Copies of this letter were hand delivered today to every member of the N.C. General Assembly today, along with copies of the 2008 Sanford Pottery Festival show publication to counter claims that it was critical of Seagrove.
The Sanford publication does detail certain failings of the N.C. Pottery Center, but is actually highly complimentary of Seagrove. More of this publication will be posted soon.
This letter calls for a formal investigation of Cultural Resources, its stewardship of public money and how it played politics, stepped on individual rights, exceeded its authority and mission and was willing to sacrifice the well-being of the two largest pottery festivals in N.C. for its narrow agenda.
Museum Letter to N.C. General Assembly
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Surveys
Exhibitors at the recent Sanford Pottery Festival had the opportunity to respond anonymously to a poll about the N.C. Pottery Center. Only ten percent of respondents had anything good to say about it.
Given a dozen factors that might contribute to financial success as a potter, respondents rated Pottery Festivals number one and the Center twelve.
That the Center never worked in a spirit of cooperation with the two largest pottery festivals in its own backyard (Seagrove and Sanford) might explain why the Center finds itself in a financially precarious situation after receiving millions of dollars in support, much of it at taxpayers’ expense, over the last decade.
When a larger survey of all the Seagrove Area Potters was attempted, supporters of the Center protested so vigorously that it was withdrawn. This was the genesis of the latest attempt to attack the Seagrove Pottery Festival and is, very simply, where the battle lines in Seagrove are drawn.
Readers who want to see the survey that scared Pottery Center supporters can find them by clicking the links below.
Few potters take any sort of pride in the Center, few people visit it and its supporters don’t want the truth to be known.
Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery Survey
Sanford Pottery Festival Survey
Given a dozen factors that might contribute to financial success as a potter, respondents rated Pottery Festivals number one and the Center twelve.
That the Center never worked in a spirit of cooperation with the two largest pottery festivals in its own backyard (Seagrove and Sanford) might explain why the Center finds itself in a financially precarious situation after receiving millions of dollars in support, much of it at taxpayers’ expense, over the last decade.
When a larger survey of all the Seagrove Area Potters was attempted, supporters of the Center protested so vigorously that it was withdrawn. This was the genesis of the latest attempt to attack the Seagrove Pottery Festival and is, very simply, where the battle lines in Seagrove are drawn.
Readers who want to see the survey that scared Pottery Center supporters can find them by clicking the links below.
Few potters take any sort of pride in the Center, few people visit it and its supporters don’t want the truth to be known.
Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery Survey
Sanford Pottery Festival Survey
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The North Carolina Pottery Center - Frankenstein's Monster
See the article that has been attacked by so many who support the N.C. Pottery Center and falsely cited as justification for creating a competing festival.
Frankenstein's Monster, The North Carolina Pottery Center
The N.C. Pottery Center tried to take the Seagrove Pottery Fetsival and its profits before this article was even published. This is clear from the April 1, 2008 minutes of SAPA (see post below), though many of its prominent members are continuing the fight to destroy the Segrove Pottery Festival and destroy the Museum to show their support of the Center.
Don Hudson served with Richard Gillson for ten years on the Museum board. He created the Sanford Pottery Festival and the State Fair Pottery Display with Richard to showcase the work of Seagrove Area potters.
Lies have been told saying that the recent Sanford Pottery Festival publication was critical of Seagrove. It is, in fact, strongly supportive of Seagrove and paid a moving tribute to Gillson and was dedicated to keeping his festival and his dream of creating a permanent home in downtown Seagrove for the Museum alive.
Frankenstein's Monster, The North Carolina Pottery Center
The N.C. Pottery Center tried to take the Seagrove Pottery Fetsival and its profits before this article was even published. This is clear from the April 1, 2008 minutes of SAPA (see post below), though many of its prominent members are continuing the fight to destroy the Segrove Pottery Festival and destroy the Museum to show their support of the Center.
Don Hudson served with Richard Gillson for ten years on the Museum board. He created the Sanford Pottery Festival and the State Fair Pottery Display with Richard to showcase the work of Seagrove Area potters.
Lies have been told saying that the recent Sanford Pottery Festival publication was critical of Seagrove. It is, in fact, strongly supportive of Seagrove and paid a moving tribute to Gillson and was dedicated to keeping his festival and his dream of creating a permanent home in downtown Seagrove for the Museum alive.
