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survey of all the Seagrove Area Potters was attempted, supporters of the Center protested so vigorously that it was withdrawn.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
27th Annual Seagrove Pottery Festival
When: November 22-23, 2008 Where: Located At: Seagrove School, 528 Old Plank Road, Seagrove, NC.
Richard Gillson, 1936-2008.
Friend, Artist, Potter, Promoter, Visionary. No man did more to define the famous "Seagrove Area Potteries" or to nurture the traditional arts and crafts in the heart of North Carolina than Richard Gillson. His personal mission was to promote the Seagrove pottery tradition and create the most inclusive, creative, open, democratic, consistent and accessible organization in the Seagrove area.
Proposed Museum Information Center
This new and modern facility, transformed from the old downtown grocery store building, would enable the Museum to continue it's mission - to preserve and perpetuate the pottery tradition of the five-county Seagrove area, which includes Randolph, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, and Chatham counties. This area is currently home to the largest group of working potters in the nation, and is rich in North Carolina's pottery heritage that has continued in Seagrove for over 200 years.
The Randolph Plate - Circa 1775
In 1983, the Museum of NC Traditional Pottery purchased its first piece of antique pottery for the museum's permanent collection, for $6,200. It is a beautifully decorated slipware plate, 13 inches in diameter, dated by experts to the late 1700s. It is believed to have originated in Randolph County, which is further supported by the fact that it was acquired from a Randolph County family in which the plate has been for many generations. The unsigned plate's age, quality of design, condition and rarity make it one of the finest and most significant pieces of antique pottery ever to be found in the Seagrove area.
Museum gives birth to NC Pottery Center
Under Richard's leadership, the museum helped start the N.C. Pottery Center by donating nine acres of valuable commercial real estate, a large house, historic pottery, financial support and staffing to the Center over a period of many years.
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