In spite of it being a dreadfully rainy day, last Thursday’s ‘That Pottery Thing’ was a huge success and so much fun.
When I arrived at the Mayer studio around 5pm the well-equipped photography space had been completely transformed into a welcoming venue for our guests. Long tables held all the ceramic donations, arranged in three groups for the auction ending deadlines and carefully arranged by Carol Mayer’s MOA colleague Skooker Broome. There were well-spaced tables for groups of four all around, each holding a vast platter which featured a board-members-made ‘Canadian Cheezie Bowl’ and a selection of wrapped Covid-safe comestibles such as cheeses, gourmet crackers, Ferrero Rocher treats and more. In front of each chair there was a wildly wrapped surprise for each attendee which contained one of the many dessert plates that had been donated by BC Potters.
The studio’s big white backdrop wall was used as a screen and the kitchen area was a drinks, real Cheezies, plate-selling, bowl-bidding spot. Studio managers Roger Mahler and Holly Truchan were incredibly helpful and generous, not only in donating the space for two whole days but in organizing so much of the arranging of the space and advising on logistics of this unusual event. Carol Mayer’s onsite painting studio served as a private computer room for Amy Gogarty to monitor the ongoing auction bidding, away from the hubbub of the gathering in the next room.
Because we couldn’t have many guests (with board members and other helpers we kept the total to under 40 as per provincial guidelines) we had opted to run the auction online beforehand and then organize a live hour and a half so that bidders could ‘see’ the donations. Well-known CBC Radio host Sheryl MacKay agreed to be the guide through the display and to interview board members, guests and the Mayer Wosk award winner. Jasper Sloan Yip was in charge of all things projected and recorded.
After Carol Mayer acknowledged that we were on unceded territory and that the day had been set aside to recognize Truth and Reconciliation with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada, she then welcomed us all and explained the evening’s programme. She and NWCF President Debra Sloan used Power Point presentations to illustrate their descriptions of the Foundation’s goals and initiatives, for which we were fund-raising. We saw images of work by emerging ceramics students who had been awarded workshop attendance, studios which had received operating funds, guest lecturers and previous winners of our main award.
All this was being skilfully recorded by Tatiana Povoroznyuk for the Zoom webinar. That recording of the evening will be available on the NWCF website soon. At the same time collectors, both in person and online were placing their final bids in the auction. One wrinkle was that WiFi slowed as a result so when we plan a similar event in the future we’ll have to consider how to run the auction and a Zoom event simultaneously without slowing bids.
At one point we watched a moving, pre-recorded talk by Gordon Whitehead, husband of past Potters Guild of BC President Jinny Whitehead who is now gravely ill. There was a display of her wood-fired vessels, with photographs from her extensive career in service to this ceramic community, and six pieces were included in the auction.
During the bidding for the third and final group of ceramics Carol announced the winner of the North-West Ceramics Foundation Mayer Wosk Award of Excellence: Winlaw-resident, atmospheric and wood-firing expert Robin Dupont. He and his wife Eden had travelled in to Vancouver for the occasion, and Robin gave us a short presentation on his work.
https://www.nwcf.ca/the-north-west-ceramics-foundation-award-of-excellence/
Once the events were under way it seemed that the role of board members was to circulate amongst the invited guests, introducing ourselves and discussing auction pieces and what the NWCF does. So I was delighted to learn that Robin and Eden had stayed with fellow potter Cathy Terepocki and her husband in Yarrow and they were guests for the presentation that night.
It was exciting to watch the enthusiasm of folks anxiously checking their phones for the latest bids, chat with makers, discuss various technologies used and meet lots of makers and collectors. I admit that I enjoyed the reaction of those who had ‘won’ one of my jolly earthenware plates in their surprise package. My silent-auctioned Cheezie bowl went to a Vancouver collector and oh my! Glenn Lewis had the winning bid for my soda-fired Jugbird in the auction!
Debra Sloan presented Sheryl MacKay with a set of nesting bowls made by past president Ron Vallis.
When it was all over our guests began to leave, some carrying their freshly-won treasures, and we carefully packed up the remaining pots and sculptures into their boxes. These will have been delivered or mailed to their winners by now.
I gather the Auction was a huge success, far exceeding previous fundraising auctions, and this may be because it was online for some weeks instead of a live and silent auction on just one evening. Now we have lots to consider when the board meets again. Thank you to all the clay folks who made such generous donations, those who gave plates, Roger, Holly,Tatiana, Jasper and Skooker for making the event run smoothly, Sheryl for her cheerful and knowledgeable walkabout and of course all the board members who advised, bought treats, rented table-cloths, served drinks, spent endless hours online beforehand and made ceramic Cheezies! You can still see all this year’s auction donations at:
