Inaugural Northern Illinois Pottery Tour Includes Aurora Stop

Aurora IL

19 April, 2022

5:25 PM

Description

AURORA, IL — The Northern Illinois Pottery Tour is debuting this summer, and the traveling artist showcase includes a stop at a downtown Aurora gallery the second weekend in June. Twenty artists are coming together for the pottery tour, which potter and head organizer Amy Song describes as a "pub crawl, except you are admiring and purchasing pottery instead of beer." "There are so many talented creators in this area; it is overdue for us to have an event locally that celebrates clay and puts us on the map in our own right," she said in a statement, adding she was inspired by similar tours in Minnesota and Galena, among others. The Northern Illinois Pottery Tour, free to attend, will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 11-12. Online demonstrations will take place in the week leading up to the tour, and some pieces of work will be available for purchase online while the in-person event is happening. The self-guided tour will include stops at Cory McCrory's home studio in Sandwich, Artesan Lofts Gallery in downtown Aurora where Jonathan Pacheco resides, Benjamin Buchenot's home and studio in Villa Park, and Susan Messer McBride's studio in the North Center neighborhood in Chicago, according to a news release. Tour attendees will be able to meet and chat with a few potters at each location. Functional and decorative ceramics — including wood-fired ceramics, earthenware, gas-fired stoneware, porcelain and paper clay — will also be available for purchase. "There is an amazing variety in what can be accomplished with clay, ranging from color to form to decoration," Song said. "The list of artists was curated to celebrate this range. As the tour establishes roots, the number of stops and artists will expand to include more artists."