Pottery Lovers Return to a Unique Pottery Show in Zanesville, Ohio
by Kate Nixon
Pottery Lovers Show & Sale
Wednesday – Saturday, July 10th-13th, 2024
Zanesville, OH
at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Zanesville North
Info: Pottery Lovers Online or Pottery Lovers Facebook page
Email: [email protected]
“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 11th through the 13th at the Zanesville Holiday Inn Express with a special room preview kicking off on July 10th. 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. The rooms are available to shop each day through Saturday at 4:00 PM when the shows will close.
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 look at 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.”
Additional events at the Pottery Lovers show include a silent auction available by the hospitality desk, and an evening “Show and Tell” session starting at 6pm on Thursday. The theme for the show and tell is “Handles” and according to a Facebook post by Frank Norman, it’s an occasion to bring out your best pot! “Bring out your best pots with handles to compete for prizes. This year Show & Tell will be sponsored by The Zanesville Museum of Art, and they will be offering three prizes for the best pots. (1st Prize – $150, 2nd Prize – $100, and 3rd Prize – $50). Everyone that attends will be able to place one vote for their favorite pot, and ballots will be tallied at the end to determine the winners.”
The hotel’s hospitality desk will be open each day for varying hours depending upon the number of volunteers. Viewing and bidding on the Silent Auction items can be done at the hospitality desk.
- Wednesday, July 10 – Room sales preview, Food trays courtesy of Barbara Gerr Antiques 5pm
- Thursday, July 11 – Room sales, Show and Tell “Handles” courtesy of Zanesville Museum of Art – 3 awards given 6-7pm
- Friday, July 12 – Room sales, Mixer (Happy Hour) courtesy of Pats Pots – BYOB -Patio 5-7pm
- Saturday, July 13 – 8am – 3 PM
A special “Show & Tell” event will be held during the 2024 Pottery Lovers show at the Zanesville Holiday Inn Express North hotel from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Sponsored by the Zanesville Museum of Art, this year’s theme is “Handles.” Bring your best pot and you could win one of three cash prizes!
Marblehead Pottery Floral Decoration, ca 1915. Courtesy of Barbara Gerr Antiques.
A facebook ad for the PatsPots booth at Pottery Lovers. A longtime participant at Pottery Lovers, owner Patti Bourgeois says of Pottery Lovers: “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.”
To see more information about the Pottery Lovers Show, please visit them online at the following links:
PotteryLovers.org – The Official Website of the Pottery Lovers Show