The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 49 No 3 November 2010

Community
Left to right:
Deanne Ivers.
Sue Carson.
MIChele Savoye,
Jan Bizzozero and
Anne Dank;
Cheryl Ahnfeldt
was absent when
the picture was taken.
Photo; courtesy
The North West Star
Mount Isa Potters Group
celebrates 40 years!
A small group of pottery enthusiasts gathered together under a rain tree in front of the CWA
building in Isa Street in May 1970 in response to an advertisement placed in the local paper by Anne
Collins. Their number was small, but their enthusiasm and keenness more than compensated, and so
Mount Isa Potters Group (MIPG) was formed. Among that founding group were Beth Ford, Rhonda
Mathison, May Johnston, Gary and Verna Drummond and Terry Woodward. Enthusiastically they set
out to beg and borrow the basic equipment they needed to begin. Their first workshop was a section
of the old Hilton Hall on the mine side and clay was collected locally during weekend safaris to areas
such as Breakaway Creek and the Hilton Mine area. Equipment was crude.
As membership grew they moved their activities to the homes of the Drummonds and Jan
Clements. In 1971, to reward their labours, the Cultural Activities Group arranged a four-day Vacation
School at Mary Kathleen and expert tuition became available for the first time, through tutor Philip
McConnel.
A new wave of enthusiasm followed and as membership again settled, it became imperative to
find a more accommodating work area - the crypt at the Church of England was 'home' for most
of 1971 . A demand for night classes moved the group to a shed in Duchess Road offered by Joan
Campbell, and membership jumped from twenty to over a hundred. With a grant from the Australian
Council for the Arts, tutor Jeff Shaw arrived and inspired the members, and the foundations of a true
potters' group were laid.
90 THE IOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2010