10th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational set for Saturday, September 6

Ninth Annual Potters Market Invitational to Take Place September 7

Established and emerging potters from across the state will be setting up their displays on the grounds of Mint Museum Randolph for the 9^thAnnual Potters Market Invitational on Saturday, September 7. More than 50 outstanding North Carolina potters are participating in this year’s event, presented by the Delhom Service League, the ceramics affiliate of The Mint Museum.

The event attracts close to 1,300 collectors and enthusiasts, many of whom line up hours in advance of the opening to purchase their favorite pieces. Works range from traditional functional wares to contemporary sculptural works. The day also includes pottery-making demonstrations, live music, food, and more.

“We are very excited about the mix of North Carolina potters that will be at this year’s event,” said Lee Rocamora, co-chair of this year’s Potters Market Invitational. “Through their work, we will be able to showcase the breadth and depth of traditional as well as contemporary ceramics, and to stimulate a passion for ceramics, including the Mint’s excellent and growing collection, among those attending.”

The honorary chair of this year’s market is Jane Peiser, a well-known and widely collected Penland potter, and one of the participants in the first-ever Potters Market. One of Peiser’s works from her personal collection is to be auctioned at the Potter’s Party the night before the event. The Friday night auction is a brand new feature of Potters Market Invitational.

A $10 admission fee includes access to the event, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as admission to both locations of The Mint Museum. Admission is free for children 12 and under when they accompany a paying adult. Individual sponsorships are also available. For $100, individuals are invited to the sponsors’ coffee that morning at 8:15 a.m. and receive early admission at 9:15 a.m. for a greater selection of works, as well as preferred parking. For $150, individuals are also invited to a special Potters Party being held Friday, September 6 from 7-9 p.m. at Mint Museum Randolph, where they will have the opportunity to mingle with the potters during an evening of food, music, and fun.

Since 2004, PMI has raised more than $200,000. These funds have been used to add many works to the Mint’s well-known ceramics collections, and to the Delhom-Gambrell Research Library. The reputation of PMI continues to grow each year, attracting local, regional, and national collectors. Next year, 2014, will be its tenth anniversary.

PMI tickets are on sale now at mintmuseum.org/delhom-service-league.html, or are available at the door. For more information, visit The Mint Museum’s website or call 704.337.2010. A video with further information is available at facebook.com/pottersmarketinvitational.

Currently on view at Mint Museum Randolph is North Carolina Pottery: Then and Now. The exhibition includes selections from the Mint’s recent exhibition A Thriving Tradition: 75 Years of Collecting North Carolina Pottery, and additional highlights from the museum’s permanent collection, which features the widest array of North Carolina pottery of any collection in the world. On September 22, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939 will open at Mint Museum Uptown. This groundbreaking international exhibition will present exceptional examples of ceramics displayed at the world’s fairs between The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in London in 1851 and the New York World’s Fair in 1939, as well as examples of glass, furniture, jewelry, precious metalwork, and textiles. Many of these objects have never before left their respective institutions or countries.

Corporate sponsors for this year’s Potters Market Invitational include Our State Magazine, Subaru South Boulevard, Delectables by Holly, Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge, Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales, Ltd., Peppermint Forest Christmas Shop, and Rodgers Builders, Inc.

*Note: Visitors must purchase their PMI ticket first in order to gain free museum admission on the event date.

Pottery symposium, inspiring art classes, and much more!

Nationally noted critic Garth Clark will visit Mint Museum Randolph for a day-long symposium, Traditional Pottery: Back to the Future, on Tuesday October 16 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Clark, a prolific writer and advocate of ceramics, brings North Carolina and its potters a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with one of the field’s brightest thinkers.

The symposium is organized by the Delhom Service League, an affiliate group of The Mint Museum devoted to the support and study of ceramics. Admission is $25 or $20 for Mint members and includes lunch.

Clark, considered one of the nation’s leading critics, is South African by birth and has lived in the U.S. since the 1970s. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, London, and the recipient of several lifetime achievement awards. His book Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics was recently published by Yale University Press.

The symposium featuring Clark is just one of the October highlights at the Mint, which offers a range of free and affordable events to bring inspiration and scholarship to the larger community.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The Mint Museum plans to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October by offering free admission to anyone who is a breast cancer survivor. Visitors to either Mint location may simply notify the Guest Services Desk of their status at the time of their visit (no documentation is required).We honor those who have fought and are fighting breast cancer. The Mint Museum is committed to its role in sustaining a healthy community in Charlotte and beyond.

Inspiring art classes for children, adults, and teens

The Mint’s lineup of fall art classes begins in October, and there is still room in the classes beginning as soon as October 2, so please be sure to peruse the full listings at mintmuseum.org/happenings/learning. A sampling of upcoming offerings:

ADULT CLASS: OCTOBER IN THE GLEN |Oct. 2, 9, & 16, 6 p.m. | RANDOLPH
Take inspiration from the long light filtered through the trees as autumn arrives in the Carolinas. Make plein air studies from observation and then develop the study of your choice into a finished work. Materials provided. Tuition is $125; members save $15.

