MOUNTAIN TRAVELER: Pieces of the past

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  • Stephanie Hill/ The Folk Pottery Museum also houses a featured exhibit that changes twice a year. Shown is an exhibit from Dave Drake, an enslaved African-American master potter and poet from the 1800s.
    Stephanie Hill/ The Folk Pottery Museum also houses a featured exhibit that changes twice a year. Shown is an exhibit from Dave Drake, an enslaved African-American master potter and poet from the 1800s.
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Pottery can tell a story, and the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia is home to many tales.

Located on the campus of the Sautee Nacoochee Center (SNC), the museum was built in 2006, and was a gift to the community from Kay and Dean Swanson, said Patrick Brennan, SNC executive director.

“The industry as an art is pretty much broken up into two areas: It’s art pottery and folk pottery,” Brennan says. “Folk potters are ones who learn through a family tradition and art potters learn in a studio.”

The museum showcases a featured exhibit, which changes twice a year, Brennan said. It also has a variety of types of folk pottery, including face jugs, rooster jugs and more.

Experiencing the museum is more than appreciating what is on display. The area is separated into two parts, with one side focusing more on how pottery is made and holding scheduled demonstrations, and the other housing examples of different types of folk pottery, including a piece from the Nacoochee Indian mound.

“The museum is pretty much broken up into two areas,” Brennan said. “One half is geared towards the technology of making pots. The other half is the evolution of folk pottery, as glass containers and plastic containers have gradually phased it out, because folk pottery used to be the only way to store food stuff for the most part.”

The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for children. For more information, visit www.folkpotterymuseum.com or call 706-878-3300.

The museum and SNC campus are at 283 state Route 255 in Sautee Nacoochee.