When Coral Patola first sat down at a potter’s wheel during her time at Emily Carr University, something clicked.
“Wheel throwing … got me hooked,” she says. “It gave me kind of like a career path. Going to a conceptual visual arts school, sometimes you graduate and you’re like, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do’—but wheel throwing and making pottery and functional wares made me realize ‘OK, I can do this.’”
Today, Patola is a ceramicist running her own business, Piton Pottery, just north of Mount Currie. She’s also the Sea to Sky Potters' Guild’s Pemberton Area Coordinator. Patola is one of the driving forces behind the Pemberton Potters Market, which returns to the Downtown Community Barn on Saturday, July 5 for its second annual event.
The market, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., offers something rare: a dedicated space to showcase ceramic work from across the Sea to Sky corridor.
“We decided to bring a ceramics-focused market, so we could all be together in an attempt to create community over competition,” says Patola. “It’s a way to celebrate the diversity of clay and what it can do, from sculpture to functional ware.”
The market will feature about a dozen potters, with roughly half based in the Pemberton area. Others are coming from across the corridor.
“There’s people that make the majority of their income off pottery—this is their sole business—and then there’s people for whom this might be their very first market,” says Patola. “From hobbyist to professional, the full range.”
Visitors can expect a diverse mix of functional and sculptural pieces, ranging from mugs, bowls, and plates to more conceptual, heirloom-style works.
“There will be some more sculptural vases—things that are more like sentimental pieces that maybe you don’t use every day, but you get to look at and there’s that appreciation there,” Patola explains.
This year’s market will also offer a more hands-on experience, with a clay play station where visitors can try simple hand-building techniques and feel the texture of clay for themselves.
“We’ll also have a wheel demo section, so just the professionals or the vendors will be throwing on the wheel, kind of just showing you what that’s all about throughout the day,” says Patola. “It’s going to be casual, but you can come watch and mill around.”
The Sea to Sky Potters' Guild, a volunteer-run organization, has grown rapidly in recent years—from just six members in 2023 to more than 50 today. The communal nature of the guild bucks a trend in the community, says Coral.
“Potters or people who work in clay can sometimes be reclusive—we love the solitude—but we’re also looking for ways to connect and celebrate this really special medium,” she tells Pique.
The guild supports its members by creating opportunities to gather, share techniques and showcase their work, with events across the corridor in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton.
“The potters market is like our Pemberton event of the year,” Patola says. “Whistler and Squamish have their own events throughout the year, whether it’s markets, gallery shows or specialty firings.”
For Patola, the pottery market is as much about connection as commerce.
“It’s a great time for us to get together and just be in the presence of each other, because we don’t as a group get together very often. We’re always at other markets or doing other pursuits of ceramics.”
The Sea to Sky Potters Market runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 5 at the Downtown Community Barn.
Visitors can also stop by the guild booth to learn more about upcoming events, including the popular Empty Bowls fundraiser in October, a fall gallery show at Squamish’s Foyer Gallery and an outdoor raku firing planned for early autumn. The booth will also provide a list of pottery classes hosted up and down the Sea to Sky corridor, for aspiring potters to connect with the community.
For more information on the guild and upcoming events, visit s2spottersguild.ca.
