The Potters of the Upper Saint Croix River Valley Studio Tour invite you to visit all seven pottery studios during the 20th annual tour weekend. You will be welcomed by the potters to their unique, rural workshops and you can meet 41 guest potters invited especially for this event.  These special guests will present their work for sale alongside the newest work of each host potter.

The Minnesota Potters Tour is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. See above for the dates, and the opening and closing hours.

Using our map, you can drive through the spring landscape of the Saint Croix River Valley. At each studio you will find useful and distinctive pottery. Visit one, or all of the studios during this three-day, self-guided event. Bring friends to share the day with you.

These Minnesota potters have earned a national reputation for quality and integrity. Each potter’s work has a distinct character, is durable and intended for everyday use. From small cups and bowls to large pieces suitable for display, an intriguing range of pottery will be available. You will find earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain for use in cooking and serving, decorating and display.

The guest artists are distinguished potters who will personally present their work for sale. This is an opportunity to see a substantial body of work and to meet and talk with these visiting artists.

They are coming from sixteen states, as far as Maine, North Carolina, Virginia, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Montana, Oregon, New York, Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and as near as Iowa, Wisconsin, and other parts of Minnesota. Their work is, in turn: handsome, playful, stunning, contemplative, precious, functional, colorful and subtle.

At every studio you will find the potters themselves welcoming you. Along the way you may find trillium blossoms carpeting the woodlands and warblers exuberantly greeting the spring. Rain or shine, this springtime event is anticipated by all who enjoy handmade pottery.

All the pottery studios are within a one-hour drive of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, located near Hwy. 95 from south of Taylors Falls to Harris.

Maps are available on this web site, at each studio, and at:

Continental Clay Company at I-35W at Stinson Boulevard, Minneapolis, Minnesota and
Northern Clay Center at 2424 Franklin Avenue East, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

As a way of saying “thank you” for the enthusiastic support we experience with this event, a portion of the proceeds each year is donated to a selection of recipients. In 2011 a donation was made to help rebuild kilns in Mashiko, Japan after an earthquake damaged many kilns. Support has been given to: Chisago Lakes Community Ed to purchase six portable pottery wheels, clay, and tools; CERF (Craft Emergency Relief Fund); Studio Potter magazine for subscription gift; the Art Department at Chisago Lakes Schools High School to help purchase clay making equipment; the North Branch Middle School Art Department; the Weisman Art Museum at the U of M - Northern Clay Center; Rochester Arts Center; and Potters For Peace.