There is some big news for folks traveling on US 220 (the future I-73/74) in North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has opened two new Visitor Centers, located within 5 miles of the geographic center of North Carolina along both sides of the US 220 corridor in Randolph County just south of Seagrove and just minutes from the North Carolina Zoo, near Asheboro, NC.
It’s great news for my bladder and I’m sure many others too. Thank you Hardee’s in Seagrove and the old rest stop in Ellerbe, NC, on US 220 Business – you’ve both been good friends in the past but I’ll now give my business to the NCDOT – with some exceptions. I won’t be paying to place copies of Carolina Arts in either of those centers. We don’t and have never paid for placement of our paper and surely couldn’t now – no matter how good a distribution point some places might be. We still feel the various visual art locations we report on – art galleries, art spaces, art museums and even potteries are the best places for people to discover our paper and look for it every month. If people like the info we offer, we want them to return to the places they found it to begin with or places like it.
It is my hope that both of these new Visitor Centers will be great ambassadors for Seagrove area potteries, as well as other area attractions.
The North Carolina Pottery Center (NCPC) in Seagrove, NC, will present the exhibit, New Generation of Seagrove Potters, featuring works by fifteen Seagrove area potters all under age 40, from Feb. 12 through Apr. 10, 2010.
Blaine Avery
The Seagrove area has a long and rich history of pottery and this exhibit highlights some of the younger potters who have made a career working in clay. The participating potters include Blaine Avery, Chad Brown, Jeff Dean, Samantha Henneke, Daniel Johnston, Crystal King, Matthew Luck, Stephanie Martin, Eck McCanless, Will McCanless, Tommy Nichols, Travis Owens, Hitomi Shibata, Takuro Shibata, and Jared Zehmer.
Samantha Henneke
Travis Owens
The NCPC will host a Demonstration Day on Mar. 20, 2010, from 10am-3pm. Plan to visit the NCPC to see featured potters, Samantha Henneke, Crystal King, Travis Owens, Tommy Nichols, and Chad Brown demonstrating at the wheel in NCPC’s education building.
Also, Meredith Heywood – that’s Heywood with an “e” (my mistake several times) of Whynot Pottery in Seagrove, NC, and a fellow blogger is in the process of organizing an exhibit, to be entitled, Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story, which will be presented at the Campbell House Galleries of the Arts Council of Moore County in Southern Pines, NC, from Oct. 1 – 29, 2010.
I think she has nearly 50 potters and bloggers from as far away as Alaska in the US of A, and from Canada, UK, Australia and possibility New Zealand as well. It should be a very interesting exhibition.
Since starting Carolina Arts Unleashed, over a year and a half ago, I have been amazed at the impact of blogs in spreading news about events, information about techniques, marketing practices, travel tips, images of artworks, calls for help – you name it. I look forward to seeing this exhibit of clay works from around the world, plus seeing the impact blogs have had on the potters and their creative process.
Carolina Arts, Carolina Arts Online, and Carolina Arts Unleashed have become a media sponsor of this exhibit and we’ll keep you updated on developments as we get closer to the date of the exhibit’s beginning.
Of course there will be Spring kiln openings in Seagrove and there’s an expanded “Cousins In Clay” event planned for this year, including Bulldog Pottery, Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery and their special guest potters, but I don’t want to spill all the beans at once. So stay tuned for news from Seagrove.
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Tags: Add new tag, Arts Council of Moore County, Campbell House Galleries, Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story, Meredith Heywood, NCDOT, New Generation of Seagrove Potters, North Carolina Department of Transportation, North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove NC, Southern Pines NC, Whynot Pottery