HUTCHINSON, MN — Thirty-five potters from across North America will be on display at the sixth annual Minnesota Pottery Festival in Hutchinson, MN the weekend of July 29th and 30th.
Robert (Bob) Briscoe of Minneapolis, Minnesota is this year’s featured potter. Bob has been a potter for more than forty years and is one of the founding potters behind the renowned St. Croix Pottery Tour, held each May. Bob’s passion for clay comes from his desire to make beautiful pots that also feel wonderful to hold. “I want them to give distinct pleasure in use – to allow a subtle conversation over time. I point my work towards a quiet simplicity. I look to subtlety and nuance as the foundation for my aesthetic. The essence that I am seeking in this work is a stripped, almost brutal, rawness.” An acclaimed potter, Bob has received awards from both the Jerome Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, and his work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly, Ceramics Arts Daily, American Craft, 500 Bowls and The Art of Contemporary Pottery.
Also at this year’s Festival are twenty other Minnesota potters and thirteen ceramic artists from other states as far away as North Carolina, Georgia, Maine, and Texas. The festival welcomes thirteen potters for the first time including Tom Homann from Georgia, John Bauman from Indiana, Carolina Niebres from Wisconsin.
There are also four Emerging Artists featured at this year’s festival: Gillan Doty of Portland, Maine and Greg Palombo of Buffalo, New York; both are current Fogelberg Studio Fellows at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. Chris Singewald currently resides in St. Paul, but originally hails from Waverly, Iowa. Reiko Cunningham Uchytil from Grimes, Iowa, she is the daughter of Miky Cunningham, who is also participating in the show.
The Festival provides an excellent day trip for clay-lovers, families, and collectors. Entrance and parking are free. The two days are filled with on-site raku firing, Pottery Olympic competitions and a Kids’ Station where children of all ages can get their hands dirty. Food and beverages available for purchase provided by the Phoenix Drumline and beverages for sale from the Crow River Winery.
The Minnesota Pottery Festival takes place on the grounds of the Clay Coyote Gallery & Pottery, just one hour West of the Twin Cities. The backdrop includes thirty acres of conservation prairie land, two ponds, trails, and beautiful Todd Lake in the distance.
The Minnesota Pottery Festival is a nonprofit organization, it’s mission is to provide a venue for quality clay artists to educate and engage with an increasingly knowledgeable public by raising the appreciation and understanding of pottery to help broaden the depth and breadth of ceramic arts in Minnesota.
Board-member Kerry Brooks of Dock 6 Pottery in Minneapolis says, “The Minnesota Pottery Festival is such a fun event! The setting is beautiful, the pottery is of the highest quality and great variety, and the customers are a delight because they’re knowledgeable and love pottery as much as we do. Not only is it a first-rate festival, but it’s also so much fun for the potters! We love to hang out after hours and talk shop, play music, eat good food, and have a great time with kindred spirits. The pottery olympics and the kid’s tent make it fun and interesting for all ages and an outing everyone enjoys.”
This activity is made possible, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (SMAC) thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The Minnesota Pottery Festival Board would also like thank our generous supporters: Continental Clay Company, Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, Smith-Sharpe Fire Brick Supply, Shimpo Ceramics and all of our generous individual donors and volunteers.
More information and full list of artists available at www.mnpotteryfestival.com.
