Whanganui Potters Studio celebrates 50 years with exhibition at Community Arts Centre

Whanganui Potters Studio vice-president Rob Housley (left) and former president and life member Patricia Townsend at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre exhibit. Photo / Erin Smith

Through the fluctuations in popularity of handmade ceramics, the Whanganui Potters Studio has kept on making, teaching and exhibiting.

Now the group is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an exhibit at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre.

The gallery of work by various tutors, former studio presidents, and photographs documenting the 50-year journey is on display to the public until October 1.

The exhibition was celebrated before its public opening this week by a select group of potters and individuals connected to the society, with food, drinks and speeches by key figures in the society’s history, including its first president, Helen Budd.

“The potters were actually operating way back, probably more than 50 years ago,” former president and life member Patricia Townsend said.

“I’ve come in many years after that, but it’s let me think.”

Townsend was one of the event organisers, with the current vice-president, Rob Housley.

The Whanganui Potters formed in 1975 after a dedicated group of pottery enthusiasts, led by Agnes Smith, decided to build a space to create together and share their craft with others.

They began by moving between various available workspaces across Whanganui before finally shifting into their home at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre in the 1990s.

The organisation has since blossomed into a regional pottery hub, offering regular classes, garden sales, events, guest artists and studio spaces for potters of all levels.

“We’re part of the art scene,” Townsend said.

“It’s a real hub down at the Arts Centre and of course we get all the people coming through.”

The society has persevered through fluctuations in pottery’s popularity over the years. As imported, mass-produced ceramics became more widely available, the dependence on and desire for handmade works slowed.

“In the beginning, people would just buy pottery for the sake of buying it,” Townsend said.

Potters used to regularly sell out in the early garden sales. This became more difficult and less common as cheap imports took over.

“For instance, you [could] go and buy a coffee mug for a dollar a few years ago,” she said.

“But now it’s coming back where people are wanting these type of things crafted.”

The desire to buy handmade ceramics and learn how to make them has risen again in recent years. Some of the classes now have waiting lists.

“It’s just a good, vibrant scene,” Townsend said.

The society has worked to make pottery accessible over its 50 years, keeping membership costs affordable for the wide demographic of members.

Townsend said there was a strong sense of community in the studio, where experienced potters regularly helped younger or newer students.

“If anybody wants a helping hand, we will help them out ... and when there’s a function everybody mucks in”.

Townsend encouraged everyone to visit the exhibition.

“It’s amazing what you can get out of a bag of clay.”

The Whanganui Community Arts Centre is at 19 Taupō Quay.