SAPA Board Meeting Minutes April 1, 2008
For those who care about the truth, the following was written by the President of SAPA to send a copy of minutes for a SAPA meeting held on April 1, 2008 to Don Hudson. Mr. Hudson did not ask her for these minutes and made no promises regarding their confidentiality. Since members of SAPA identified in these minutes are now taking positions that contradict their earlier statements, these minutes are being made available so that the public can evaluate their motives and credibility.
The minutes establish clearly that SAPA was aware that the N.C. Pottery Center had launched a hostile attempt to take over the Seagrove Pottery Festival and its profits. This could have no other effect than to destroy the Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery shortly after Richard Gillson died.
The minutes express the belief that the abusive attack that was meant to destroy the Museum and steal its festival for the Center was orchestrated from state government (Cultural Resources/Arts Council) in Raleigh. It is a matter of public record that the N.C. Pottery Center has put itself in a financially precarious situation and that it, and its supporters, might have strong motives to try to take the profits of the Seagrove Pottery Festival for use by the Center.
Despite claiming to recognize that the Museum was victimized by the Center, many members of SAPA are prominently involved in efforts to undermine the Seagrove Pottery Festival by holding a competing event at the same time.
End.
Begin SAPA minutes 4/1/08. All emphasis added.
----- Original Message -----
From: Sally Larson
To: 'Don Hudson'
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 4:18 PM
Subject: truce
Don, I have here the beginning minutes of our Board meeting on April 1st to show you that we are on the same side. This was the day we all found out about the festival take over. These are for your eyes only and are NOT to be shared or quoted in any way by anyone. I will trust you to respect my wishes. I was just as upset as everyone else when this came up and believe me, SAPA doesn’t want to see anything happen to the Museum, they are such a good fit with us representing the area pottery while we focus on marketing. SAPA has no intensions to “take over” the festival, in fact we are offering to help in any way we can and have already committed to promoting it through our publicist. I agree with you that there was some very underhanded actions taken and those people have been exposed. You need to back off so further action can happen. No one is going to do anything if they think you are going to get the credit for it. Know that you’ve started something and hand it over for others to deal with. We need to let the Museum become stronger and able to stand alone. They are so fragile right now they don’t need this combative publicity. Sally
SAPA Board meeting minutes
4/1/08
Present: Sally Larson, Bobby Marsh, Crystal King, Meredith Smildsin, Byron Knight, Linda Koonce.
The Board welcomed Michael and Mary Mahan who came to speak about their concerns surrounding the future of the Seagrove Pottery Festival and the Museum of Traditional Potters. Michael overheard Denny [Denny Meacham, Executive Director of the Pottery Center] tell Jeffery Dean that the pottery center was taking over the Seagrove Pottery Festival and when asked if it was alright with the Museum folks and she replied with “it doesn’t matter”. Michael was worried that the festival would not remain a local event and wanted to know if SAPA was willing to lend a hand in keeping it local. The Judies at the Museum said they first heard about it Monday.
Sally mentioned she had heard similar statements from Denny. She stated that there is a community here which needs to be represented and then there is the state organization. This is clearly bothering everyone. Byron had checked with someone he knows at the county level and she reported to him that this was a done deal, the Museum will not be allowed to have their property and the Festival will be turned over to the NC Pottery Center., This is all occurring with the County support. There was discussion whether the Traditional potters owned the rights to the Festival and concerns that the Festival as we know it will not continue. With the States involvement it is very possible that potters who had attended in the past will not be allowed into the NC Pottery Center Festival. According to Byron’s source in the Randolph government, the County claims there was a meeting with the three entities, the Museum, NC Pottery Center and the Commissioners in Raleigh and all three agreed to this change. There was no clarification on who attended the meeting. His source was concerned that if the Center takes over the Festival it will be a loss in revenue not only to the potters but also to Randolph County. Crystal asked if we now need to become the voice of Seagrove Potters. Byron felt that if this goes off the way we are hearing about there will be potters who will go under.
Sally read a letter Denny forwarded to her from County Manager Richard Wells: Denny, just have people call me. I’ll be glad to answer their questions. Keep in mind that I am out much of the time, especially right now with the ¼ cent referendum May 6 and I am the spokesperson.
