A place for pottery lovers

Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail’s 19th edition set to take place both in-person, online

By C ori U rban Special to The Republican

THE ASPARAGUS VALLEY

Pottery Trail brings many new people to Lucy Fagella’s Greenfield pottery studio each year, and many become returning customers.

“There is such excitement around the trail. I love seeing how interested and excited people are to see each pottery studio,” said the owner of Lucy Fagella Pottery, located at 86 Leyden Road.

“People love to see how and where we create our work. It is always a pleasure to see the regulars each year and catch up on the past year.”

The Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail, now in its 19th year, will take place as both as an online sale and an in-person studio tour.

The online opening will be tomorrow at noon via apotterytrail.com; the in-person “Asparagus Valley” studio tour takes place Saturday and

Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The trail, named for a fertile stretch of the Connecticut River valley and its world-famous crop, welcomes visitors and clay enthusiasts from throughout New England and the country in late April to visit the creative spaces of the area’s close-knit community of potters.

Pottery will be available for sale in a wide range of wheel-thrown and hand-built ceramics for tabletop, home and garden. Visitors will also have the opportunity to talk with the artists about their work, techniques and sources of inspiration.

This year there will be 27 potters at eight studio locations; guest artists come from Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Maine, Connecticut and New York.

Steve Théberge, of Steve Théberge Ceramics, 319 Rocky Hill Road in Florence, will be hosting three guest artists this year, and he “gets a jolt of energy bringing in people whose work is different than mine” and engaging in creative dialogue with both the guest artists and the pottery trail visitors.

He enjoys seeing customers who participate in the trail every year and meeting first-time visitors, talking