TEEN CLASS: MUD WORK | Oct. 6, 20 (four Saturdays), 10 a.m. | UPTOWN
Be inspired by ceramic sculpture in the permanent collection, and then make your own sculptural forms using a combination of pinch, slab, coil, and wheel techniques. Classes continue Nov. 3 & 17. Ages 10-15. Tuition is $160; members save $20.

SPECIAL EDITION CLASSES FOR TEENS | Oct. 6 (three first Saturdays), 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. | UPTOWN
Journeyman classes, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m., are based on working from observation and explore a wide range of materials and techniques. Ages 13-15. Intermediate level. Personal Voice, 2-5 p.m., focuses on developing concepts and defining intent, emphasizing two-dimensional media. Ages 14-18. Intermediate and advanced level. Classes continue Nov. 3 & Dec. 1. Tuition is $125; members save $25.

ADULT CLASS: POLITICAL PUNDITS | Oct. 10, 13, 17, 10 a.m. | UPTOWN
Work with metal smith Allie Farlowe in this three-part metal fabrication class to create brooches that carry symbolic messages from the wearer to the world. Intermediate level. Tuition $90; members save $15.

Membership special

The Mint Museum has been celebrating its 75th anniversary all year long with membership discounts on the 22nd of every month.  The anniversary year comes to a close Oct. 22. From Oct. 16-22, save $7.50 on Individual, Dual and Family memberships, or save 75% on Sustainer and Benefactor memberships.  Memberships include free admission to both Mint Museum Uptown and Mint Museum Randolph, 10% off at Mint Museum Shops, Halcyon and American Roadside restaurants plus a special members rate at Flex + Fit, invitations to members-only events, and much more.  Regular membership prices are $60 for Individuals, $80 for Dual, $100 for Family, $250 for Sustainer, and $500 for Benefactor.  In-person purchase only; new members only.

Eighth annual Potters Market Invitational set for September 15

A taste of Seagrove, the Catawba Valley, and other well-known centers of North Carolina pottery will visit Charlotte when the 8^th annual Potters Market Invitational sets up its tent on the grounds of Mint Museum Randolph on September 15.

Forty outstanding North Carolina potters have been invited to participate in this year’s event, presented by the Delhom Service League, an affiliate group of The Mint Museum dedicated to the support and study of ceramics. The event typically lures over 1,200 collectors and enthusiasts, many of whom line up hours in advance of the opening to make sure to gain access to the day’s best treasures.

“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to share our enthusiasm for this important art form with the Charlotte community and the region, and to give residents a chance to engage with some of our state’s most significant artists and their work,” said Lee Abbott, chairperson of this year’s Potters Market. “The Mint Museum already boasts the largest collection of North Carolina pottery in the United States, and we look forward to future opportunities to put a strengthened focus on ceramics at Mint Museum Randolph.”

A $10 admission fee includes access to the event, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as well as admission to both locations of The Mint Museum (admission is reduced to $8 after 2 p.m.)*. The event is still selling $100 individual sponsorships which grant early admission at 9:15 a.m. and a greater chance to acquire the most-desired items. For $150, individuals can also be admitted to a Potters Party being held Friday, September 14 from 7-9 p.m. at Mint Museum Randolph, where they will have the opportunity to mingle with the potters.

PMI tickets go on sale online Aug. 1 at mintmuseum.org/delhom-service-league.html, or are available at the door. More information is available at 704.337.2010 or by emailing PottersMarketInvitational@gmail.com. The event also includes live folk music and pottery-making demonstrations. Funds raised go toward acquisitions of pottery and library materials for the museum.

The honorary chair of this year’s market is Herb Cohen, a league member whose work is featured in the exhibition Sophisticated Surfaces: The Pottery of Herb Cohen, on view at Mint Museum Randolph through January 6, 2013.

Also on view at Mint Museum Randolph through January 6 is the exhibition A Thriving Tradition: 75 Years of Collecting North Carolina Pottery, which contains many significant acquisitions obtained through the help of the Delhom Service League and its individual members. An example is a ceramic sculpture of a rabbit, “Alice Goes to Washington,” by Carol Gentithes, which contains images of Barack Obama, Martha Stewart, George W. Bush, Jay Leno, and other figures emblematic in current culture. “Like a classical language, the vocabulary that I create has many layers of meaning. I leave it with the viewers to derive their personal interpretations,” Gentithes has said of her work. Gentithes is one of this year’s participating potters, who also include Judith Duff, designer of a vase purchased at the 2009 Potters Market Invitational that became the primary image for this year’s event; and Ben Owen III of the legendary Owen and Owens families of North Carolina potters. First-time participating potters this year include Julie Wiggins, Steven Abee, Ross Edwards, Becky and Steve Lloyd, Joy Tanner, Alex Matisse, and Frank Neef. A complete list of potters is available at mintmuseum.org/happenings/18/delhom-service-league-8th-annual-potters-market-invitational.

