Potters Holiday Pop-Up Featuring Mac McCusker

Potters Holiday Pop-Up Featuring Mac McCusker

20+ potters working in the Asheville area are hosting a cooperative pop-up market showcasing the sculptural work of featured artist, ​Mac McCusker​, as well functional pottery perfect for holiday gift buying. The Potters Holiday Pop-Up will be held on Saturday, December 8th, from 10 AM - 4 PM at ​Club Eleven​, a diverse downtown Asheville venue at 11 Grove Street.

Featured artist, Mac McCusker, has an MFA in Ceramics from Georgia State University and has worked as a professional ceramic artist for 18 years. Currently living in Asheville, McCusker is an instructor at Odyssey Clayworks and was named a ​2018 Emerging Artist in Ceramics Monthly​. While McCusker’s functional pottery often incorporates serious social commentary made more palatable by humor, his main focus is on narrative sculpture. His current work focuses on prejudices about transgender and non-binary individuals as well as issues challenging the larger LGBTQIA community. Through personal narrative, he communicates political and social concerns he hopes will educate others. As an activist artist, he has become both visible and vulnerable, a position he shares to one degree or another, with all transgender folk seeking to live as their authentic selves in a derisive, often dangerous social and political climate. “It was never my intent to put myself in the forefront,” McCusker says. “But if you Google #transgenderartist or #fucktrump, I’m what comes up.” McCusker’s sculptural work portraying endangered animal species empowered by wearing armor also illustrate an aspect of his personal journey.

Including twenty other potters and ceramic artists associated with Odyssey Clayworks and The Village Potters, the Potters Holiday Pop-Up came together as a cooperative effort to highlight some important issues of the day and market local work for holiday gift buying. Says Duffy Baum, the event’s organizer, “​I'm a hugely political person. If politics is personal, then Mac exemplifies that in his work better than anyone. Every day is a challenge just to stay alive because of the prejudices he faces. When I asked Mac to be our featured artist, he was able to pull in extremely accomplished potters and sculptors for the market. Because this sale is short and includes very high-end artists, we hope it will be well attended.” Participating artists look forward to holiday sales and to supporting an ongoing conversation about issues affecting our LGBTQIA community.

For more information about the Potters Holiday Pop-Up contact Buffy Daum at
duffwhazzup@gmail.com​.

pottersholidaypopup.com