Folk Pottery Museum News         www.folkpotterymuseum.com

SNCA and The Folk Pottery Museum continue to work with the Northeast Georgia History Center on several projects. If you have not had the opportunity to see the exhibit Tradition in Clay at the History Center, plan to spend some extra time in Gainesville on your next visit. The History Center has a fine collection of early northeast Georgia stoneware that compliment items from the archival collection of the Folk Pottery Museum used in the temporary exhibit. In anticipation of the National Geographic Appalachia map that features the Folk Potters Trail, we are applying to the Georgia Department of Economic Development for a grant to reprint a revised brochure and include the Northeast Georgia History Center as a southern gateway to the trail. We hope all these efforts will benefit both institutions as we connect our visitors to the stoneware traditions of Northeast Georgia.

Current exhibit at Folk Pottery Museum

The current exhibit, open since Sept. 1, 2007 in our changing gallery, focuses on North Carolina pottery and its relationship to our own northeast Georgia folk pottery and museum collection.

This wide ranging and colorful exhibit includes pieces from a surprising variety of folk traditions including Native American earthenware, Moravian lead glazed earthenware, salt glazed stoneware from the eastern piedmont, and alkaline glazed stoneware from the Catawba valley.

The new exhibit features several pieces by the late Burlon Craig who, like Georgia’s Lanier Meaders, was a living link back to the utilitarian pottery production so necessary to survival among the small farmers of the south. As we learned through the previous Edgefield pottery exhibit, the North Carolina potters moved where clay deposits and markets took them. Not surprisingly several early Mossy Creek families including the Cravens can trace their turning and burning ancestors back to the “Old North State.”

Curator Dr. John Burrison developed the exhibit drawing from his personal collection of North Carolina pottery. The design and production work is once again the artistry of Folk Pottery Museum exhibit designer Dale Brubaker. SNCA members are encouraged to stop by the Center to experience the new exhibit and then spread the word to friends and family!

Now is great time to begin volunteering as a docent in the Folk Pottery Museum. Volunteers will be training and taking a local folk pottery field trip in October. Call Chris at 706-878-3300.

Anita Meaders

What is Folk Pottery? Part III

This month we will complete our discussions about what constitutes folk arts. In the first installment we learned that folk arts are learned traditionally in a community setting. The second installment described how folk artists are inspired by the past and the flexibility of their craft. This month, let’s explore the final two attributes.

Folk objects can be both useful and beautiful. In rural communities art is not separate from everyday life. People decorated utilitarian objects to express themselves and bring beauty to their lives. Quilts do not need to be pieced in pleasing patterns to keep us warm nor does a blacksmith’s clothing hook need a decorative twist or leaf finial. The folk potter’s product, though utilitarian, was still aesthetically pleasing.

Folk objects are handmade in an inherited tradition. Folk objects are produced by hand and not by machine. All folk objects are handmade but not all handmade items are folk objects. The work of local self-taught potters is not considered folk since they did not learn the craft informally from members of a community.

I hope that this series has given our members a better understanding of how our museum in particular showcases a regional craft that incorporates and illustrates all of the attributes of folk arts.

Michael Crocker

What is Folk Pottery? Part II

Back in August we began looking at folk arts and how they differ from other artistic expressions. In the first installment we noted that folk arts are learned traditionally in a community setting. This month let’s explore two more attributes.

Folk artists bring the past into the present. Folk artists are inspired by earlier work from within their community. This is illustrated by the decorative wares produced by today’s living folk potters. The jugs, jars and churns that are decorated with grapes, snakes and faces draw their inspiration from historic vessel forms and are linked back to traditional decorative themes.

Folk arts are flexible. Folk art can connect us to the past but it remains fresh and useful by adapting to change. Folk potters of the mid-twentieth century responded to declining demand for utilitarian stoneware by diversifying into gardenware. The popular strawberry jar is a traditional churn or jar form modified with holes in the wall to contain small plants.

Lanier Meaders

What is Folk Pottery? Part I

What makes the objects in our museum different? A number of people ask us to define “folk” every day, and I thought our members would be interested in knowing as well. Over the next few months I hope to cover six ways that folklorists define and differentiate folk arts from other artistic expressions.

Folk arts are learned traditionally. Folk arts are learned through informal contact, face to face. The potters featured in the museum learned their craft by working with another potter. This could be in a family pottery shop, a garden ware business (that grew out of a family folk pottery), or by apprenticing with a folk potter.

Folk arts are community-shared. The historic folk potters in our museum were a resource supplying a necessary item to a larger community. They were important in their local communities such as Mossy Creek or Gillsville but by carting their wares to other places they served the larger northeast Georgia region.

Remember to share the museum with visiting friends.

—Chris Brooks, Folk Pottery Museum Director

Ninety-eight visitors braved the chill of an Easter cold snap to participate in Habersham County Day. Demonstrations by David Meaders and Wayne Hewell held some visitors spellbound while others tried their hand at decorating miniature jugs with Lin Craven. Michael Crocker, co-curator of the exhibit greeted visitors and answered questions about folk pottery and collecting. Special guest John Kollock personalized prints and books in the Crittenden Room. We want to extend thanks to all the Center volunteers who helped make the day possible.

The Folk Pottery Museum welcomes new volunteers Mike Welborn, Bob Rowan, and Paula Gilkey. Volunteer opportunities are still available in the Museum, call today for more information 878-3300.

White County Day at the Folk Pottery Museum, February 24

Over 120 White County citizens attended the special open house in their honor on February 24th. The day was a great success with turning demonstrations by several potters and curator John Burrison came up from Atlanta to field questions during the morning. Folk Pottery Museum volunteers enjoyed greeting visitors and encouraging everyone to visit the history museum and the gallery. We are planning a similar day for citizens of Habersham County on April 7th.

The Folk Pottery Museum hosted the 2nd through 5th grades from Mount Yonah Elementary during the fall. Letters from the students were recently received by the museum and we thought you might enjoy some excerpts.

“We had a great time making pottery at the pottery station,” said Brooks Teal. “It seemed I got smarter,” said Savannah Sanford. “I liked learning about the Indians. I enjoyed learning about pottery,” said Christopher Donovan. “The field trip to your place was the best one I have ever had,” said Mac Tinius.

Thanks to all the staff and volunteers who helped make these field trips possible.

Volunteers are still needed to staff the front desk during the week. Morning and afternoon shifts are available. Front desk staff greet visitors, sell tickets, and orient visitors to the museum all while sitting in the most beautiful building in Northeast Georgia! Help support your Folk Pottery Museum and the Center, call Chris at 878-3300.

Find out more about the Folk Pottery Museum at www.folkpotterymuseum.com