Teapot Museum plans to expand offerings at preview gallery

The Sparta Teapot Museum of Craft and Design's plans to open a new building on West Whitehead Street (N.C. 18 South) in 2011 may be affected by the recent economic downturn. In the meantime, the director of the project said the current preview gallery's function will be expanded to include a full range of museum programming and a more extensive exhibition schedule.

Sparta Teapot Museum Director Cynthia Grant, who started her position in August 2008, said as she was preparing a budget for this year, she was instructed by the board to include funds for a full range of programming for the preview gallery at 18 S. Main St. in Sparta.

The 2009 program will include four exhibitions, double the number held there in 2008, and demonstrations and cultural programming related to the exhibitions.

"One of the things we're going to do is have a public program every month to explore cultural opportunities in the county and the region," Grant said.

School programs will be available both in classrooms and in the gallery, said Grant. "Teachers interested in taking part may contact me to discuss and to schedule programs."

Grant may be reached at 372-7238 or via e-mail at cgrant@teapotmuseum.org.

The preview gallery closed for the winter on Dec. 20, 2008 and will re-open on March 5, 2009. Grant said the first two exhibitions will have a local emphasis. They include a National Quilting Month exhibition by the Alleghany Quilters Guild, as well as a student teapot competition, both of which will be featured from March 5 through March 28.

Other exhibitions planned include artwork by the Penland School of Crafts from April 2 through July 18; a display of Appalachian musical instruments in honor of the county's 150th birthday that will run from July 23 through Sept. 26; and an invitational craft exhibition and sale entitled, "Autumn in the Blue Ridge" that will begin on Oct. 1 and continue through Jan. 30, 2010.

The musical instrument display is intended to show the instruments as works of art, as well as exploring the local history and significance of the instruments. "We're focusing on instruments that were made in the region and the history behind the instruments and their makers," said Grant. She asks that anyone willing to contribute information call the teapot museum office.

In addition to having expanded offerings in 2009, the gallery is not scheduled to close for the winter in 2010, as it has for the past two years.

The Building Plans

Because the economy has been problematic for many organizations' fund-raising efforts, Grant said the local organization opted to delay its capital campaign.

"Due the recent economic debacle and news that a number of nonprofits are seeing lower revenues and donations, we have not moved forward with our capital campaign," said Grant.

The purpose of the capital campaign is to raise funds to help construct a new building that would house a display of teapots and other works of art, as well as host cultural programming.

The new building, as proposed, will be 16,000 square feet, about half the size of the museum that originally was planned. However, Grant said it will still have more than enough space for exhibits, classrooms, a public meeting area, a retail space and other areas. Earlier plans included such items as an outdoor amphitheater, an auditorium, a café and significantly larger exhibition areas.

Grant noted that the museum may or may not be on schedule to open in 2011 as was previously thought. "Economic forecasters don't anticipate the country pulling out of the recession soon," she said. "Funds for this type of endeavor may not be as readily available as they were five years ago when the project was first envisioned."

However, if the economy does turn around, organizers would then likely open the capital campaign with an eye toward building a museum as soon as possible.

In the beginning, organizers had hoped to open a museum by 2008.

The project was first launched in 2003 as an idea, when several local residents started meeting with Sonny and Gloria Kamm of Los Angeles, Calif. concerning the couple's large teapot collection. Talks with the Kamms changed in 2007, when the local board and the Kamms agreed to part ways after it was realized that the museum's board would not be able to raise the funds necessary to build the 30,000 square-foot facility that was being requested by the Kamms for the Kamm Teapot Foundation Collection.

However, the Kamms and the local organizers remain on good terms and some of the Kamm collection continues to be displayed in the preview gallery.

The teapot museum board announced in mid-2008 that it would sell about four acres of the land earlier purchased for the museum off West Whitehead St. The museum will be located on the remaining two acres of the just under six-acre tract. The land is surrounded by public roadways, including Evergreen Street on the north, Womble Street on the south and Doughton Street on the west side.

The board opted to offer the land on the public market for an estimated asking price of $500,000 and had not, as of Monday, sold the property. Grant said the property has drawn some interest, but no firm offers.

 

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