February has been a tumultuous month for BC’s Ceramic community. At the end of January BC Potters’ Guild President Laura Carey sent an email to members notifying us that the Gallery would be closing at the end of February. A final show ‘The Guiding Hand’ featuring the wood-fired work of Past President Jinny Whitehead opened on Feb 1st. I had a cold and didn’t attend.

An Extraordinary General Meeting was called for the following Tuesday to explain the Gallery’s financial situation and a large crowd of members attended. I took the opportunity to take photos of Jinny Whitehead’s fine show.

It turns out the January sales were dreadful and gallery space rental was deferred until the end of the year but there was no longer a cushion of funds to tide us over lean periods. Board members do not have insurance so there was a fear of the gallery going bankrupt and then the Guild would no longer exist. The meeting that night was positive and various ideas for retaining the space with different activities, and therefore keeping the Guild’s office upstairs, were discussed. We asked the board to research the possibilities, the non-profit Crafts Association offered to take care of tax-deductible contributions and plans were made to hold a big Farewell/Fundraiser party on Feb 24th. Ideas related to Ceramics that could take place in the Granville Island space included a working studio, with wheels, a sink and kilns, where workshops could be taught, temporary space for emerging ceramic artists who would take care of a much-reduced retail space one day a week in return, and room for pop-up shows.

I took general photos of the gallery that night for nostalgia.

A further Extraordinary General Meeting was called for last night and fewer members attended, mainly past Board members and three past presidents. The good news is that the fundraising efforts have been successful, thanks to the Silent Auction at the party, unusually good sales during February,  donated commissions from some gallery members and other generous financial donations. So the gallery can be closed without much anticipated debt at all. BUT it was decided that the ambitious plans for the space would need quite a bit more funding without any assurance that the rent and bills could be paid in the near future. So the much-loved gallery is closing. Today was the last day in business. Manager Carita Ho, some board members and some volunteers (more are very welcome) will take care of returning stock to gallery artists, and selling plinths, lights etc and leaving the space as CMHC would expect. What will happen to the Guild remains to be seen. We have a fine newsletter which will keep members informed, as ever, of all things Ceramic. Operating a commercial Gallery for Ceramics has often been a struggle for the Guild so with its closing after 31 years we feel defeated for now. But the Guild has existed for twice that long, we shall retain its archives and we’ll watch with interest to see how it evolves from here on.

After writing this little account of a sad event I must thank outgoing Guild President Laura Carey for her unwavering enthusiasm for all things clay, from her time as Gallery manager to her more recent stint at the helm of the Guild. The work she and the board and the gallery staff have put in to publicity for fund-raising to avoid bankruptcy and research into the member-initiated requests for other space-use possibilities has been amazing. Sincere thanks.