Daisy Wade Bridges Purchase Prize from the Potters Market Invitational. Daisy Wade Bridges collected avidly and widely, and it is a certainty that without her dedicated support and enthusiasm there would not be a ceramics collection at The Mint Museum. One of Bridges’ favorite projects was the Potters Market Invitational, and each year she generously donated to the museum several pieces of pottery from this event, making certain that the museum’s North Carolina pottery collection would be broadened and inclusive. Bridges was a major force in ensuring the prominent place The Mint Museum holds in the world of ceramics.
The Delhom Service League is celebrating its 40th Birthday this year. Established in 1976, this unique organization has grown from a few students of ceramics to over one hundred men and women who not only study the history of ceramics but also work to present educational programming, support the ceramics collection, add volumes to the Delhom-Gambrell Library, and provide funds for the purchase of objects to enhance the collection. Their most recent projects include funding the publication British Ceramics 1675-1825, a catalogue of the collection edited by Brian Gallagher, Curator of Decorative Arts, as well as support for the new installation of the European ceramics collection throughout Mint Museum Randolph.
The $10 admission fee includes access to the potters’ tent from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as well as free admission to the museum and docent led gallery tours. “Many of the potters that will be selling under the tent also have objects in the museum collection,” says Joe Skwara, who chairs the project this year for Delhom Service League and also serves as a docent. “Potters Market Invitational is such a great opportunity to connect with artists as real, live people, and then see their art inside the museum.”
Additionally, there are folk musicians, pottery-making demonstrations, and food. Children 12 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Newly on view in the galleries will be the re-installation of the museum’s North Carolina pottery collection , which was guest curated by North Carolina potter David Stuempfle to reflect work by artists whose work is included in Potters Market Invitational. A free shuttle connects Mint Museum Randolph to Mint Museum Uptown from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. so visitors may experience both locations.
Individual sponsorships of $100 include Early Admission at 9:15 a.m. in advance of the general public. Special parking and continental breakfast are also included. Individual sponsorships of $150 also include attendance at the Meet the Potters Party being held Friday, September 9 from 6:30-9 p.m. Sponsors will enjoy dinner, music, and an opportunity to mingle with the potters and other pottery enthusiasts. Funds raised by Potters Market Invitational provide acquisitions of pottery and library materials for the Mint.
Potters Market Invitational admission tickets and sponsorships are available at the door and in advance at mintmuseum.org/happenings/1026. For questions, please email delhomserviceleague@gmail.com or call 704.337.2000. See our rack card and list of potters. Find Potters Market Invitational on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.