SNCA Newsletter, Vol 26 No 4, Sept/Oct 2006
Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia Grand Opening in September
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Bob Slack applies bricks to the kiln replica which features a video monitor playing scenes of the Meaders family potters at work. |
On September 2nd, the long awaited Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia will open its doors. More than five years in the making, the Museum will be a showcase for the rich folk pottery tradition of our region. The new Museum building and its permanent collection is made possible through the generosity of Dean and Kay Swanson. For two years we have watched in anticipation as the wood frame structure took shape. The distinctive architecture is a credit to architect Bob Cain who designed a building that was inspired by the straightforward simplicity found in other structures in the North Georgia landscape.
Visitors to the Museum will be immersed in the story of folk pottery of Northeast Georgia. The museum can be accessed by entrances on either side of the building as well as by a corridor that connects the Museum to the old schoolhouse. Once in the lobby you will see original paintings by John Kollock and Linda Anderson that depict scenes associated with North Georgia folk pottery. The middle of the lobby displays a signature work of folk pottery by Michael Crocker. Get your bearings and go explore.
The main exhibit hall is divided into two primary areas. One side of the hall is an exhibit that allows the visitor to see folk pottery as it would have been used in daily life when pottery served as utilitarian ware for a variety of purposes. Settings such as a smokehouse, a kitchen, and moonshine still remind us that the pots were the mason jars and Tupperware of yesterday. One highlight of this area is a replica kiln with a touchscreen monitor that plays a video of the celebrated Meaders family potters at work.
The other side of the exhibit hall provides a chronological walk through the history of folk pottery in our region. Throughout the exhibit maze you will find stories of the potter families who brought the craft to our area and the potters who continue it today. Here you will see the evolution of folk pottery, learn about the family traditions and see the creative contemporary works that combine respect for the roots of the craft with creative vision.
It is interesting to note that even though Northeast Georgia is a hotbed for folk pottery, the craft was nearly wiped out by social and economic changes, such as the Great Depression and Prohibition, and the introduction of factory-made containers. These conditions threatened the existence of local potters and the tradition of folk pottery. If fact, many potters left the trade, but others adapted to the changing times and produced garden pottery and decorative pieces to continue their livelihood.
In addition to the permanent exhibition, the Museum opens with a special temporary exhibition of Edgefield Pottery. These impressive pots show the influence that the Edgefield district of South Carolina had on the potters who migrated to Northeast Georgia. Included in this body of work are two pots by Dave Drake. While laboring as a slave Mr. Drake created huge jars which he sometimes decorated with poetry. The exhibit also includes pieces created at the Phoenix Stoneware Factory and other pottery companies that operated in the Edgefield District during the 1800s. This exhibition is on display for one year thanks to a generous loan from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Levon Register.
The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia is one of only a handful of museums in the world that are exclusively focused on collecting and exhibiting folk pottery. The Museum opens at a time when folk pottery in Northeast Georgia is enjoying a resurgence as collectors increasingly seek out the objects made here. Society as a whole seems to be gaining an appreciation for the authenticity and quality of folk pottery. You are invited to discover the Museum at a special members-only preview, Saturday, August 26 from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. Come back the following Saturday, September 2 for the Grand Opening at 12:00 noon.