Local potters put their craft on sale

LAFAYETTE, INDIANA (WLFI) - Women who suffer the mental and physical abuse of domestic violence have a place to go in Tippecanoe County. The Young Women's Christian Association's (YWCA) Domestic Violence Intervention and Prevention Program has sheltered thousands of women and children over the years.

This event raises $20,000 for the domestic violence program each year. Now, those same potters are bringing handmade bowls, artwork and clay kitchenware back to the YWCA to sell August 20.

Scott Frankenberger's studio is filled with clay artwork that's been molded, dried, glazed and fired. He's been magically shaping clay for thirty-six years. He said making bowls for the annual Clay Bowl giving project is something he and other local potters look forward to each year.

"This is kind of a silent problem, it's always there and this is a way for us, the potters, I think to do something, it was started by a potter," said Scott Frankenberger.

The project started ten years ago. The YWCA holds the fundraiser each year inside its gym. For a small fee, people enjoy lunch or dinner, and take home a piece of handmade artwork, donated by a local potter.

"It ranges from year to year. It might be a total of 500, but we've given as many as, I think, a thousand bowls in a year. That's a lot of bowls," said Frankenberger.

Artist Diana May started donating bowls five years ago. She said the biggest draw for her, is that all the money stays in the community helping local women and children.

"The day that I drop off my bowls in a box, you walk out of the Y with a smile on your face, because you know you've done something that you've enjoyed to help other people. And you know that's the greatest feeling," said Diana May.

Roughly fifteen artists donate their pottery each year to the Clay Bowl Giving Project. Now, their work will be for sale this weekend at the Summer Potters Market and Sale.

"It's a chance for the people who come to the luncheon and support the Y program through the luncheon by buying things, it's a chance for them to now reward the potters who donate all the bowls. And come and support our livelihoods or our hobbies depending on what level it is people do it at," said Frankenberger.

The Summer Potters Market and Sale is Saturday, August 20.

It's held inside the gym at the YWCA from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Their address is 605 North 6th Street in Lafayette.

The pottery may range in price from five dollars to 500 dollars, so there is really something for everyone.