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PUTNAM — An Art Show Closing Reception featuring the works of Dot Burnworth, owner of Sawmill Pottery, will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at The Corridor Gallery at the Putnam Municipal Complex.
All are invited to attend this closing reception to enjoy one of the last days of her show. Light refreshments will be served. The event is sponsored by the Putnam Arts Council. Her show is currently on display so those wishing to see the art ahead of time can visit the Municipal Complex during normal operating hours: Mon-Thurs 8:30am-8:00pm; Fri 8:00am-3:00pm; Sat 10:00am-3:00pm.
Attendees will enjoy a creative show like no other featuring a new series of wall-hung ceramic pieces from Dot’s creative hands. She summed up her show: “I incorporated a number of themes while mixing together some old and new styles and concepts. Some pieces offer a simple reflection of nature while others speak to the idea of environmental fragility.”
Burnworth is a potter, a mountain biker and a community builder. She never imagined a career as an artist, but several serendipitous events changed the course of her life and led her in that direction. Dot attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in anthropology and communications. At the beginning of her sophomore year, she entered a drawing at a street festival and won a free class at a nearby community art school which changed the trajectory of her life. She fell in love with pottery and soon bought a second-hand wheel to put in the barn behind her house.
After graduation, she worked as a wilderness trip leader, first for a year-round therapeutic program, and then for Hyde School. During this time, she continued to build her clay skills, and when a ceramics teaching position came up at Hyde, she took it. In the summer of 2003, Burnworth left the boarding school and opened Sawmill Pottery which has thrived for 19 years, through two recessions and a pandemic. The studio started as a way to turn her hobby into a job, but she soon discovered that the true value of what she was offering went much deeper than turning clay into bowls and mugs. Over the past two decades, she has been continuously reminded about the important role that art can have in bringing a community together.
Recently, Dot has begun taking this concept beyond her own studio, working as a public art organizer. During the summer of 2020, she recognized the opportunity for color and beauty to lift spirits during a time of fear and darkness, and rallied community members to paint the cement barriers that lined the new outdoor seating in Putnam. This year she spearheaded a local committee as part of a statewide initiative to get large scale civil rights murals painted in towns across the state. She is now the head of RiseUp for Arts’s Northeast CT Public Art division.
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