Islanders can commend a cadre of six potters who organized the island’s very first Potter’s Tour for laying the foundation for Vashon Allied Arts, which would later grow into what is now known as Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA).
The Vashon Heritage Museum will host a talk, “Vashon Potters in the 1970s and 1980s” via Zoom at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14. Vashon potters Chris Beck, Greg McElroy, Marla Smith and Irene Otis will discuss with moderator Elizabeth Shepherd, editor of The Beachcomber, about these early days of pottery on the island. Register for Thursday’s talk at bit.ly/3iQxnEi.
In 1979, six Vashon potters — Larry Watson, Greg McElroy, Irene Otis, John Sage, Janice Mallman and Patricia Cummings — organized a holiday pottery sale in their respective studios, but advertised separately to customers. The following year, the potters collaborated. The group combined mailing lists and sent out a postcard to their customers, notifying them of the upcoming sale.
“The big thing was the idea that we could all be selling our pottery at the same time and we didn’t feel a sense of competition,” said Mallman, in a 2013 article published by Bruce Haulman and Terry Donnelly. “We never felt like rivals, just comrades sharing an intense love of clay.”
The Potters Tour continued to thrive throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and other potters joined the tour as well. By the late 1990s, other artists had joined and the Potters Tour became what it is known today—the VIVA Studio Tour.
About the Artists
Chris Beck is a ceramic artist and photographer. Her work has been exhibited in many locations, including the Henry Gallery, the King County Arts Commission, Vashon Gather and the Pacific Northwest Crafts Gallery. Beck has also been an instructor for the National Endowment for the Arts, Cornish Institute and Vashon Allied Arts’ Artists in Schools.
Greg McElroy is one of the six original potters who originated the first Potter’s Tour in 1980. McElroy began teaching at Vashon High School in 1995 but has since retired. He continues to create pottery in his studio.
Marla Smith is a potter and photographer. She describes her pottery as “…classic and classy with a sense of humor” on her artist’s statement on the VIVA website.
Irene Otis has been creating colorful ceramic tiles, often emblazoned with inspirational text, for more than 30 years. Each tile is hand-glazed and fired at least twice in an electric kiln.
Talk launches a month-long celebration
The talk is intended as a preview and launch for an island-wide celebration of local pottery in May.
On Friday, May 6, Vashon Center for the Arts will display “Akio Takamori: Time,” a retrospective about Takamori’s work in Seattle, with a focus on his work created on Vashon from 1988 to 1994. Takamori was a Japanese-American ceramic sculptor and faculty member at the University of Washington.
Mukai Farm & Garden will display large cutouts of Takamori’s people figures, as well as other selections. The event begins at 6 p.m. Friday, May 6, at Mukai.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, as part of VCA’s “Talks on the Rock” series, art historian Barbara Johns will present “Bringing Clay to Life,” a talk and presentation about Takamori, whom she interviewed during the last year and a half of his life. The event is co-sponsored by Mukai Farm & Garden. Tickets, $15 to $20, are available for purchase at vashoncenterforthearts.org.
VCA will also display new work from Vashon ceramic artists in the gallery shop, opening on Friday, May 6.
The Vashon Heritage Museum will showcase a display of pottery made by local potters who were working with clay during the time period as part of their “Vashon Pottery from the 1970s and 1980s” event. The event takes place at 6 p.m. Friday, May 6. A special potters reception begins at 5 p.m.
