Early morning sun bounces off glossy glaze, tracing threads of light across white-painted shelves. Ceramic mugs, plates, bowls and platters sit delicately displayed as careful hands make final adjustments to the pottery placement. Before the morning humidity dissipates, the table is set, and everyone is in place.
Doug Worthington, Ann Arbor Potters Guild Member and Art Fair Committee Co-Chair, rolls open the tent on the final day of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Saturday morning. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Pots sit on a shelf at the Ann Arbor Potters Guild tent at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Saturday afternoon. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Arla McPeek, member of the Ann Arbor Potters Guild, explained that the weeks leading up to her first Ann Arbor Street Art Fair as a participating artist were like planning an elaborate dinner party. Stress and lost sleep had culminated into this three-day event, with a portion of the 250 pots she crafted now neatly arranged on shelves within the Guild’s white tent outside Hill Auditorium.
By midafternoon, McPeek hovers close by her wares, an anxious host. Her hard work is done. The guests have arrived. Will they like the dishes she has prepared?
Arla McPeek, Ann Arbor Potters Guild Member, adjusts the placement of her pots on the final day of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Saturday afternoon. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
This year, McPeek joined the ranks of Guild potters who have participated in the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair since the Fair’s inception 65 years ago. An integral part of the Street Art Fair since its first year in 1959, the Guild is a cooperative, non-profit organization of more than 50 members who collectively maintain and utilize their studio.
The Guild offers classes to the community and welcomes visiting potters, but mainly it serves as a home for its members to work and experiment, hosting sales in their small parking lot twice a year and participating in the Street Art Fair annually. The Fair provides a platform for Guild potters to showcase and sell their work, and connect with fellow artists and art enthusiasts.
Visitors to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair walk past the Ann Arbor Potters Guild tent Friday afternoon. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
The Guild’s membership and their bodies of work are diverse, from Jeri Hollister, whose organically and elegantly constructed horse sculptures appear in exhibits and collections nationally – to Mistique Ott, a new member who coaxes miniature whimsical creatures from small lumps of reclaimed terracotta. The Guild’s members today are artistic descendants of the Guild’s nine founders, who, in 1949, rented a small studio in an alley off Maynard Street to use as a studio and learning space. Legally incorporated in 1950, the Guild is the oldest potters guild in Michigan and one of the oldest in America.
While the Guild moved to 201 Hill Street in 1963, a move requiring a kiln to be transported — dangling from a crane, down the middle of Hill Street — much of the Guild’s spirit remains the same. Royce Disbrow, Guild member and unofficial Guild historian, described the legacy of collaboration which has kept the Guild alive for half a century: “It is a cooperative, and on some days, we cooperate.”
Participating in the Street Art Fair is not mandatory, yet for the past six decades, Guild members have still opted into the “grueling” process. For McPeek, a basement slowly filling with pottery – and a nudge from her husband to do something about it – was a factor in her decision.
“I love to come down here and make a scene and see my friends and try new things,” McPeek said. “But then, the pots are piling up.”
Preparing for the Fair is a massive undertaking. However, when a Guild member decides to enter the Fair with the Guild, guidance and support are provided at almost every step, and decisions are made as a coordinated team. This year, 10 artists participated in the Fair, but in prior years, as many as 20 have exhibited together.
McPeek chooses a number from a bowl to decide which location within the booth her ceramics will be displayed on at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair during a meeting at the Ann Arbor Potters Guild. Doug Worthington, Art Fair Committee Co-Chair, led the group of artists participating in the fair this year through the meeting, discussing details about the fair including arrival and set-up logistics, volunteer times and weather contingencies. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
The multi-part preparation effort was pulled together by Doug Worthington and Christina Bergstedt, Co-Chairs of the Guild’s Art Fair Committee. With 10 individual artists each undergoing an extensive preparation process, Worthington compared his job to “herding cats.”
Worthington answered the group’s questions at multiple points, whether he was standing behind a Fair supply-loaded U-Haul or leading a meeting of artists, huddled around a box of Washtenaw dairy donuts and handmade mugs of coffee. Worthington’s job wouldn’t be finished until the financial records were reviewed and checks were distributed to artists the Monday after the Fair.
Ann Arbor Potters Guild members participating in the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair gather outside the Guild studio to discuss plans for unloading the truck of supplies to be set up at the Fair. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Participating artists must prepare enough pots so that they don’t sell out, then price and tag each piece. According to McPeek, it can be difficult to predict how many pots she might need to prepare.
