Well, you just never know where something like this will go. I’m referring to the effort to raise $100,000 to save the North Carolina Pottery Center from having to close its doors after ten years of operation in Seagrove, NC. You can see other postings here under the heading NC Visual Arts (listed to the right).
I received an update on the fundraising effort from both Michael Kline of Michael Kline Pottery in Bakersville, NC, and Meredith Heywood of Whynot Pottery in Seagrove, NC, at about the same time. That tells you how the networking is going on this effort – nothing happens without folks all over Seagrove, the Carolinas, and now the nation – hearing about it.
The latest news is that AKAR, a gallery in Iowa City, IA – that’s Iowa – way out in the mid-west, is holding a benefit to raise money to help the NC Pottery Center. The gallery has images of items (mostly pottery) posted on their website (www.akardesign.com) where 100% of profits will go to the NC Pottery Center. This includes pottery by artists from Wisconsin, New York, Nebraska, and Arizona, as well as works by artists from Canada and Australia.
If you’re wondering how a gallery in Iowa gets involved in this effort – well there is the internet to thank, but it more likely has to do with the fact that Michael Kline is having an exhibition there and he has been very active in trying to help the Pottery Center, but the gallery didn’t have to help out because of that. They’ve represented other potters from this area – so they may be protecting their interest in Carolina potters or just see the importance of the Pottery Center. The important things is – they are doing something to help.
It’s the networking of people that is driving this effort. Take Meredith Heywood, on July 8, 2008, lightning struck a tree near their studio space sending an electrical surge into their building’s wiring, starting a fire which gutted the building. In the middle of her troubles, she is spending a lot of time spreading the word around about the Pottery Center’s problems. Her husband, Mark Heywood has been offered workspace at STARworks, a business incubator located in Star, NC, just down the road from Seagrove. So he’s been working off-site. They have also received a lot of help from the pottery community around Seagrove. It all comes down to people helping people.
But, for many people, no matter what is going on in their lives right now – saving the Pottery Center is on the top of their to do list. And, now we have people in Iowa helping too. What next?
I want to tell you about another fundraiser I overlooked in my last posting. Bulldog Pottery in Seagrove, NC, operated by Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke, is offering a Fossil Fish Jug by Bruce Gholson (15 3/4″ x 10 3/4″ x 10 3/4″) for $600 (shipping included) at (www.bulldogpottery.com). All proceeds will be donated to the NC Pottery Center.
The North Carolina Pottery Center is also calling for e-mails of support to be presented to the NC General Assembly. A few lines of what the Center means to you or to the pottery community as a whole would be appreciated. Send them to Anna Niles at (annan@ncleg.net). Please put in the subject line: support for the NCPC. E-mails can be addressed: To the NC State Legislators.
I have to say for me the North Carolina Pottery Center represents a dream that one day in South Carolina we will have art facilities like this showcasing the talents of artists in our state.
In my 20 plus years of covering the visual arts in South Carolina, and over the last 12 plus years of covering visual arts in both North and South Carolina, the one thing I can say which differentiates the two states is North Carolina’s superior support of their art community – both traditional and contemporary.
We have nothing that compares with facilities like the Folk Art Center in Asheville, the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, and the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, just to mention a few.
But no facility tells the storied history of North Carolina’s Piedmont area’s tradition of handmade pottery like the Pottery Center – covering that tradition from pre-historic Native Americans to artists working in the 21st century.
The temporary exhibitions presented there have featured not only potters from the Seagrove area, but potters from all over North Carolina, the world, and SC. The last exhibit I saw at the Center included works showcasing Rock Hill, SC’s Catawba Indian potters.
For ten years the small community of Seagrove and the surrounding region have carried the weight of the Center on their shoulders. It would be a shame and a tragedy to loose this jewel of the NC art community, the Carolina art community and our nation when saving it as a state facility would take such little funding compared to the rewards the facility gives in return to the state – in tourism and documented cultural history.
If you have had some contact with the NC Pottery Center – either as an artist, visitor or arts administrator – I urge you to send a few lines of support in an e-mail to show your support.
And, don’t for get to make a donation on the Center’s website at (www.ncpotterycenter.com).