Story by Emma Unger
Seagrove, North Carolina, recorded a population of 239 in 2024, but over two weekends in October, the small town at least doubled in size with visitors who came to celebrate its long history of pottery. Fellow artists, shoppers and curious firstcomers didn’t have to walk more than a couple minutes along Main Street to find another studio with unique collections of cups, vases, plates, figurines and more inside.
American Craft Week is a nationwide celebration of all types of art and their makers. Co-chair Sherry Masters of the national event reached out to the Seagrove Area Potters Association in 2010 about collaborating on a large-scale effort to support artists after the 2008 recession. This year marks Seagrove’s 15th year recognizing the event.
From Oct. 4-12, Seagrove hosted demonstrations, explained clay processes, sold exclusive pieces and honored traditions of clay-working, though those traditions go much further back than 2010.
‘Pottery Capital of the United States’
“This area is abundant in red clay right below the topsoil, like for flowerpots and bricks,” Seagrove potter Frank Neef said. “That’s what brought the potters here in the 1700s.”
According to the Seagrove Potters website, Native Americans were the first to realize the abundance of clay in the Seagrove area and used the resource to create both functional and ceremonial pieces.
In the late 18th century, German and English immigrants moved away from their original settlements toward the Seagrove area. Just as Neef explained, settlers were attracted by the availability of redware clay. “And then,” Neef said, “in the 1800s, they shifted to stoneware clay, which is also here in abundance.”
Thanks to the clay deposits, the potter population in Seagrove continued to rise. Expansion of the road and railroad systems in the 19th century gave potters access to larger markets stretching beyond Seagrove and helped spread the town’s pottery reputation.
N.C. Highway 705, which runs through Seagrove, is called the North Carolina Pottery Highway, and today, Seagrove is home to about 80 potters with 50 pottery shops in a 20-mile radius. The town’s long history and lasting traditions led to it being widely known as the Pottery Capital of the United States.
The road to claymaking
Long before you reach the “bustling downtown,” as one resident joked, of the less-than 300-person town of Seagrove, the pottery mecca of the area begins to take shape. Seemingly every side road promises another studio or shop with modest charm. As the shop signs become more frequent, you’ll find yourself in the heart of the town.
A small museum and education center, a couple restaurants, a wine bar and, of course, many more pottery shops make up downtown. On Oct. 11, as part of American Craft Week, visitors strolled from stop to stop to take stock of the potters’ offerings. Jamie Cuka visited with her daughter, Penny Cuka, from Winston-Salem. “Penny is an artist, and ceramics is a medium she hasn’t gotten into yet but is very interested in,” Jamie Cuka said. “So we decided to come and explore.”
About 10 artists and shops offered exclusive items, demonstrations and even opportunities for visitors to try their hand throwing on the wheel, but several more offered their usual offerings. The diverse community of potters boasted unique clay, firing and glaze styles at each location.
Neef, who runs Pottery by Frank Neef with his wife Cindy Neef, is known for crystalline glazed porcelain, which covers pots in a random firework-like pattern of crystals. “We go up to 2,400 degrees, drop back down to 2,000 and hold for six hours,” Cindy said. “At that time, that’s when your crystals are going to open up and grow, and that’s what’s forming those patterns.”
Frank became interested in the style in 1977 when he saw an expensive crystalline piece in a St. Louis gallery. “I thought, ‘I’ve got to learn how to do this because I can’t afford this,’” Frank said. One of his favorite parts of the process is never knowing how the piece will look when it’s finished.
Another clayworker, Cat Viera, felt similarly about ceramics. “It hooked my brain because there’s so many variables to it,” Viera said. “Anything could go wrong along the way or affect your results. I’ll never stop learning.”
Viera transitioned from two-dimensional art to ceramics during college, and she did an artist in residency at Seagrove after graduation. She returned to town later as the education manager at the pottery center, which she says is her day job, and she spends her nights and weekends making her own ceramics.
