Macon Arts Alliances’ annual Fired Works pottery show and sale kicks off today

Ready for Georgia’s largest pottery show and sale?

It starts today at 10 a.m. at the Round Building in Carolyn Crayton Park and features work by well-known potters from across the Southeast.

Fired Works is the annual show, sale and fundraiser put on by the Macon Arts Alliance. It’s in its 16th year and runs through April 17, beginning every day at 10 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m.

Items in the show are not only on sale at the park – formerly named Central City Park – but are also available for viewing and sale at the Arts Alliance’s website, www.maconartsalliance.org, where there are details about the Arts Alliance, the show, scheduled mini-events and COVID-19 precautions in place at the Round Building – masks are required and other measures are in place.

Organizers say the Round Building is an ideal location for the show, especially under COVID-19 social distancing conditions.

“This is the third show we’ve done adapting to the pandemic,” said Julie Wilkerson, executive director of the Arts Alliance. “There’s plenty of room and openness at the Round Building so that’s a great help. We have wonderful potters in this year’s show – both returning favorites and new ones we believe people will love – so we’re looking forward to a great nine days with unique and beautiful items to browse and look at and to buy and take home.”

Looking for a lovely set of dishes? A unique cup? Other household items? Or maybe something less practical in the normal sense and more artistic and decorative?

Wilkerson said both functional pottery and sculptural, artistic works are available, some simple and some quite elaborate.

A change in this year’s show is that entry is free so there’s no contact through handing money back and forth as guests come in. Still, Wilkerson said a $5 or more donation is welcomed. Entry in previous years has been $5.

“Pre-pandemic we were raising around $70,000 a year at Fired Works but of course there was a dip in that the last couple of shows,” she said. “We’re hoping to return to or better that. Artists get 65% for themselves and we get 35% to help fund the various work we do. Our potters, and artists of all kinds, have been hit hard during the pandemic with shows and exhibits canceling so we’ve been glad to give them the opportunity to show and sell their work here. We’re hoping they get a lot of support.”

Mini-events during Fired Works include an artist talk with featured potter Ginger Birdsey today at 11 a.m., a floral demonstration by Mary Pinson on April 13 at 11 a.m. and happy hour with a special trunk show by Sarah Tinsley Parker on April 15 from 4-6 p.m.

The Macon Arts Alliance is Macon-Bibb’s art agency tasked with fostering and supporting the advancement of arts and culture in Central Georgia. Wilkerson said their work falls into several categories.

“There are so many programs and projects we have, including our gallery which is open at 486 1st St, that we’ve looked for the best way to categorize them,” she said. “One is providing direct support for artist and arts organizations through sales of work, grants, and relief. That’s clearly been needed in the past year. Another is advocacy for funding and art-friendly policies at the local, state and national levels. The third involves economic development through the arts. A good example of that is what we’re doing at the East Macon Artists Village.”

Wilkerson said key words describing the organization’s efforts post-pandemic include connections and compassion.

“Connecting people throughout the community breeds compassion,” she said “The arts are a good way to make that happen because people with superficial differences often find through the arts that they have a lot more in common than they’d thought.”

Another event set for the week ahead, this one strictly virtual, is Theatre Macon’s Youth Artists’ Company’s online production of “Merritt Anne and the Mighty Oak” which runs April 15-18.

Theatre Macon’s artistic director, Richard Frazier, said the play features a two-member cast and is author Laura King’s world premiere of the work. King, who has published a dozen-or-so plays and lives in the Atlanta area, also served as director.

“Merritt Anne is played by Remi Heide and Wyatt by Ty Niederkorn,” Frazier said. “Remi is 14 and Ty is nine and both have done such a great job. Neither had parts like this before where they were the only two working through a 40-minute script, learning all the dialogue. Plus, since it’s a world premiere they had to create their characters from scratch.”

Frazier said the play poignantly deals with childhood friendship and fun plus loss and grief.

He said the Youth Artists production is a special event and not included in Theatre Macon’s regular 2020-21 subscription season. Ticketing and online viewing information are at www.theatremacon.com. While there, also check out “Working” which begins April 29.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.