Mint
Museum of Art
Potters Market Invitational
North
Carolina's top potters gather at the Mint Museum of Art
for first invitational on Saturday, Sept.10
Pottery
enthusiasts will have a unique opportunity to buy wares
directly from some of the state's premier potters on Saturday,
Sept. 10. The Potters Market Invitational –
the first ever sponsored by The Mint Museums’ affiliate
group, the Delhom Service League – will be held
on the lawn of the Mint
Museum of Art at 2730 Randolph Road, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Avid
North Carolina pottery collectors and first-time buyers
alike can shop for high quality pottery or porcelain.
Tickets are $6 and include
admission to the museum for the day. Proceeds will benefit
the museums’ collections.
More
than 30 potters representing the state's historic pottery
regions of the Catawba Valley, Seagrove and the Piedmont,
the mountains and Penland will participate. The
market offers a rare opportunity for the public to meet
potters of national rank as well as young emerging artists.
 |
Cynthia
Bringle |
The
market will offer a wide variety of pottery, from
traditional dinnerware, vases, jars and jugs, to figural
pieces, contemporary sculptures and garden objects.
Prices will range from affordable, for the beginning collector,
to upper end items of interest to serious collectors.
Among
those selling at the invitational will be Cynthia Bringle,
one of America's preeminent potters and a legendary teacher
at Penland School of Crafts; Phil Morgan,
a Seagrove potter whose rare crystalline vases are in
the collections of such prestigious institutions as the
Smithsonian and England's Wedgwood Museum; and Kim Ellington,
a Catawba Valley potter who learned much of his craft
from the renowned folk art potter Burlon Craig. Original
wares from master craftsmen will be offered for sale at
booths hosted by these outstanding potters. The
show will be held inside a tent, rain or shine.
"This
will be a rare opportunity for buyers to meet the best
of the North Carolina potters," says Phil Kline,
executive director of The Mint Museums. The
Mint, which holds the nation's largest public collection
of North Carolina pottery has been instrumental in collecting
and exhibiting North Carolina pottery.
Aside from the historic continuity of Native American
pottery, North Carolina
boasts the only continuing pottery tradition in the United
States, an aspect appreciated by collectors around the
country.
 |
| Jane Peiser |
"This
tradition is a very important part of the North Carolina
heritage," says Barbara Perry, the Mint's Curator
of Decorative Arts. "Pottery has been both a cultural
and an economic factor in the state." Perry
edited a major book detailing the museum's holdings, North
Carolina Pottery: The Collection of the Mint Museums
(2004). Copies will be available for sale at the Potters
Market Invitational.
The
Potters Market Invitational is sponsored by the Delhom
Service League, an affiliate of The Mint Museums that
supports and promotes the Mint's ceramics collections.
The league was started in 1972 and sponsors
lectures, classes and seminars throughout the academic
year for members and the public.
The
honorary chair of the Potters Market Invitational is Charlottean
Daisy Wade Bridges, an author and collector of North Carolina
pottery who was one of the first patrons to recognize
the significance of the North Carolina pottery tradition.
General
Information
The Mint Museums are supported, in part, with a Basic
Operating Grant from the Arts & Science Council,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc.; the North Carolina Arts Council,
an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the
National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Charlotte;
and their members.
 |
| Donna Craven |
The
Mint Museum of Art is located at 2730 Randolph Road in
Charlotte Hours are Tuesday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Wednesday
through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 5
p.m. Admission is FREE at the Mint Museum of Art from
5 to 10 p.m.
The
Mint Museum of Craft + Design is located at 220 N Tryon
Street, Charlotte. Hours are Tuesday through
Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 5 p.m. Admission
is FREE on Tuesdays at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design
from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and every Third Thursday of each
month from 5 - 8 p.m.
Admission
is $6 adults, $5 seniors and students, $3 ages 6 to 17
and free for members and children 5 and younger. Admission
is valid for both museums on the same day.
 |
| Crystal King |
Annual
membership is $25 students, $30 teachers, $30 seniors
(62 years +), $50 individuals, $75 household, $50 senior
household (62 years +), $40 national associate (residing
90 + miles away), and $150 patron. Member
benefits include free admission to the Mint Museum of
Art and Mint Museum of Craft + Design, invitations to
members’ receptions and special events, 10% discount
at the Mint Museums Shops, free admission and discounts
to 65 museums in the Southeast, subscription
to the Mint’s bi-monthly newsletter, and discounts
on Museum workshops, classes and lectures.
A
native of northern Virginia, Natasha Marinoff Rider graduated in 1999
with a B.A. in Communications from Lynchburg College in Virginia. In
2002, she received her Master's degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution
from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. She currently
serves as the Public Relations Manager for The Mint Museums in Charlotte,
NC.