For a number of years Port Moody has had a relationship with the city of New Plymouth in Taranaki province, New Zealand. Both cities have taken the title ‘City of the Arts’ and exhibitions have been exchanged. I contacted Dale Copeland, an enthusiastic Arts Advocate in Taranaki, and asked about potters there. The New Plymouth Potters’ president, Cecily Bull, kindly invited me to visit their group’s workshop and gallery, to give a presentation if possible and to stay chez the Bulls.
So, during our recent two and a half-week stay in New Zealand, Alan and I drove into New Plymouth on Thursday February 16th. Cecily took us into the centre of town where the guild is lucky enough to have the use of a city-owned workshop space next to a beautifully restored stone Vicarage which is used as their gallery. In return for the group’s studio space members of the guild man the gallery voluntarily.
I gave a Power Point Presentation ‘Gillian McMillan’s Jugbirds’ to an enthusiastic group of members and had many interested questions to answer. It was also most interesting to me to see who had given them workshops over the years and what the influences were. Many members are doing pottery as a hobby but there are some making a living from their work. Coincidentally there was an annual show of Ceramics at the Real Tart Gallery in New Plymouth and its theme was ‘Birds of a Feather’! I was invited to contribute work to the show seeing I would be there then so I had couriered two smallish jug birds to them when we arrived in Auckland. It was fun to see plinths displaying all sorts of birds, functional and not.
Cecily has sent me some photos – yours truly after my talk visiting their gallery, the shelves of work for sale, and a nice photo of the charming Vicarage building/gallery. I am also attaching a pdf of the recent newsletter which tells of my visit and also gives an idea of the sort of activities they organize over a year.
Many thanks to Cecily and her husband Tom for having Al and me to stay for two nights and for organizing my happy evening with New Plymouth potters. It was so good to meet local people when on a trip so far from home and to have places of interest shown us.
Wouldn’t it be nice of more pottery groups in the lower mainland could have permanent studio/gallery/presentation spaces like theirs? Is this something TriCity Potters should pursue?
