'A great place to play with clay': Mudpie Potters host annual Mudfest art show and sale

By JENNA SPATARO

Published on November 09, 2007

Remember when you used to make mudpies? A group of potters in Leverett still do.

Starting next Saturday Mudpie Potters Community Clay Center invites local residents to Leverett Crafts & Arts for the opening reception of Mudfest, a pottery sale and art exhibit of members work. Community members can buy pottery, enjoy artwork, drink hot cider, and eat some real pie. During Mudfest's closing weekend, Dec. 8 and 9, the center holds open studio days, for a look behind the scenes at the potters' workshop.

Mudpie was founded in 1991 by Leverett potter Donna Gates. She stopped by LCA one day to see if she could take a clay class. She found one person working in a basement studio with 3 wheels and a kiln. When the one potter left, Gates stayed on, and Mudpie Potters Co-op was born.

These 16 years later, the group is a non-profit arts education organization boasting 25 members.

Today Gates is the director of LCA, where mudpie rents space. The center is run by co-directors Ruth O'Mara of Wendell, who has been a part of Mudpie for seven years, and Hillary Wilbur-Ferro of Shutesbury, who has been a member for 12 years.

"Our goal is to provide affordable studio space and an educational space for members and for the community," said Wilbur-Ferro.

The studio is made up of potters and sculptors from all different skill levels and backgrounds. It's a family-oriented place, where members are welcome to bring their children while they work.

"[At mudpie] there are kids who play with clay, but then there are also serious artists," said Wilbur-Ferro, "a place for all."

Don Curtis of South Hadley has been with Mudpie since it first opened. He makes a living as a carpenter, but during the winter he spends about 30 hours a week at the studio.

"Mudpie is a great idea," he said. "It's nice because [rent] is month by month. You can try it out and see if you like it"

The center recommends that prospective members have some knowledge of clay. Depending on how much shelf space the potter requires, rent ranges anywhere from $40 to $70 a month. Members are trained on how to use the equipment through classes, and also by shadowing other studio members.

Training sessions include glaze-making and instructions for operating the kilns and raku firing. During spring and summer, a variety of classes are offered for both children and adults. Private lessons and workshops are also given throughout the year.

David Henion, a Leverett potter and owner of The Henion Bakery in Amherst, was a member of Mudpie for several years.

"It's a great place," he said. "They give you all the tools and materials you need. I don't know of another place that allows freedom from the start of the design until the end."

The studio equipment includes 12 potter's wheels, a pit, and sawdust and firing areas. For those who understand such terms, Mudpie also provides an extruder, slab roller, glaze pantry, glazing room, hand-building area, wedging tables, a raku kiln, low-fire electric kiln and two down-draft gas kilns. Clay is available for purchase.

Henion is no longer a Mudpie member, but is still an avid potter with his own studio at home.

"[It[']s] great for beginners," he said." You grow and learn, and have great interaction with fellow clay lovers."

Lorna Kepes of Pelham has made the opposite potter's journey. After working alone in her own studio for years, she joined Mudpie in 2001.

"I was inspired by others' work," she said. "It's inspirational to work with different style potters. I learned different techniques, and my work changed. It led me in a different direction."

Every member helps keep Mudpie up and running. Curtis is using his carpentry skills to add wood to the outdoor kiln shed to give it a nicer appearance.

Kepes helps with the maintenance of the studio by making sure it has light bulbs, batteries, filters and such.

"Everybody brings different skills and contributes," said Kepes. "People work together to keep the place afloat."

Local residents too have helped keep Mudpie alive. Last year when the center was having problems with one of its kilns, the directors sent a letter to Leverett residents requesting help, and donations poured in, enabling them to purchase a new one.

O'Mara said that the annual Mudfest is a great way to bring members and non-members together.

"[at Mudfest], I am excited to see new work," she said. "This will be the first work that has come out of our new kiln."

The event celebrates all the members' hard work, and helps show the community what Mudpie Community Clay center is all about.

As O'Mara would say, "It's a great place to play with clay."

Starting Nov. 17, through Dec. 9, the Mudfest Pottery Sale & Art Exhibit takes place every weekend from 10 a.m.-4 p.m, at Barnes Gallery, Leverett Crafts & Arts, 13 Montague Road. Admission is free. On the opening day. real pies come out at 1. For more information contact the center at (413) 548-3939.