SAPA and everyone else need to give me enough time to meet with the Museum folks and begin working on a plan. There is no need for folks to get excited. Getting everyone organized and informed will take some time.
RW
Michael was wondering who from the Museum actually met with the Commissioners because Judy Merritt didn’t know anything about it and she serves on their Board. It was obvious to everyone that if the Museum doesn’t put on the Festival and looses that income then they will go under and the idea that the state can take away the festival from them seems outrageous and the question is “how can they do that”? Sally had reported from a community member, not an official so it may be gossip that the problem may have arisen from the fact that Richard didn’t report the use of the funds they received from the County and that the County is concerned that the money was used to buy the building. Linda mentioned that when a grant is involved every penny must be itemized and that may be the core of the problem.
Sally felt that this was an opportunity for all of us to come together as a community and this may be the good that comes out of this. She said there wasn’t any reason that the Center can’t put on their own event and Michael said we want to maintain the Seagrove Pottery Festival run by local potters. Why can’t the Center “invite” the Museum to run their festival on their grounds?
Sally suggested we all do some research before we jump to conclusions. She will call Richard Wells, Bobby will call the School principal and Byron will check with his source and get back together. Crystal feels SAPA should make a statement that we are backing the potters in supporting the continuation of the Festival as it has been.
Sally thanked Michael and Mary for coming and called the meeting to order.
Sally Larson
The minutes establish clearly that SAPA was aware that the N.C. Pottery Center had launched a hostile attempt to take over the Seagrove Pottery Festival and its profits. This could have no other effect than to destroy the Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery shortly after Richard Gillson died.
The minutes express the belief that the abusive attack that was meant to destroy the Museum and steal its festival for the Center was orchestrated from state government (Cultural Resources/Arts Council) in Raleigh. It is a matter of public record that the N.C. Pottery Center has put itself in a financially precarious situation and that it, and its supporters, might have strong motives to try to take the profits of the Seagrove Pottery Festival for use by the Center.
Despite claiming to recognize that the Museum was victimized by the Center, many members of SAPA are prominently involved in efforts to undermine the Seagrove Pottery Festival by holding a competing event at the same time.
End.
Begin SAPA minutes 4/1/08. All emphasis added.
----- Original Message -----
From: Sally Larson
To: 'Don Hudson'
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 4:18 PM
Subject: truce
Don, I have here the beginning minutes of our Board meeting on April 1st to show you that we are on the same side. This was the day we all found out about the festival take over. These are for your eyes only and are NOT to be shared or quoted in any way by anyone. I will trust you to respect my wishes. I was just as upset as everyone else when this came up and believe me, SAPA doesn’t want to see anything happen to the Museum, they are such a good fit with us representing the area pottery while we focus on marketing. SAPA has no intensions to “take over” the festival, in fact we are offering to help in any way we can and have already committed to promoting it through our publicist. I agree with you that there was some very underhanded actions taken and those people have been exposed. You need to back off so further action can happen. No one is going to do anything if they think you are going to get the credit for it. Know that you’ve started something and hand it over for others to deal with. We need to let the Museum become stronger and able to stand alone. They are so fragile right now they don’t need this combative publicity. Sally
SAPA Board meeting minutes
4/1/08
Present: Sally Larson, Bobby Marsh, Crystal King, Meredith Smildsin, Byron Knight, Linda Koonce.
The Board welcomed Michael and Mary Mahan who came to speak about their concerns surrounding the future of the Seagrove Pottery Festival and the Museum of Traditional Potters. Michael overheard Denny [Denny Meacham, Executive Director of the Pottery Center] tell Jeffery Dean that the pottery center was taking over the Seagrove Pottery Festival and when asked if it was alright with the Museum folks and she replied with “it doesn’t matter”. Michael was worried that the festival would not remain a local event and wanted to know if SAPA was willing to lend a hand in keeping it local. The Judies at the Museum said they first heard about it Monday.