Seagrove potters show the range in production at all levels of the claymaking process during American Craft Week. Viera sat at a wheel in her driveway and showcased about 20 pieces underneath a tent covering. Across the street, the Neefs stocked an in-house gallery and work at a standalone workshop filled with pieces waiting to be glazed.
Frank Neef estimated he and his wife produce about 1,400 pots a year, but he said the number is small in comparison to other potters in the area. While Neef makes “one-off” pieces that require a lot of individual attention, other potters take a wholesale approach and focus on making consistent pieces in large quantities. “We’re approaching the same thing, only from completely different avenues,” Neef said.
Regardless of how a potter approaches the craft, Neef said the community has a mutual appreciation for the artform and one another. The harmonious diversity is evident during American Craft Week, and visitors leave with a greater understanding of the many facets of the ceramics process.
“We have thoroughly enjoyed it,” Jamie Cuka said of their walk through the studios. “It’s amazing to see all the techniques.”
‘No. 1 goal’
Though American Craft Week provides many with an introduction to the intricate world of pottery in Seagrove, the town looks forward to its annual fall festival, the Celebration of Seagrove Potters Show and Studio Tour, which takes place Nov. 21-23 this year.
The festival collects Seagrove potters into a large warehouse for a collective market and auction. Thousands of visitors fly or drive long distances to experience the many styles and artists of Seagrove all in one place. Other potters offer demonstrations and studio tours at their own locations, similar to the craft week’s offerings.
And though Seagrove’s tradition of pottery remains constant, potters adopt new practices and traditions as their and customers’ interests change. A few years ago, local potter Crystal King created a collection of pumpkins for the fall and received a lot of attention. She had an event for the special pumpkins every year, and soon other potters joined in on the tradition. Now, an official group of five collaborate to create the Potters’ Pumpkin Patch Trail.
“We’ve been slammed for three weeks now,” Alexa Modderno of Seagrove Stoneware said. Seagrove Stoneware is on the trail, and Modderno said she is constantly restocking her pumpkins through the month of October. “We’re kind of always making.”
Many pumpkin potters add their own fall pieces to the trail, like Modderno’s ghosts and Bobbie Thomas’ acorn place settings at Thomas Pottery. Other Seagrove potters, like Viera, offer pumpkins separately from the trail.
Potters work together to promote themselves, highlight their work, offer events and keep the passion for the craft alive in the community and tourists, taking turns filling positions on a board of clayworkers who help coordinate events, promote Seagrove and make decisions that impact the town’s artists.
“The community has a common goal of needing to sell enough pots to afford to keep making pots,” Neef said. “That’s the No. 1 goal.”
Why Seagrove?
In the 1700s, Seagrove was one of the few places where potters had easy access to clay. But with easy shipping and nearly immediate access all over the country, what’s the draw today?
Neef said some potters still take advantage of the local clay. A clay supplier in nearby Star, North Carolina, mixes the area’s clay and sells it back to potters, and some potters still dig and process their own material. In that way, they honor the tradition of potters who came before them. Ben Owen of Ben Owen Pottery recently bought land that his own grandfather used to pull clay from and plans to begin digging for his own clay as well.
But for potters like Neef, Seagrove is more than a clay depository. It is a community of supportive, like-minded creators that attracts new potters and keeps other families for generations.
“This community is like no place else on earth,” Neef said. “We have people who have master’s degrees from the best clay schools in the country. We’ve got people who are in their sixth generation, seventh generation of pots being made in this area. … Everyone came to the material a little differently.”
Neef said it’s rare in many communities to be able to walk next door to borrow an ounce of cobalt or to go on pottery trips with neighbors, but that’s what Seagrove is like. Frank and Cindy moved to the town after a recommendation from a friend who lived in Seagrove, and now they have no plans to leave. “I always refer to Seagrove as the ultimate graveyard of potters,” Frank Neef said. “You come here to live out the rest of your useful years.”
Those useful years provide beautiful pots for visitors to explore behind every door, but for the potters who make them, it’s more than a business – it’s a way of life. “Every day, what do you do?” Neef said. “I’m going to make something from nothing!”
