Weekend Event Features Eight Shenandoah Potters Guild Members and Free Demonstrations
Winchester, VA 5/29/18…The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) and the Shenandoah Potters Guild are teaming up to host a pottery show and sale at the MSV from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3. Admission to the show and sale is free.
According to MSV Adult Programs Coordinator Courtney Beach, eight guild potters will participate in the fifth annual Pottery Show & Sale at the Museum. Beach notes that along with featuring displays of handbuilt and wheel-thrown pottery available for purchase, the event offers visitors the opportunity to meet expert potters and see a wide range of pottery styles.
With more than 40 members and roots dating to the late 1980s, the Shenandoah Potters Guild was established to promote pottery as an art form and to raise awareness of the Shenandoah Valley’s pottery heritage.
Along with displays of contemporary pottery, the MSV event will include demonstrations by guild members. At 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Brenda Fairweather and Alice Boysen will demonstrate the art of handbuilding pottery. At 1:30 p.m. and also on both days, Aurelie Schmid and Heather Scott will demonstrate how to throw clay on a pottery wheel. The demonstrations are free and will take place in the MSV Makerspace Studio.
Event attendees will have the opportunity to converse with a variety of guild members, including several who have decades of experience creating pottery. Participating Shenandoah Potters Guild members include: Alice Boysen (Harpers Ferry, WV), Brenda Fairweather (Harrisonburg, VA), Lin Hausknecht (Yellow Springs, WV), Annegret Kilby (Front Royal, VA), Arline Link (Front Royal, VA), Aurelie Schmid (Winchester, VA), Heather Scott (Winchester, VA), and Joan Wood (Winchester, VA). Works available for purchase include functional and decorative pieces, such as bowls, mugs, baking dishes, planters, and more.
The show and sale will take place in the first floor of the Museum. Those interested in complementing their visit to the weekend event may also wish to consider visiting the Shenandoah Valley Gallery, where the MSV’s impressive collection of regional pottery is on view. Including more than 40 objects, the display details the Valley’s centuries-old pottery tradition and includes many rare pieces made by several of the region’s most prominent early potters.
There is no fee to visit the pottery show and sale and enjoy the demonstrations. Regular admission rates apply to visit the MSV exhibitions, galleries, and gardens.
A regional cultural center, the MSV is located at 901 Amherst Street in Winchester, Virginia. The MSV includes galleries displaying permanent collections and changing exhibitons, the Glen Burnie House, and seven acres of gardens. The award-winning traveling exhibition Nature Connects®: Art with LEGO® Bricks is on view in the MSV gardens now through September 3, 2018. Admission to the outdoor exhibition—which includes admission to the MSV galleries—is $10 for adults, $8 for youth ages 13–18 and seniors, and $5 for ages 5–12. Exhibition admission is free to ages 4 and under and to MSV Members. Additional details are available at www.theMSV.org or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 235. –END–