“The sheer amount of work that one needs to bring in order to not run out … You can’t sell pots you don’t have,” McPeek said.
Participating artists sign up for volunteer shifts to watch over the tent, staff the register and wrap sold pots. Other Guild members volunteer to demonstrate throwing on the wheel in the Guild’s demonstration booth. Though the process demands months of preparation and stamina through the Fair’s three days, none of it is endured in isolation.
A table, which is used to display ceramics at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, is loaded into the truck to be brought to the Potters Guild’s tent. Potters Guild members and their family members came together to load the truck. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
During a “painting party,” artists from the Ann Arbor Potters Guild paint tables in preparation for the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. Members of the Guild coat the tables and other display cubes with coats of white paint each year before using them to display their ceramic goods. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Materials to be used for the Fair are loaded into a U-Haul. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
While McPeek navigated the Fair for the first time this year, some Guild members, like Jeri Hollister, have participated in the Fair for more than 20 years.
In an interview with The Daily, Hollister summarized her years participating in the Fair with the phrase “misery loves company,” recalling a year when artists were called at 5 a.m. to quickly clean paint that had spilled onto the bricks under the tent overnight.
Guild Secretary Sue Woestehoff remembered having to rush and cover tables with tarps under pouring rain during years the Guild lacked a protective tent.
Disbrow summarized the brutal heat artists have learned to expect with the weekend of the Fair.
“One year it was so hot that we had to have hot pads for people to pick up the pots with, or else they’d burn their fingers,” Disbrow said. “It was like taking them out of the oven.”
Ann Arbor Potters Guild members participating in the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair unload the truck of supplies to be set up at the Fair Wednesday morning. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
McPeek paints a table in preparation for the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair during the Ann Arbor Potters Guild’s “painting party.” Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
McPeek acknowledged weather concerns, but was undeterred by the cautionary tales fellow Guild members had told her about the Fair.
“I just want to enjoy it and be with my friends for three days, and, just, it’s going to be crazy,” McPeek said. “It’s going to be hot. There’s going to be a terrible storm. Our feet are going to kill us. We’re going to be hungry and thirsty, but it’s going to be fun because we’re going to be together doing something we love.”
Christina Bergstedt, Ann Arbor Potters Guild member, throws a pot on the wheel in the demonstration booth at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Saturday morning. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
McPeek poses outside of the Ann Arbor Potters Guild tent at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Saturday afternoon. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Mark White, Ann Arbor Potters Guild member, throws a tea pot at the demonstration booth at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Saturday afternoon. White encouraged his young crowd of onlookers that the process of throwing a pot may be slow, but it is worthwhile. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
The Ann Arbor Potters Guild is much more than a collective of casual hobbyists. While classes are open to all willing to withstand an occasional waitlist, the Guild’s membership is a hand-picked, thoughtfully-crafted bunch.
According to Woestehoff, the Guild hosts a membership show every January where people who want to be considered for membership set up a display of five pieces, which is rated by current members. Woestehoff said quality of work is judged to the Guild’s standard of excellence, looking beyond technical proficiency as a baseline to ask questions, like: Is it creative? Is it unusual, interesting, appealing? Is it aesthetically pleasing?
Eric Pesheck, Ann Arbor Potters Guild member, adds details to a large bowl, which forms the base of a fountain. Pesheck decided to construct the fountain for his yard after his wife, Renee Pesheck, also a member of the Potters Guild, suggested he pursue the project. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
When the group deliberates each application cycle, they weigh compatibility almost as heavily, if not more so, than skill. Applicants are almost always well-known to members of the Guild. Among the Guild’s ranks are chemists, engineers, musicians, professors and more – most of whom made a name for themselves in the Guild during the classes offered September through May.
Accepted members then undergo a two-year adjunct membership before putting on one more show – demonstrating their improvement – to achieve full Guild membership. With membership comes access to the Guild’s shared facilities, specialized equipment and the collective expertise of its members.
Renee Pesheck, Ann Arbor Potters Guild member, creates small, hand-sculpted forms, using water to smooth and mold the surface of the clay. After the clay is fired, she strings the small forms together with beads to be turned into delicate tree ornaments, which she calls “tree jewelry.” Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
To add to the already somewhat demanding application, Disbrow mentioned one last desired characteristic for membership.
