Denman's annual Pottery Studio Tour is celebrating its 25th anniversary on Saturday, May 19th and Sunday, May 20th.
Ten unique studios will be welcoming visitors between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm daily, and collectors can look forward to visiting the rare Anagama kiln site as one of two additional 'surprise' features on the tour this year. The second is a Retrospective in the Denman Arts Centre which will feature clay works created on island over the last quarter of a century and beyond!
Past and current tour participants, as well as others, have been invited to submit both historical and contemporary examples of their creations for the show. Work by the late Doris Kirk, for example, will be on loan for the exhibition. Doris and her husband Jim once ran the General Store, and were here on Denman when it was finally added to the grid in the 1950's.
Past and current tour participants, as well as others, have been invited to submit both historical and contemporary examples of their creations for the show. Work by the late Doris Kirk, for example, will be on loan for the exhibition. Doris and her husband Jim once ran the General Store, and were here on Denman when it was finally added to the grid in the 1950's.
Marjo VanTooren and her late partner Manfred Rupp were part of the back-to-the-land movement in the 60's and 70's, and two of the first potters to set up shop on the Island. Originally working out of a studio at the 'Three Corners' (Lake Road and Northwest), Manfred is fondly remembered for sharing both kiln space and expertise over the years with clay enthusiasts like Bentley LeBaron, Gunther Schneider, Tom Dennis, Patti Willis, and others. When Rupp and VanTooren returned to Germany for a time, Sandy Shaffer bought their share in the communally-owned landhold also known as ‘Wilson’s Corner’. Schneider bought in too, sharing studio space with Shaffer and replacing Rupp's old equipment with a new gas-fired kiln. Other Denman potters, like Bev Severn and Wendy Neufeld, also spent time honing their craft at Wilson’s Corner. Schneider eventually left for Vancouver, where he continued to share his love for clay in the classroom as a Waldorf teacher for many years. Schneider returned to Denman to retire, and examples of his work will be included in the Retrospective Exhibition alongside others mentioned. It was Wendy Neufeld who initiated the idea for the first pottery studio tour in 1987, and the rest as they say, is history!
Wilson’s Corner was one active place out of many that have played a role in the history of clay creativity on Denman. Numerous potters have shared their passion for clay with one another, with island children in the classroom and beyond, and through workshops of all kinds. Mentorship and mutual aid are longstanding traditions in the clay community here.
Van Tooren has recently involved children at the Denman School in a pottery project that included firing their creations in the climbing-hill-dragon kiln, and these will be on display as part of the Pottery Tour's Silver Jubilee celebration.
The Retrospective at the DI Arts Centre will offer a great cross-section of clayworks you won't want to miss…too many artists to mention in brief here!
