Well, as I mentioned in an earlier blog entry I picked up a flyer about this pottery festival at the Whynot Pottery booth at the 2009 Celebration of Seagrove Potters in Seagrove, NC. It was just another example of how these potters network. Promoting one festival at another and besides it will also benefit the NC Pottery Center – something of interest to all Carolina potters and me. And once again it shows how far reaching the Pottery Center is – here they are involved in an event all the way up in Hickory.
NC Legislators – don’t pay attention to anything the Bobbsey Twins of the pottery world tell you – check out the facts on the NC Pottery Center. You’ll be surprised at what’s the truth.
So, after I got home from Seagrove I checked out the website for the 13th annual Catawba Valley Pottery and Antiques Festival, which was actually the website for the Catawba County Historical Association, where I found this press release.
The 13th annual Catawba Valley Pottery and Antiques Festival will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2010, at the Hickory Metro Convention Center, I-40, Exit 125 in Hickory, NC, from 9am until 5pm.
The Festival is a fundraising event for two non-profit institutions, the Catawba County Historical Association and the North Carolina Pottery Center. Tickets are $6 for adults and $2 for children 12 and under and are available at the door. Ticket holders will be entered into a drawing for door prizes.
Friday night, March 26, 2010 is the Preview Party from 7-10pm. A southern-style supper, live entertainment, and the early buying opportunity make this a popular event. Advance tickets are required and must be purchased by March 19, 2010. Tickets are $40. No Preview Party tickets will be sold at the door. Please call 828/324-7294 for purchase information.
Do you have a piece of pottery of unknown background? Representatives from the North Carolina Pottery Collectors’ Guild will be available to offer expert opinions on the possible background and history of individual collectors’ pieces.
In addition to the 110 pottery and antique vendors from all over the Southeast, this year’s festival will feature a pottery exhibit prepared by Dr. Terry Zug, retired University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor and author of Turners and Burners: The Folk Potters of North Carolina.
The speaker this year is Stephen C. Compton, a native of Alamance County, NC. Compton holds an A.B. in anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, M.Div. from Duke University, and D. Min. from Emory University and currently is the district superintendent for the Sanford District of The United Methodist Church. He formerly served as president of the board of directors for the North Carolina Pottery Center and was a founding member and first president of the North Carolina Pottery Collectors’ Guild.
An avid collector of North Carolina pottery for nearly twenty years, Compton has assembled a group of about 1,000 pieces of pottery dating from the 18th century to the present, including utilitarian earthenware, stoneware, and art pottery. Objects from his collection have been displayed in numerous exhibits and publications. Publication of a book edited by him, North Carolina Earthenware: Origin of a Ceramic Tradition, is pending.
For further information on the Catawba Valley Pottery and Antiques Festival (http://www.catawbahistory.org/catawba_valley_pottery_and_antiques_festival.php), please contact 828/322-3943 or 828/324-7294.
For advance tickets to the Friday Night Preview Party ($40 per – required by Mar. 19, 2010) send check or money order to: CVPAF, PO Box 2583, Hickory, NC 28603
This announcement might seem a little ahead of time, but it never hurts to plan ahead and many Yankees (I’m originally from Michigan) who read this will be looking for any excuse to head south after a couple of months of winter weather. And, I’m sure we’ll have more details to offer about this festival as we get closer to the date of its happening.
Plus, I’m always looking for ways to show that Carolina Arts has an expanded vision of the overall pottery community in the Carolinas. Get the hint you other potters and pottery areas? You feed us the info – we spread it around.
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