By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

Folk Fest, the 19th annual folk art show-and-sale, at North Atlanta Trade Center, ended last weekend, but there are several other notable folk-related doings coming up this fall …

• The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia near Helen will host its fourth annual Folk Pottery Show and Sale on Sept. 1, the same day it opens an exhibit of work by Georgia’s best-known potter, Lanier Meaders.

The show and sale, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., will celebrate the Hewell family of Gillsville, seven generations of which have produced wares for more than 150 years, with demonstrations and special exhibits. For the first time, the event will include potters not included in the museum’s permanent collection, some of whom are academically trained North Georgia ceramic artists working outside the folk art realm.

The Meaders exhibit, “Another Look at Lanier,” focuses on utilitarian pieces (including churns and syrup jugs) rather than the face jugs that for which Georgia’s best-known potter, who died in 1998, is famed.

To properly digest all this, barbecue is called for, and Hawg Wild of Clarkesville will provide it.

The Folk Pottery Museum is at 283 Ga. 255 in Sautee Nacoochee, a quarter-mile north of the Ga. 17 junction. 706-878-3300, www.folkpotterymuseum.com.

• The Atlanta History Center will explore traditional crafts, Southern foodways and environmental sustainability at its Fall Folklife Festival, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sept. 22.

The family program includes crafts demonstrations (from blacksmithing to corn-husk doll making) at the 1860s Smith Family Farm, where the Sourwood Honey Band will perform old-time tunes and Betty Ann Wylie will spin Southern folktales. Nearby at the Mable Reeder Dorn Amphitheatre, the Americana band Little Country Giants will play two sets.

There will be chef talks focusing on farm-to-table food practices and other culinary topics and growing-a-garden tips from Farmer D Organics. Food trucks will serve up their specialties.

Inside the museum, guest can tour the “Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South” exhibit and view short films produced by the Southern Food Alliance, such as “Hot Wet Goobers” and “The Rise of Southern Cheese.”

130 W. Paces Ferry Road; Atlanta. 404-814-4000, www.atlantahistorycenter.com.

• The Folk Art Society of America, a national membership group of folk enthusiasts that meets in a different city every year, will convene in Atlanta, Oct. 11-15.

Conference participants will tour the folk collections of the High Museum of Art, Georgia Museum of Art and Madison-Morgan Cultural Center as well as those of prominent Atlanta collectors Bill Arnett and John Wieland, attend talks and participate in a folk art auction, among other activities. The doings are open to new Folk Art Society members and even non-members paying the conference and individual event fees.

Information: www.folkart.org/conference/main.

CRAFTS
5,000 pots for sale in Watkinsville
There will be nearly two pots for every resident of small but growing Watkinsville, just south of Athens, during Perspectives: Georgia Pottery Invitational, a show and sale of 5,000 pieces pieces of pottery by 50 top Georgia potters.

The 10th annual event kicks off at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation Art Center with a gala reception and preview sale, 6-9 p.m. Aug. 31 ($5 admission). The sale runs 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 1-19 (free). 34 School St., Watkinsville. 706-769-4565, www.ocaf.com.