The ancient art of pottery is as solid as a glaze-fired teapot in the Tasman District, with the Motueka Pottery Workshop celebrating its 50th anniversary this week.
The first meeting of the workshop was held on 4 July, 1974, and club chairperson Lyn Shirley says that locally, interest in pottery was still going strong. The club has capped its membership at 40 people, and the group has a double-digit waiting list.
“I think we’re a very lucky club, with the variety of people that we have, and everyone’s always mucked in when there’s a need,” she says.
The members include several people who have been part of the club for decades, as well as a handful of new members who are just being shown the ropes this week.
Lyn says that it is wonderful to have a mix of experience and fresh ideas, in a place where people can feel comfortable asking any questions.
Anne Classen, who creates mainly using the slabware technique, is both a founding and a life member of the pottery workshop.
Back in 1974, she was part of the group of craft potters who were taking evening classes with Toni Maurenbrecher. The group wanted better facilities than their current location at Motueka High School could offer, so they found a new temporary base at a Riwaka Church, and then a permanent one in 1976 in the old library building in the Riwaka Domain, where they have remained ever since.
The octogenarian remembers the instigation of the Riwaka Pottery Market, which began in 1977. It was both a fundraiser and a means of moving on some of the group’s creations after they had inundated their families and friends to the point of pottery saturation.
The market day has always been popular, with “queues at the gate” from that very first year, Anne remembers.
From humble beginnings, the group now has about eight wheels and three electric kilns and has recently added a gas-fired raku kiln to its resources.
The 50th anniversary celebrations have included an open day on Tuesday, 2 July, and the public are also welcome to attend a raku firing on Sunday, 7 July, from 10am-12pm.
The committee is also asking past and present members to design a tile that will be made into a clay quilt and installed at the workshop, to commemorate its first 50 years.
