Complaint filed over festival rift
By Mary Anderson -- Staff Writer
Posted: 10/26/08 - 10:12:42 pm CDT
SEAGROVE — Will there be two pottery festivals on the same weekend in November?
The Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery (MNCTP) in Seagrove is taking steps to prevent that.
MNCTP has filed a complaint against the Town of Seagrove seeking a temporary restraining order and then a permanent injunction against the Celebration of Seagrove Potters to hold a festival on the third weekend in November when the traditional Seagrove Pottery Festival takes place. MNCTP coordinates the Seagrove Pottery Festival.
The complaint, filed by Greensboro attorney Nancy Quinn in Randolph civil court on Oct. 2, also asks for a sum in excess of $10,000 plus interest and compensatory damages, a declaratory judgment that the town ordinance was improperly applied and an injunction to prevent the SAPA craft and pottery festival.
The Celebration potters will hold their festival under the auspices of SAPA, the Seagrove Area Potters Association. MNCTP claims SAPA is not a 501.c.3. nonprofit corporation and violates the Seagrove town ordinance that vendor permits are valid only for nonprofit groups. The complaint asks the court to determine whether the permit was properly granted.
SAPA is a 501.c.6 nonprofit organization, an Internal Revenue Service designation specifically for professional and trade organizations.
The complaint comes after months of disagreement among potters which became public last June, when a group of dissenting potters joined forces and announced that they were withdrawing from the Seagrove Pottery Festival and would hold a separate festival on the same weekend.
Members of the MNCTP were outraged and accused the dissenters of trying to steal and destroy the traditional pottery festival. Potter Phil Morgan, now president of the MNCTP board, called it a power play that appeared to be a hostile takeover.
Potter Ben Owen III said the more than 60 potters who wanted an alternate festival wanted their own voice in the community and the potters had been left out of decisions made by the MNCTP board.
On June 27, the Seagrove Board of Commissioners approved permits for the Seagrove Pottery Festival and the Festival of Seagrove Potters to hold pottery festivals on Nov. 22 and 23. The Festival of Seagrove Potters later withdrew that application when opponents argued that the permit would be valid only for Owen, who signed the application, and that every potter involved would need an individual permit.
The dissenting potters changed their name to Celebration of Seagrove Potters and the town board granted a new permit under the umbrella of SAPA. The Celebration group proceeded with plans to hold their festival at the vacant Luck’s Inc. plant on the edge of town.
When this permit was approved by the town commissioners in August, the MNCTP board had already retained Quinn, who served notice of possible legal action.
The complaint further alleges:
X That the Seagrove Board of Commissioners were acting as a Board of Adjustment and N.C. law authorizes aggrieved parties to seek a review of decisions by Boards of Adjustment.
X That the Seagrove Pottery Festival is vital to the survival of the MNCTP and complements the N.C. General Assembly’s mandate that the Seagrove area is the state birthplace of traditional pottery and that the Seagrove Pottery Festival is the premier pottery festival of N.C.
X That holding a second festival craft and pottery festival through SAPA at the same time would cause irreparable harm to the MNCTP by requiring it and its member potters to either choose between festivals, attend both with duplicative expenses, cause confusion with the general public visiting the town for the festival and diminish the value of the reputation they have built up over the last 27 years.
Seagrove Mayor Mike Walker referred questions to the town attorney, Bob Wilhoit, who could not be reached late Friday.
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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