Pottery center's new director finds job the perfect 'turn'
By Mary Anderson
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
SEAGROVE - On Monday, Denny Mecham had been at work as executive director
of the N.C. Pottery Center at Seagrove for three weeks when a lightning
strike set off the alarm and froze it at a very high pitched whine, the
technician was testing here and there, the part-time employee came to work
and the summer intern arrived from Wingate.
And, there was the photographer who was trying to coax her into climbing
into a glass display case - "now on exhibit, the new executive director."
Not a typical Monday, but one that Denita Mech-am (pronounced meek-am)
was handling with aplomb, grace and a sense of humor. She was grateful the
center is closed to the public on Mondays.
Mecham, who began May 3, sees her new position as the best of all possible
worlds for her at this time in her life. The things she loves and her dreams
- pottery, hiking, owning a turn-of-the century house and tending a small
garden - have come together for her in Randolph County.
"I love pottery and, among those who know clay, the Seagrove area
is synonymous with clay all over the world. There is no other place like
it. Here you have a 250-year-old tradition that is still being carried on
as a living tradition. The entrepreneurs working here today are not only
already in museums, but they are the future of museums," Mecham said.
Her own pottery wheel hasn't been out of reach since she was a student
at Queens College in Charlotte where she earned her bachelor's degree in
history. That's where she took her first class in clay and her professor,
Tom Mason, encouraged her to pursue the arts.
A Virginia native, Mecham went to Alfred State University in New York
where she studied ceramics for a year, concentrating on glazes and production
pottery.
She finished her first master's degree at Eastern Michigan University
on a teaching fellowship and later earned a second master's degree in graphic
design and photography from the College of New Rochelle.
The house she loves, a renovated house built circa 1895, on North Main
Street in Asheboro, will be hers any day now.
Mecham's two adult children live on opposite ends of the East Coast and
Mecham is very happy in North Carolina, halfway between them. Son, Johnathan,
with a computer degree, works in Florida. Daughter, Colby, who has a master's
degree in Forestry, is getting married in Burlington, Vt., on June 5.
"I am so anxious to move into my house and get to know the community,"
Mecham said.
Meanwhile, she has enjoyed the daily drive from Salisbury where she was
executive director of the Waterworks Visual Arts center.
"We had just completed a capital campaign for a new building that
we were very proud of," Mecham said. "When I heard about this
position, I kept thinking about it and decided the time was right for a
change. I was very attracted to the idea of a community of clay artists.
The center is on a beautiful site and all the potters give the area such
great energy."
The daily drive, Mecham said, has shown her how beautiful this part of
North Carolina is and how many attractions it has for visitors.
"Seagrove is in a beautiful geographic location, the zoo is wonderful
and a national forest is right here," said Mecham. Hiking is one of
her favorite activities.
Mecham sees the pottery center as an economic tool for the community
and a gateway for the Seagrove area.
"Here we have over 100 entrepreneurs - small business owners - who
constitute a cottage industry and they work very hard to make their businesses
successful," Mecham said. "In the three weeks I have been here,
I have seen that we are an advocate for the potters. People come in the
door and ask about specific potters. They look at the work on display and
pick three, four or five they want to visit."
What sets the pottery center apart, Mecham said, is the fact that it
is a museum. The permanent collection is being refreshed by Dr. Terry Zug,
a charter board member who has been acting director for the past six months.
In addition to the permanent collection that shows visitors 250 years
of pottery tradition, the contemporary working potters have their work on
display and there is a central gallery for special exhibitions, such as
the work of Montgomery Community College students and instructors on display
thorough June.
There is also space for a guild show where the Greensboro Clay Guild
has an exhibit. Guild shows, Mecham explained, are small exhibits and a
new concept for galleries. She plans one or two guild shows a year.
"With so much to see and learn, the pottery center is a destination,
not only for American travelers, but an international destination for visitors
from all over the world," Mecham said.
She credits much of its success to the huge volunteer base, not only
in the beginning to get the center and see it built, but those who continue
to work, doing whatever needs to be done.
Mecham sees all museums as educational facilities - places to learn.
When she left Catawba College, where she had taught painting, drawing, design
and photography for more than a dozen years, to direct the Waterworks Visual
Arts Center, it was not a big leap.
"I have always been involved with galleries and museums and think
of them as another classroom," Mecham said.
For the six years she was at Waterworks, she kept her own pottery studio,
Lee Street Clayworks, in Salisbury.
One of her first directives from the pottery center board is to review
and re-evaluate the policies of the center. Mecham is looking toward more
efficient uses of the display space. She has lots of ideas.
One of her first responsibilities will be to find two new employees.
Susan Crisco, whose duties included serving as the receptionist, has gone
to work for Ben Owen III and officer manager Rita DeFoe will be leaving
since her husband is being transferred to Atlanta this summer.
The summer employee, Gloria Dunlap, and the intern, Jennifer Justice,
have strong clay backgrounds, which pleases Mecham. Dunlap, a 2004 graduate
of Montgomery Community College, is an apprentice at Whynot Pottery who
will work one day a week at the center.
Justice, a 2004 graduate of Wingate University, will work 20 hours a
week at the center managing the educational building and 20 hours apprenticed
to Tom Gray Pottery.
Copyright 2002, Stephens Media Group
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