New pottery festival gets new permit
By Mary Anderson -- Staff Writer
Posted: 09/07/08 - 12:32:31 pm CDT
SEAGROVE — The Seagrove board of commissioners approved a new permit for the Celebration of Seagrove Pottery festival and the attorney for the Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery (MNCTP) reiterated its plan to pursue all legal remedies to stop the Celebration festival.
The permit withdrawal, new permit approval and comments from the attorney were the only business at the regular town board meeting on Sept. 2. Mayor Mike Walker said the new permit was issued for the Celebration of Seagrove Pottery, under the umbrella of the nonprofit Seagrove Area Potters Association (SAPA).
The MNCTP, sponsor of the traditional Seagrove Pottery Festival the weekend before Thanksgiving, is protesting the Celebration festival on the same weekend.
Greensboro attorney Nancy Quinn presented the commissioners with a document outlining the objections to the Celebration festival as a “respectful request that the Seagrove Town Council do the right thing, follow its own ordinances and refuse to permit another festival to threaten the success of the 27th annual Seagrove Pottery Festival.”
Commissioners Barbara Graves, Scott Auman, Gordon Milks Jr. and David Garner had just approved the new permit for the Celebration festival. The commissioners had made no comments on the permit request. They also accepted Quinn’s document without comment. Commissioner Ruby Mullin, who is recovering from knee surgery, was not present.
Asheboro attorney Jon Megerian, representing the Celebration festival, had asked to withdraw the first permit, issued to Ben Owen III, and presented the new permit for approval.
The MNCTP had argued that the first permit would allow only Owen to participate and every individual potter would have to apply for a permit. Quinn also said that even as Owen was denying any connection to the N.C. Pottery Center or SAPA, other potters had, through dozens of emails, stated that “everybody knew from the start that the new festival would be produced under the umbrella of SAPA.”
Quinn also charged that the Celebration festival was created for the purpose of hurting or destroying the Seagrove Pottery festival and the Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery, that the Celebration festival at the former Luck’s cannery was unsuitable and unsafe and questioned whether SAPA had complied with county regulations regarding signage.
If the MNCTP files suit, Quinn said, it will “most energetically” pursue legal means “to nail down, under oath, the improper purposes with which this group began and continues to operate.”
Quinn said the truth will show that local politicians — town and county — acted improperly and in concert with a few potters whose agenda merits closer scrutiny.
On Thursday, Mayor Walker said he had seen the potters “come together and pull together to put on this new festival” and for the benefit of the town and potters, he hoped that both festivals would be successful.
X Contact: 626-6116 or manderson(at)))courier-tribune.com
http://courier-tribune.com/articles/2008/09/08/news/gn2.txt
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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