Kawartha Potters Guild celebrating 25th anniversary
Club focused on learning, sharing and philanthropy through biannual sales
The Kawartha Potters Guild is a community of about 110 talented and enthusiastic potters from Peterborough, Durham Region, Northumberland and further afield. During normal times, they host pottery sales twice a year, in the spring and before Christmas, hold classes for adults and children, operate a retail store, and more.
For more than 16 years they have contributed bowls to the annual YWCA Empty Bowls event which raises funds for their Nourish Program. They have also given private classes for young people from the PACE program, the John Howard Society and Five Counties Children's Centre.
In 2017, guild members and public volunteers created 625 clay trilliums to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Battle at Vimy Ridge, honouring men and women from our community who died.
This year, the group is celebrating their 25th anniversary. In the mid 1990s, a small group of potters met once a month at one of their homes to connect with fellow artists and share ideas. As the group started to grow, a fellow artist found space in Central School in downtown Peterborough so that they could meet more formally. Eventually, they moved to a classroom at the former PCVS and their meetings were more formalized by having a visiting potter give a presentation of their work.
“At that point, the group felt the time had come to offer our pottery for sale to the Peterborough public,” says Lillian Forester, past president and founding member. “Since most of our members were from outside of the city, we needed an actual name for our group to reflect who we were, and the Kawartha Potters Guild was established. The first sale was a resounding success and we had made our mark in the community.”
Since then, the guild has grown and has moved meeting locations numerous times. For many years, the guild members’ dream was to have a permanent facility where they could teach, work and sell their pottery. In 2012, an opportunity arose to set up a teaching space at 993 Talwood Dr., in the former City of Peterborough’s recreation centre, and the guild had finally found its home.
“As a founding member, I have had the privilege of serving on committees as well as on the board,” continues Forester.
“I now continue to focus my energy on the sales and program committees and I volunteer in the pottery shop when needed.”
“I have taken numerous workshops and participated in conferences with national and international potters,” she says. “My focus is working in porcelain, producing functional pieces that can be enjoyed with morning coffee or serving guests. I love trying new shapes and, of course, experimenting with new glazes is always exciting as I open up my kiln. I sometimes do a happy dance if something has worked out particularly well.”
Forester received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario Crafts Council, and was the first recipient of the guild's Lifetime Service Award.
“While the guild has grown over the last 25 years, its essence remains the same — to teach, to learn, and to share,” she says.
“Some of the founding members are still part of the guild, some have moved away and we have also lost several talented artists. The guild has also gained new, young, enthusiastic clay artists, making their mark, consequently the guild continues to thrive..”
Once this pandemic is over, the Kawartha Potters Guild will once again be open for classes, pottery shop sales, Clay and Play Camp, Bring A Friend, and Family Clay Day.
In the meantime, gift certificates are available by contacting administrator@kawarthapottersguild.com.