Interest in folk pottery is soaring in the
U.S., both among collectors and scholars
who study the native art. The Folk
Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia,
located at Sautee Nacoochee, is scheduled
to open in Spring 2006 to preserve and present
this popular art.
“It’s a living tradition,” says Stuart
Miller, museum director. “These pieces are
aesthetically interesting but their primary
purpose was utilitarian – syrup containers
for the breakfast table, jugs for moonshine
stills.”
The 4,000-square-foot facility is being
built on the grounds of the Sautee
Nacoochee Center near Helen and
designed to display a permanent collection
of 150 pieces dating from 1840 to the present.
The gallery celebrates the work of
area potters such as Cheever and Lanier
Meaders. The museum’s architectural
design was inspired by photos of the Meaders’
open-air studio; windows bring in natural
light for the collection and allow visitors
to view the pieces against the
surrounding mountain landscape.
The display is being shared with the
public by donors Dean and Kay Swanson,
who began their collection with pieces purchased
for phone book covers when they
owned Standard Telephone Co.
“Folk pottery is a tradition, handed
down from one generation of a family to
the next or learned from a master potter,”
Miller says. The art literally begins from the
ground up with potters digging and mixing
their own clay.
In addition to exhibit space, the
museum will include a smokehouse,
springhouse and moonshine still to
demonstrate how pieces were used in
everyday life. Visitors will be able to view a
film about folk pottery through the door of
a kiln.
After viewing the collection, museum visitors may want to pick up a map of areafolk pottery studios to witness this art in
action.
The museum is part of the Sautee
Nacoochee Center, a center for area art
and history as well as a community gathering
place.
The historical value of folk pottery is
also being exhibited now at the Northeast
Georgia History Center at Brenau
University at Gainesville where a permanent
gallery displays folk pottery from
the 19th century through present day
and includes a kick wheel built by the
late Lanier Meaders as well as some of
his work.
>>FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Call the Folk Pottery Museum at 706-878-3300
or visit their website at
www.folkpotterymuseum.com.
OR
Call the Northeast
Georgia History Center
at 770-297-5900 or visit their website at www.negahistorycenter.org.
—Gail Fleenor
