by Kate Nixon

Pottery Lovers Show & Sale

Wednesday – Saturday, July 14th – 18th, 2026

Zanesville, OH

at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Zanesville North

Info: Pottery Lovers Online or Pottery Lovers Facebook page

“It is a highlight of the year for us because we love sharing stories, learning from the masters, making friends and leaving with a treasure.” – Patti Bourgeois of PatsPots

The Pottery Lovers Experience

The appreciation of art pottery and its legacy in Ohio returns this week to Zanesville in the form of the annual Pottery Lovers show, a show running from July 14th – 18th at the Zanesville Holiday Inn Express. The shows are comprised of individual hotel rooms set up as dealer booths, filled with art pottery and ceramic works – both antique and contemporary – available to customers from morning until evening.

While room sales officially begin Wednesday morning, there will be a soft opening on Tuesday for those dealers that are ready to open their door. Please note that rooms will not be open for sales on Monday as dealers will be setting up. Sales will begin on Tuesday.

New pottery enthusiasts interested in the show might ask “How does the Pottery Lovers show work in hotel rooms?” By utilizing every flat service in a room to create a booth space, according to an explanation provided by the American Art Pottery Association. “The show organizer reserves a block of rooms for sellers and then each vendor converts their room into a pop-up store by rearranging the room: moving furniture, bringing in folding tables, adding shelving (which can be anything from prefabricated shelving, to empty boxes flipped upside down with a long board placed on top — doing whatever it takes to create valuable square inches of commercial real estate). A savvy seller utilizes every stable flat surface in the room in order to show off their wares.”

A 2017 show hotel room at the Zanesville Holiday Inn Express being converted into a “booth space” where customers can go in and out of each room. Photos courtesy of Arnie Smalls and Barbara Gerr.

The popularity of the Pottery Lovers Show is in part due to this original idea, a process that encourages buyers and dealers to interact and learn about art pottery in each room. Patti Bourgeois of Pats Pots says of the annual show, “It is a highlight of the year for us because we love sharing stories, learning from the masters, making friends and leaving with a treasure.”

Tuesday, July 14 – Room sales begin.
Wednesday July 15, 5pm: Please join us for our catered Meet and Greet sponsored by Barbara Gerr Antiques. See old pottery friends and meet new ones.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: Speakers all three days in the ballroom at the Holiday Inn Express.

Wednesday, July 15, 2pm: 9 Years and Beyond: Building the American Art Pottery Collection at the Zanesville Museum of Art. Speaker Laine Synder
Thursday, July 16, 2pm: The launch of This Week in Art Pottery with Speaker Mark Moyer
Friday, July 17, 2pm: Collecting American Art Pottery, So Many Choices wiuth Speaker Patti Bourgeois

Additional networking events

Thursday July 16, 5pm: Show and Tell Sponsored by Zanesville Museum of Art “Bring Your Best Pot” and awards given sponsored by the Zanesville Museum of Art. After Show and Tell please join us for a desert bar with coffee sponsored by Visit Zanesville.
Friday July 17, 5pm: Join us for light fare and good conversation sponsored by PatsPots.