Clay Only

[offcntr]

It seems to be a show form native to Oregon--at least I never saw it in Wisconsin when I lived there--the grass-roots, pottery-only show and sale.

This is bigger than the usual studio holiday/seconds/crackpot sale. Potters rent a hall, set up booths, order pipe and drape, sign up for work shifts. There are demos, a kids play space, sometimes a gallery. Potters do all the work to running the show and can't be in their booths taking sales, so there's a centralized sales/checkout area.

It has all the hallmarks of a major, multi-day art/craft fair, except instead of an art center or for-profit promoter at the reins, there's just us.

There are currently four of them in Oregon. The biggest is Ceramic Showcase, in Portland. Run by the Oregon Potters Association and generally happening in late April or early May, it's got multiple galleries, adult and kids play areas, live music, and is the biggest all-clay show in in the United States. At its most successful, gross sales were just under half a million dollars; they're struggling a little bit these days, retrenching and considering which bells and whistles are really necessary and which are superfluous.

The oldest of the all-clay shows is Clayfolk, in Medford. It's about half the size of Showcase, with a simpler organizational structure and two big advantages. First, it's the only real artistic event in town. Second, it happens every year the weekend before Thanksgiving, so benefits from a huge infusion of Christmas-shopping energy. People line up to get in Friday night, and I swear their wallets are opening as they come through the door.

The newest show of the lot is Wildfire, in Bend. They started as a September show, but have since moved into November. I've only participated once--my fall calendar is pretty packed--but have the sense they're still struggling to find their feet and their audience.

And then there's Clay Fest. My home show, here in Eugene, second weekend of October every year. We're at the Fairgrounds, right next to the Home Improvement Show. (The running joke is that wives come in and buy pottery while their husbands go look at power tools.) The show is about 60 potters strong, and has been going for sixteen years this weekend. I've attended since the beginning, been graphics/poster design chair since 2001. We're not a financial powerhouse like Clayfolk, nor a three-ring extravaganza like Showcase, but we're steadier and more settled the Wildfire. Not too large, not too small, we're the Goldilocks of the clay-only trade. And because it's here in Eugene, I get to spend the night in my own bed every night.