Community Profile "Many people looked at pottery as a hobby. Montgomery Community College realized what good business it would be." -- Pottery instructor Mike Ferree (right) with Montgomery Community  College President Mary Kirk

Coaxing Art -- and a Business -- from Clay

Behind much of the talent on display in North Carolina’s Seagrove pottery galleries is a man who quietly cultivates artistic ability at Montgomery Community College. For all of the 27 years that the college has offered a degreed program in pottery, Mike Ferree has been the lead instructor there, inspiring students to pursue a variety of techniques to fashion their own distinctive style of pottery.

The sum of his efforts has helped build Seagrove into the premier pottery showplace of the Southeast. It’s estimated that at least half of the 100 potters at work in Seagrove were instructed by Ferree. 

“Mike is like no other person I know. He’s so dedicated and believes in the program,” says Mary Kirk, president of Montgomery Community College. “Pottery would not be what it is in our region without Mike Ferree.”

When Montgomery Community College began its pottery program in the early 1970s, students who were interested in studying the art were working as apprentices at nearby Jugtown.

“Many people looked at pottery as a hobby. Montgomery Community College realized what good business it would be,” says Ferree, 53.

Ferree, who had just earned a master’s of fine arts degree in ceramic design from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, came on board as the school’s first full-time pottery instructor. Under his direction, the program has grown from a one-year diploma program into a two-year, associates degree program. Montgomery’s is the only degree program in the area and one of two in the state community college system — the other being in Haywood County west of Asheville.

In 2000, Ferree received then-Gov. Jim Hunt’s highest award, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, in part for his contributions to building the pottery industry. The day the award was bestowed, an unknowing Ferree showed up at the college’s convocation in his typical clay-throwing attire — shorts and a T-shirt. State Rep. Pryor Gibson announced that Ferree was the recipient of an award that has gone in years past to the likes of musician Charlie Daniels and basketball superstar Michael Jordan.

“I didn’t even fall into that category. I almost fell out of my chair,” says Ferree. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so shocked in my life.”

In another recognition of Ferree’s work, Hunt asked that pottery be created to present to host dignitaries while on a trip to Canada. With only a few weeks notice, Ferree and his students went to work creating 350 pieces that he and Kirk carried to Canada for the presentation.

Melanie Dennison, a student of Ferree’s 16 years ago, now runs The Village Pottery Marketplace of Seagrove, which represents 146 artists and their pottery, glasswork and basketry. She remembers Ferree most for compelling students to do their best.

“He gets you to be free with the design and try a lot of things,” she says. “That’s what makes one potter different from the rest. You can give two potters two mounds of clay and each will come up with something totally different than the other.” — Laura Williams-Tracy

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