MSV to Host Pottery Show & Sale on June 10 & 11

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 10 and 11. Admission to the event is free.

According to Shenandoah Potters Guild member Heather Scott, ten potters are scheduled to participate in the seventh annual Pottery Show & Sale at the Museum. Scott notes that along with featuring displays of hand-built 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. Works available for purchase include functional and decorative pieces, such as bowls, mugs, baking dishes, planters, plates, and more.

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 free demonstrations by guild members at 1 and 2 p.m. each day. On Saturday, Heather Scott will demonstrate how to throw clay on a pottery wheel at 1 p.m. and Rita Hester will demonstrate the art of hand building pottery at 2 p.m. On Sunday, Lin Hausknecht will provide a demonstration on the potter’s wheel at 1 p.m. and Barbara McCulla will offer a hand-building demonstration at 2 p.m. The demonstrations are free and will take place in the MSV Makerspace Studio.

The show and sale will take place in the first floor of the MSV galleries building. Those interested in complementing their visit to the weekend event may also wish to consider visiting the Shenandoah Valley Gallery, where the Museumn’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, gardens, and special outdoor exhibition Nature Connects featuring sculptures built by artist Sean Kenney using LEGO^® bricks.

A regional cultural center, the MSV is located at 901 Amherst Street in Winchester, Virginia. The MSV includes a galleries building with permanent and rotating exhibitions, the Glen Burnie House, seven acres of formal gardens, and The Trails at the MSV—a free-admission art park open daily from 7 a.m. to dusk. Additional details are available at www.theMSV.org or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 235. –END–