Makers Market shows connections between artists and Margo Fournier Arts Centre

Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald People were eager to look at work by potter Vicki Gauthier during the Makers Market at the Margo Fournier Arts Centre on Saturday.

Local potter Vicki Gauthier got her start at the Margo Fournier Arts Centre, so she was happy to be back in the building.

Gauthier began taking pottery classes at the building after her family moved to Prince Albert in 1997. On Saturday, she was back in familiar territory selling her creations as one of the vendors at the second annual Makers Market.

“I took as many classes as I could, and then my family had enough of my pieces that I made,” Gauthier remembered. “I was asked by the folks who were running the Potters Guild at the time to join this little sale they were having, and it was right in this room.”

Gauthier took a chance, and agreed to join the sale. She soon found her work was a commodity people wanted.

“A couple of people bought some of my pieces and I (thought) ‘wow, people other than my family want my stuff,’” she said. “Then, it was a bit of an addiction.

“I did that for a couple of years. Then I started teaching classes here, and that’s also very addictive.”

Becoming a teacher of pottery showed her another side of what that process is.

“A lot of people think you have to be creative and you have to be artistic and you don’t,” she explained. “It’s a skill that you can learn, and you can get creative and artistic on top of that.”

When it comes to being creative or teaching others how to be creative Gauthier cannot choose which she likes better.

“I think I like both of them and at different times,” she said. “Both of them are really great. The teaching is awesome because you can see somebody when they get it, when they know how to centre or they really like a piece that has come out. What I am doing is sharing with somebody else.”

Since she started more than 20 years ago, Gauthier has sold enough work to develop her own workshop at her home.

“I have my own studio and I can come here and teach and my story is what everybody else’s story is here,” she explained. “They started here and so many people are selling, there is at least two people that I’ve taught in some of my classes that are selling too.”

The second annual Makers Market at the Margo Fournier Arts Centre on Saturday showcased a diverse lineup of talented local artists and artisans offering a range of handmade goods.

The market was an opportunity to pick up some unique handmade gifts for the holiday season.

The Makers Market serves as a melting pot of teachers and students from the Margo Fournier Arts Centre according to Gauthier.

“I bought a piece of pottery from two of the students that I had, so I am also a purchaser,” she said.

Gauthier explained that something like the Makers Market is more than a sale and you can turn people onto becoming creative themselves through the many classes offered at the Margo Fournier Arts Centre.

Along with pottery pieces and visual art, there was also crafted glassworks and screen-printed shirts, among other offerings.

“There are so many people who want to buy local, and it’s to support local artists,” she said. “This is a fantastic way to do it. It’s accessible to so many more makers, because it is not

expensive. It’s in town, but there’s an audience that’s coming. This is only the second year that it’s been held, and I think there’s already more shoppers than there was before.

“As soon as you start to make it annual people are starting to expect it, so it makes it a lot more fun for the people who are participating and for the shoppers,” she added.

“I think this is just such a great venue for both the makers and for buyers. I hope next year will be even bigger and better to make it more popular. It’s just a great venue.”

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