SCARBOROUGH — Springtime in Maine can mean daffodils or snow, and sometimes both, but the first weekend in May has meant the Maine Pottery Tour for a decade.

The 10th annual Maine Pottery Tour welcomes visitors on Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1, 2022. The self-guided tour is an opportunity to enjoy spring in Vacationland and the hospitality of local potters in their studios. Eagerly anticipated by all who enjoy handmade pottery, as well as anyone looking for a special and unique Mother’s Day gift.

Nearly 60 pottery studios around the state from central, coastal and southern Maine as well as the Greater Portland area are on the tour One of those includes Peeper Pont Studior at 14 Mast Road. The event is a fun chance to meet the artists, peek in the kilns, see demonstrations, and shop for pottery and other handmade goods. Interactive maps of each region are available at MainePotteryTour.org.

The tour’s goal is to make people aware of the potters in the state and to cultivate an appreciation and affection for handmade pots. Because of the tour, eating, drinking, and serving from one-of-a-kind plates, mugs, bowls, pitchers, platters and casseroles has become standard practice for large numbers of people. What other art form do you raise to your lips, cradle in your hands, and trust with your food?

It’s amazing what a lump of clay can do, in the right hands.

The Maine Pottery Tour is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.