“We’ve always said we need to have a question on the questionnaire that they fill out: How’s your back?” Disbrow said. “There’s a lot of heavy lifting that we have to do.”
And there is certainly a lot of heavy lifting. In addition to their dues, the members’ hard work is what keeps the studio running, kilns firing and the equipment functioning.
Members of the Ann Arbor Potters Guild examine a just-opened kiln to see how their pots have turned out. The kiln is opened inch by inch to avoid disrupting the glaze’s cooling process, which may cause cracking. According to McPeek, “it is like Christmas morning” every time the kiln is opened, potters eager to pull their finished pieces from the hot kiln. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
The Guild functions on a point system established by a committee in the early 1960s tasked with rekindling the “Guild Spirit,” a term describing the Guild’s cooperative atmosphere. Upon completing tasks such as bookkeeping, stacking and firing kilns, cleaning or managing supplies, members earn points ranging around 300 to 600 – and up to more than 1,000 – depending on the task. Each point earns members one cubic inch of firing. The system not only keeps the studio clean and productive, but also promotes an atmosphere of mutual respect for the Guild’s physical space and its membership.
John Leyland, Ann Arbor Potters Guild member, demonstrates a technique for quickly producing thrown products on the wheel, also referred to as “production pottery.” Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
McPeek uses a wire to release a bowl she has thrown on the wheel after allowing it to dry. Once the bowl is dry enough to be handled, it can be placed back onto the wheel to trim off excess clay from the bottom, or the foot of the bowl, giving it a neater edge. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
As Kiln Chair, McPeek has connected with members through her round-the-clock coordination of kiln stacking and unloading and the constant shared learning taking place in the studio.
“Constant inspiration and motivation is one of the things that makes it so exciting to come in here and see what people are up to,” McPeek said.
McPeek did not create a successful pot on her first try – her first attempt at the wheel resulted in her lump of clay nearly “taking out the potter” next to her, a contrast to her more thoughtful and graceful approach to the pieces she now produces. With years of practice and hours spent hands-on learning glazes, throwing and sculpting, McPeek uses technical experience to draw botanical colors and nature-inspired patterns into her pottery.
Notes and glaze samples developed by Catherine Fillmore, Ann Arbor Potters Guild member, sit on a table in the Ann Arbor Potters Guild. Fillmore has experimented with ratios of ingredients and different temperatures to achieve unique shades of glaze to use on her pots. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Though much about the kiln can be predicted and controlled, there is a consistent uncertainty to the process. Some effects may be volatile, others benign or even beautiful. Like the “wind-swept” patterns brushing the glaze of a pot sitting towards the walls of the kiln, the potential pitfalls of the process may be be known, though the exact effects are left to the will of the kiln. The side of the pot facing the interior of the kiln remains solid red, while the glaze on the side facing the wall of the kiln is separated to reveal ribbons of white and dark red. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Though projects in progress or an itch to experiment with new techniques draw potters to the studio each evening, clay is rarely the sole topic of conversation. In an interview with The Daily, Ott likened joining the Guild to “being adopted into a large, dysfunctional, loving family.” With paint brushes in hand, few topics are brushed over, ranging from dinner plans to parenting. Pots are sculpted while relationships are nourished by hours of shared space and the collective experience of each others’ failures and triumphs.
Leyland and Winchester discuss the best approach for removing excess glaze from the bottom of Winchester’s vase. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Many members of the Guild acknowledge the strong personalities housed within their studio. According to Disbrow, occasional clashes are inevitable. But somehow, built upon a strong base of mutual acceptance and patience, the model works.
“That really is the essence of the Guild,” McPeek said. “It’s everybody working together and pitching in. People jump in and say I’ll do this, I’ll do that … Everything here is a collaborative effort. Really everything we do.”
McPeek’s shelf in the Guild is filled with supplies and current projects. Each member of the Guild is designated shelf space when they join. Shelves are some of the only spaces in the Guild that members have to themselves – almost every other resource, such as the communal glazes or recycled clay, is shared. Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Ann Arbor Potters Potters Guild members work in the studio. The Guild is a collaborative space where members work side by side for hours at a time, at all hours of the day. “We all talk and exchange notes, and so the benefit of that is I don’t always have to make my own mistakes,” McPeek said. “Sometimes I can learn from someone else, their triumphs and their mistakes.” Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.
Senior Photo Editor Sarah Boeke can be reached at seboeke@umich.edu.
The post Photo Essay: Potters Guild shapes camaraderie through clay appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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