Sally mentioned she had heard similar statements from Denny. She stated that there is a community here which needs to be represented and then there is the state organization. This is clearly bothering everyone. Byron had checked with someone he knows at the county level and she reported to him that this was a done deal, the Museum will not be allowed to have their property and the Festival will be turned over to the NC Pottery Center., This is all occurring with the County support. There was discussion whether the Traditional potters owned the rights to the Festival and concerns that the Festival as we know it will not continue. With the States involvement it is very possible that potters who had attended in the past will not be allowed into the NC Pottery Center Festival. According to Byron’s source in the Randolph government, the County claims there was a meeting with the three entities, the Museum, NC Pottery Center and the Commissioners in Raleigh and all three agreed to this change. There was no clarification on who attended the meeting. His source was concerned that if the Center takes over the Festival it will be a loss in revenue not only to the potters but also to Randolph County. Crystal asked if we now need to become the voice of Seagrove Potters. Byron felt that if this goes off the way we are hearing about there will be potters who will go under.
Sally read a letter Denny forwarded to her from County Manager Richard Wells: Denny, just have people call me. I’ll be glad to answer their questions. Keep in mind that I am out much of the time, especially right now with the ¼ cent referendum May 6 and I am the spokesperson.
SAPA and everyone else need to give me enough time to meet with the Museum folks and begin working on a plan. There is no need for folks to get excited. Getting everyone organized and informed will take some time.
RW
Michael was wondering who from the Museum actually met with the Commissioners because Judy Merritt didn’t know anything about it and she serves on their Board. It was obvious to everyone that if the Museum doesn’t put on the Festival and looses that income then they will go under and the idea that the state can take away the festival from them seems outrageous and the question is “how can they do that”? Sally had reported from a community member, not an official so it may be gossip that the problem may have arisen from the fact that Richard didn’t report the use of the funds they received from the County and that the County is concerned that the money was used to buy the building. Linda mentioned that when a grant is involved every penny must be itemized and that may be the core of the problem.
Sally felt that this was an opportunity for all of us to come together as a community and this may be the good that comes out of this. She said there wasn’t any reason that the Center can’t put on their own event and Michael said we want to maintain the Seagrove Pottery Festival run by local potters. Why can’t the Center “invite” the Museum to run their festival on their grounds?
Sally suggested we all do some research before we jump to conclusions. She will call Richard Wells, Bobby will call the School principal and Byron will check with his source and get back together. Crystal feels SAPA should make a statement that we are backing the potters in supporting the continuation of the Festival as it has been.
Sally thanked Michael and Mary for coming and called the meeting to order.
Sally Larson
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Sanford/Seagrove Relationship
On Friday, June 27, 2008 at 2:57 PM I received the following in an e-mail message to The Courier-Tribune's Mary Anderson:
"I, Don Hudson, and Phil Morgan, challenge Ben Owen III and any other potter of his choice to a debate open to the public to be held under the auspices of The Courier-Tribune."
Sounds like a golden opportunity to get down to the real issues.
"I, Don Hudson, and Phil Morgan, challenge Ben Owen III and any other potter of his choice to a debate open to the public to be held under the auspices of The Courier-Tribune."
Sounds like a golden opportunity to get down to the real issues.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Results of Town Council Meeting
The application submitted by potter Ben Owen III, et. al., was not properly filled out - it had the wrong festival location, it did not have the property owner's signature and it was not notarized.
The town attorney told the Council he could not recommend voting on a defective application, and he hinted that the application could be withdrawn. He stated repeatedly that the application could be withdrawn and Mr. Owen finally withdrew it.
The Museum had substantial support at this meeting and Museum president Linda Loggains again stated that Seagrove Pottery Festival proceeds are used to operate it's free Information Center in downtown Seagrove. The Museum Information Center greets public visitors, hands out free maps of area potteries, displays sample pottery from area potteries, and represents all potters equally. This activity in turn sends visitors out to visit the local shops of their choice.
The Town of Seagrove missed a great opportunity to deny the application and tell all potters that the Seagrove Pottery Festival was an event that would be protected for the good of the entire community.
The town attorney told the Council he could not recommend voting on a defective application, and he hinted that the application could be withdrawn. He stated repeatedly that the application could be withdrawn and Mr. Owen finally withdrew it.
The Museum had substantial support at this meeting and Museum president Linda Loggains again stated that Seagrove Pottery Festival proceeds are used to operate it's free Information Center in downtown Seagrove. The Museum Information Center greets public visitors, hands out free maps of area potteries, displays sample pottery from area potteries, and represents all potters equally. This activity in turn sends visitors out to visit the local shops of their choice.
