The "Making Place" exhibition at the Athens Cotton Press is open for nine days, Nov. 3 through 12. The six vessels by David Drake, the work most people will come to see, are on view for two hours. Artful Hands, which presents the show, lists that viewing for one afternoon only, Friday, Nov. 6, from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Everything else at 149 Oneta Street and the galleries down the block can wait for another day in November. Friday afternoon can't.
The Cotton Press sits in the historic Chase Park Warehouses. The organizers describe it as "a short walk from the Boulevard neighborhood," so for most of Boulevard, Friday's viewing is a stroll, not a drive.
Who David Drake Was, and Why Two Hours Matters
David Drake, also known as Dave the Potter, was an enslaved African American potter who worked in South Carolina's Edgefield District in the 19th century. Some of his surviving stoneware carries his signature, a date and his own verses. The Smithsonian American Art Museum describes him as a potter who was enslaved for most of his life, made massive signed stoneware and inscribed some vessels with poems.
The six pieces coming to Oneta Street belong to the Washington Historical Museum. Its director, Stephanie Macchia, will speak about Drake's work during the same Friday session. Collector Pat Shields will also give a gallery talk on wood-fired pottery and the stories behind the works on display. Flagpole's Oct. 28 Art Around Town lists the Drake works as part of the exhibition. The organizer's calendar is more specific. They are in the room for that one afternoon.
Artful Hands asks for an RSVP for the Friday talk on its Making Place page.
A Crowded Building on Friday
The Drake viewing falls on the busiest afternoon of the week at the Cotton Press. The two-day Hands ON History Symposium opens that day. Registration runs at the same address from noon to 5 p.m., and organizers are inviting attendees to see the exhibition and the talks and demonstrations in the Trade Room while they're there. At 5:30 p.m., Karen A. Phillips, co-founder of Harlem Abyssinian Development Corporation, gives the keynote, "Rebuilding from the Inside Out." Cocktails and dinner follow at 7 p.m.
You don't need a symposium pass for the Drake viewing. Still, symposium guests, gallery visitors and the free 2-to-4 session all share one building that afternoon. Arriving close to 2 p.m. gives you the longest stretch with the vessels.
What Stays in the Room All Week
The rest of "Making Place" keeps regular hours, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily from Nov. 3 through 12, closed Sunday. Hours run later during special programs. Two private collections make up the core of the pottery:
- Pat Shields and Janice Hall, longtime owners of Georgia Mudcat Pottery in Danielsville, who have spent years studying wood-fired pottery across the Southeast
- David and Linda Chesnut, whose collection adds work by potters such as Meaders, Ferguson and Dean
The ironwork is by Patrick G. Blount of Greenhow Handmade Ironworks. He is a certified artist blacksmith, a graduate of the Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing and an ABANA National Curriculum Certified Level I instructor. Groups can book a free visit by emailing [email protected].
The exhibition is also a place to buy pieces. The Trade Room has work for sale, and the closing night promises pottery and ironwork for sale, so the pieces you see one weekday might go home with someone else by Nov. 12.
Saturday Turns Toward Athens Buildings
The symposium's Saturday program, Nov. 7, has the most Athens-specific content of the week. Late registration and refreshments run from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Cotton Press, and the first talk starts at 9. The program includes:
- Athens' Randy Reid, co-author of Seen/Unseen, on the life of Aggy Carter, an enslaved woman whose story has been reconstructed from the Cobb-Lamar family papers.
- Patrick G. Blount on saving a historic blacksmith shop in Washington, Georgia, and on traditional ironwork in preservation. The same hands made the iron in the gallery.
- "Built to Last: Preservation Through Adaptive Reuse," with Chad Brown, owner of The Athenian, and Marie Brumley Foster and Nicholas Foster, owners of The Bell Hotel. Historic Athens executive director Tommy Valentine moderates.
Lunch runs from noon to 2 p.m. Attendees can eat at the Cotton Press or ride the Athens Trolley to the Georgia Museum of Art's decorative arts galleries. A two-day pass costs $199 plus $15.92 in sales tax, and a Community-Supported Pass costs $275 plus $22 in tax. Both include the Friday and Saturday dinners. A limited number of free passes are set aside for students.
The Rest of the Block, by the Day It's Open
Pulaski and Oneta streets have galleries that keep their own schedules, and several of them are open on the evenings and weekends when the Cotton Press is closed. Here is how the next week lines up, starting the day this post goes live:
| Day | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 5 | Athens Cotton Press, 149 Oneta St. | Adult "Face Jug" Mug Workshop with Erin Morris, 5:30–7:30 p.m., $65 |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Athens Cotton Press | Pat Shields talk and David Drake viewing, 2–4 p.m., free |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Tiger's Eye Gallery, 675 Pulaski St., Ste. 1600 | David Hale event, 5–8 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | ATHICA, 675 Pulaski St., Ste. 1200 | "Everything," 1–6 p.m.; Cotton Press closed |
| Mon.–Wed., Nov. 9–11 | Tiger's Eye Gallery | Gallery hours 1–5 p.m. or by appointment |
| Thu., Nov. 12 | Athens Cotton Press | Closing celebration, 6–8 p.m., $15 adults, children 10 and under free |
| Thu.–Fri., Nov. 12–13 | Southern Mill, 355 Oneta St. | Tommy Crow Studios pop-up, 4–9 p.m. |
Tiger's Eye is showing David Hale's "The Lord Knows When You Are Trying," more than 550 original hand-printed, hand-colored linoleum block prints by the Athens artist. ATHICA is showing "Everything," a national juried exhibition of works made from unexpected materials. Philip McClure, director of the Blue Boy art space in Savannah, juried it. ATHICA is open Thursday and Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. "Everything" stays up through Nov. 22, ten days after "Making Place" closes, so it can easily wait until the Cotton Press week is over.
Eating Between Stops
The neighborhood's food hours line up well with the Friday afternoon. Nové Město, the Czech-inspired restaurant and bar from the Hi-Lo Lounge team, opened April 1 at 625 Barber St., Ste. 130. On Fridays and Saturdays it is open 11 a.m. to midnight with the kitchen open until 9 p.m., and Sunday brunch runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. That Sunday brunch is useful when the Cotton Press is dark and ATHICA opens at 1 p.m.
Puma Yu's, which serves Thai-inspired food, cocktails and wine, is at 355 Oneta St., the same address as Southern Mill. It is open noon to 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 5 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It's closed Sundays. On Nov. 12 and 13, dinner there puts you in the right building for the Tommy Crow Studios pop-up, which runs until 9 p.m.
The Last Night at the Cotton Press
"Making Place" closes Thursday, Nov. 12, with a celebration from 6 to 8 p.m. The Georgia Mudcats play live, a food truck will be on site, and pottery and ironwork will be for sale. Tickets are $15 for adults, and children 10 and under get in free. The Drake vessels won't be part of that evening. Their viewing is limited to Friday's 2-to-4 session.
Saturday's adaptive-reuse panel and the Making Place exhibit are both about older Athens buildings finding new uses, and plenty of Boulevard owners have a house with that kind of history. If you're curious what your own older home is worth today, Eric Vaughn can put together a free home valuation that accounts for its age and history, not just its square footage.
