“Quirky, special, and off the beaten path,” are the adjectives potter Mark Shapiro uses to describe the pottery studies throughout the hilltowns — and their doors open this weekend for tours as Hilltown 6 comes back for a nineteenth year.
The tour is free and open to the public and will take place on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Eight studios are collaborating to put on Hilltown 6 spread throughout the towns of Westampton, Windsor, Cummington, Ashfield and Goshen. Tour demos will be given at all eight studios, and Shapiro said that participants can make a trip to each with a total driving time of about 45 minutes.
In addition, 18 guest potters will show their work, coming in from states that include Maine, Connecticut, Ohio and other places from throughout the country.
As part of the tour, guests can taste fresh bread built inside a ceramic cloche, see artists throw pots on a treadle wheel, walk inside a wood-burning kiln, and watch the creation of teapots, vases, pitchers and more.
A portion of the proceeds from artists’ sales will benefit the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
“It’s more than just a sale,” said Shapiro. “[It’s] an opportunity to get a sense of how the pieces are made.”
Shapiro’s shop, Stonepool Pottery out of Worthington, where he has worked for 37 years, will be among those giving an inside look into his facility and methods.
Representation among various states represents the swelling popularity of the craft both among those who do it professionally, as well as those who have picked it up as a hobby.
“In my almost 40 years of doing pottery I have never seen so much interest in touching clay as today,” he said, and speculates that raw, human materials have more appeal since the pandemic and in 2025’s virtual, digital culture.
Pottery, he explained, is not only human because it requires the use of hands rather than tools or because it is often the material used around the table, but pottery has also been pivotal in telling the human story over time.
“It is amazing that we know about history through pottery,” he said, speaking of the pottery relics that tell the stories of ancient Egypt, Greece, and even the present moment.
Unlike metals, which over time are often looted or melted down, “ceramics don’t have that sort of value,” he said.
“Ceramics haven’t been used for trade in war. The spoils of war involve precious metals, which were often buried to prevent theft,” said Shapiro.
Therefore, ceramics are, “fragile but permanent.”
Part of the story being told this weekend is putting on display how the hilltown’s are a “haven for artisans,” where creative geniuses have called home — geniuses such as Russel Conwell, founder of Temple University, or the renowned editor and poet William Bryant.
And when it comes to pottery in particular, he explained, the hilltowns have prime real estate because, “you need space from your neighbors unless you are using an electric kiln.”
For more information, including a studio map, schedule, information on participating artists, and more, visit hilltown6.com.
Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.