The Town of Seagrove missed a great opportunity to deny the application and tell all potters that the Seagrove Pottery Festival was an event that would be protected for the good of the entire community.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Seagrove Town Council Meeting
At 7 PM this Friday, June 20th, the Seagrove Town Council will be meeting to consider a required permit for the above mentioned private festival.
It will be located at the Seagrove Fire Department to allow more room for the potters and the community to attend.
Please plan on attending in support of the Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery.
It will be located at the Seagrove Fire Department to allow more room for the potters and the community to attend.
Please plan on attending in support of the Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery.
Rebellion in Seagrove- What's at Stake
There is a potter rebellion against the Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery, and a desire to stage a seperate festival the same weekend as the Seagrove Pottery Festival. Refer to Southern Pines The Pilot staff writer John Chappell's "Potters Rebel on Festival" article as well as a statement of intent or resolution that has been published in area newspapers as a "letter to the editor".
The public should be aware that immediately following the death of Seagrove Pottery Festival founder Richard Gillson, an attempt was made to transfer control of the 26 year old festival and bankrupt the Museum through the efforts of a high ranking Randolph County employee. That particular effort failed.
Seagrove potter and Museum supporter Phil Morgan may be accurate in his determination that plans for a private festival is a power play that appears to be a hostile takeover of the Seagrove Pottery Festival. Many Museum supporters are not willing to rebel against an organization that continues to support them economically and provide a lucrative sales event.
The Seagrove Pottery Festival, named as a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event for the second year in a row, is a financial bonanza for many area potters, and it is unfortunate that some potters do not understand the issues and the risks associated with the destruction of a Top 20 sales event.
According to Chappell's article, potter Ben Owen stated that the Seagrove Pottery Festival should have always been his group's festival.
The festival is owned and operated by the Museum according to it's non-profit charter. The Museum uses festival proceeds to maintain a free information facility that continues to promote local potters throughtout the entire year.
The downtown Seagrove Museum showcases local pottery, distributes maps and educates the public about the scores of shops in the area while helping them plan their visits. Most simply stated, a large portion of Seagrove Pottery Festival proceeds are invested back into the Seagrove pottery community, and the Museum supports and represents all Seagrove area potters in a fair and equitable manner.
A second festival will harm attendance at the Seagrove Pottery Festival and may cause financial harm to the Museum. It could also cause a negative impact on the ecomonic vitality of less fortunate potters within the Seagrove area.
A rebellion does not appear to be a wise or intelligent solution to economic challenges that face the Seagrove area. Seagrove potters who would prefer to simply make pots should take interest in such a rebellion, expecially one that could seriously affect their business of selling those pots.
The public should be aware that immediately following the death of Seagrove Pottery Festival founder Richard Gillson, an attempt was made to transfer control of the 26 year old festival and bankrupt the Museum through the efforts of a high ranking Randolph County employee. That particular effort failed.
Seagrove potter and Museum supporter Phil Morgan may be accurate in his determination that plans for a private festival is a power play that appears to be a hostile takeover of the Seagrove Pottery Festival. Many Museum supporters are not willing to rebel against an organization that continues to support them economically and provide a lucrative sales event.
The Seagrove Pottery Festival, named as a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event for the second year in a row, is a financial bonanza for many area potters, and it is unfortunate that some potters do not understand the issues and the risks associated with the destruction of a Top 20 sales event.
According to Chappell's article, potter Ben Owen stated that the Seagrove Pottery Festival should have always been his group's festival.
The festival is owned and operated by the Museum according to it's non-profit charter. The Museum uses festival proceeds to maintain a free information facility that continues to promote local potters throughtout the entire year.
The downtown Seagrove Museum showcases local pottery, distributes maps and educates the public about the scores of shops in the area while helping them plan their visits. Most simply stated, a large portion of Seagrove Pottery Festival proceeds are invested back into the Seagrove pottery community, and the Museum supports and represents all Seagrove area potters in a fair and equitable manner.
A second festival will harm attendance at the Seagrove Pottery Festival and may cause financial harm to the Museum. It could also cause a negative impact on the ecomonic vitality of less fortunate potters within the Seagrove area.
A rebellion does not appear to be a wise or intelligent solution to economic challenges that face the Seagrove area. Seagrove potters who would prefer to simply make pots should take interest in such a rebellion, expecially one that could seriously affect their business of selling those pots.
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