Recently, Mint Museum Randolph opened two more permanent-collection exhibitions that illustrate the depth and breadth of the Mint’s ceramics collection: Classically Inspired: European Ceramics Circa 1800, and American Ceramics, 1825-1875. Find more information about them here.

Corporate sponsor for this year’s Potters Market Invitational is Subaru South Boulevard. Top-level individual sponsors are Bill Musgrave, Betsy Brand, Herb Cohen and José Fumero, Jane M. Conlan, and Sarah Belk Gambrell.

*Note: Visitors must purchase their PMI ticket first in order to gain free museum admission on the event date.

ABOUT DELHOM SERVICE LEAGUE

Delhom Service League is an affiliate group of The Mint Museum dedicated to developing interest in ceramics by studying the work of experts and by supporting the ceramics collection of The Mint Museum. It is named for M. Mellanay Delhom and her outstanding collection of historical pottery and porcelain, which entered the museum’s collection in 1965. The league offers monthly programs that are open to the public, on the third Tuesday of the month from September through May, and holds study and research classes on Monday afternoons. The league, consisting of both potters and ceramics enthusiasts, supports acquisitions of pottery and library materials for the museum.

Opens with Curator-Directed Tours

At 2 p.m. on Saturday, 17 September, the Mint Museum will open Aesthetic Ambitions: Edward Lycett and Brooklyn’s Faience Manufacturing Company with curator-guided tours. Aesthetic Ambitions presents  unique examples of American art pottery from the late 1800s.  It will  be on view at the Mint Museum Randolph until 26 February 2012.

In addition to the guided-tours, the Mint Museum Randolph will host a  lecture on the exhibition on Tuesday, September 20 at 10:30 a.m.   Barbara Veith, organizing curator of the exhibition, will detail  Lycett’s tremendous influence as the artistic director of the Faience  Manufacturing Company. The lecture will be held in Van Every Auditorium.

During the 1880s, the Faience Manufacturing Company (1881-1892), of  Greenpoint, Brooklyn, earned critical acclaim for producing ornamental  wares that introduced a new standard of excellence in American ceramics.  These bold and eclectic wares displayed a synthesis of Japanese,  Chinese, and Islamic influences characteristic of the Aesthetic Movement  style. The firm owed its artistic and commercial success to Edward  Lycett (1833-1910), an English china painter who became its artistic  director in 1884.

Edward Lycett immigrated to New York City in 1861. His early career  included a White House commission to paint additional pieces of the  Lincoln administration’s porcelain dinner service for President Andrew  Johnson.  He held teaching positions in St. Louis, Missouri, and  Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1884, Lycett began his employment with the Faience  Manufacturing Company, where he experimented with ceramic bodies and  glazes, and designed opulent wares. He supervised a team of talented  artists, including James Callowhill (1838-1917) of the English firm  Worcester Royal Porcelain, who decorated the vessels with exotic motifs  in vibrant hues and costly gold paste. Lycett and his team of decorators  produced pieces that were sold in the foremost jewelry and china shops  throughout the United States, such as Tiffany & Company in New York  and Bailey, Banks and Biddle in Philadelphia.

Nearly forty superb objects drawn from public and private collections  will be on display, including vases, ewers, plates, and other  decorative wares. The objects illustrate Lycett’s talent and  adaptability to stylistic changes over the course of his nearly  fifty-year career. Also on view in the exhibition are Lycett’s formula  books, family photographs, and ephemera that illuminate the life and  work of this prominent figure in American ceramic history.

The exhibition is organized and circulated by the University Of  Richmond Museums, Virginia. A fully illustrated catalogue with an essay  by the exhibition’s curator Barbara Veith, independent scholar of  American ceramics and glass, New York, is available for purchase in The  Mint Museum Shops.

Exhibition on view at the Mint Museum Randolph February 6- December 31, 2010

Opening February 6 at the Mint Museum Randolph is North Carolina Pottery: Diversity and Traditions, an exhibition that showcases the rich history of pottery-making in the state. Featuring more than 50 works dating from the late 1700s to the present, the installation represents North Carolina’s most important pottery areas, including the Catawba Valley, the mountains, Seagrove and the Moravian settlements.

Moravian potters Gottfried Aust and Rudolf Christ are the earliest potters represented in the exhibition. They emigrated from Germany to the Moravian community of Bethabara in Forsyth County in the mid-1700s. Among the 19th century potters featured are Daniel Seagle from Catawba Valley, and Chester Webster and Himer Jacob Fox from the Piedmont. Craftsmen from the 20th century include Oscar Bachelder, Charlie Teague and Burlon Craig, while contemporary artists and studios include Ben Owen III, Jane Peiser, Bulldog Pottery and Paradox Pottery.

North Carolina is known for its significant local dynasties of potters, and a number of these families are represented in the exhibition, including the Coles of Randolph and Moore counties and the Hiltons of Catawba County. The fact that the pottery tradition in the state has thrived so well for over two centuries is due, at least in part, to talented potting families such as these, who have passed down essential skills and techniques from one generation to the next. All of the objects on view are from the Mint’s permanent collection, which is notable for being the largest public collection of North Carolina pottery in the country.