SAUTEE NACOOCHEE, Ga. — Sunlight cut through the cool October air as guests filled rows of chairs outside a new building on the Sautee Nacoochee Center campus. The John Burrison Pottery Studio opened Friday morning, honoring the folklorist who documented Georgia’s clay traditions for more than six decades.
The 1,700-square-foot studio sits beside the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia. Inside, sunlight washed across pottery wheels, tables, and shelves of clay tools.
“This studio is not here simply because of bricks and mortar, but because of people,” said Emily DeFoor, director. “They never stopped supporting, never stopped giving, and never stopped believing that this community deserved a place where pottery traditions could be taught, shared, and carried forward.”
DeFoor credited a $55,000 grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts, along with support from White County government and private donors, for making the project possible. She said the space will host pottery classes, workshops, and open-studio memberships for those six years old and up.
Swanson: This is for the community
Former Governor Nathan Deal attended with his wife, Brenda. “I live in the general area, in Habersham County,” Deal said. “I recognize the museum as one of the arts locations in our state, and I was just glad to be invited to come.”
Deal once honored the museum’s founders, Dean and Kay Swanson, with the Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities in 2012. Their sons, Chris and Stewart Swanson, now serve as lifetime trustees and co-chairs of the museum. Both addressed the crowd.
“When COVID hit, we decided that instead of asking what the community could do for us, we’d do something for them first,” said Chris Swanson, describing the decision to create the studio. “This studio was the result.”
Stewart Swanson introduced Dr. John A. Burrison, the folklorist, curator, and Georgia State University professor for whom the building is named. Burrison wrote “Brothers in Clay: The Story of Georgia Folk Pottery,” the definitive account of the state’s craft traditions.
“It’s amazing to think that a building would be named after me before I die,” Burrison said jocularly. “This is a wonderful arts community.”
An enduring bond
Leila Meaders, a descendant of the Meaders pottery family of Sautee Nacoochee, attended with her fiancé, Allen Vicich. “I am here because of family,” Meaders said. Her family’s pottery legacy, documented in Burrison’s research, helped establish the museum’s foundation.
After the speeches, Governor Deal, Dr. Burrison, Emily DeFoor, and the Swanson brothers, among others, cut the red ribbon. Applause filled the courtyard as visitors entered the new studio. Inside, they paused before a mural of community-painted tiles that reflected the valley’s enduring bond between art, history, and hands in clay.
