From a little red schoolhouse in 1974 to today… 50 years of clay, fire, and community. A celebration of the human spirit and what makes life beautiful. #pottery #art #fy #localbusiness #mainepotterycompay #timesarechanging
We have some pretty big news to share. If you’d like to see Brad stumble through it we recorded a video for you, just click the link to your preferred platform. For those who like to read, just scroll below
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Hey everyone,
For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Brad—son of Chris and Richard, the founders of Edgecomb Potters. For nearly 50 years, my family has been making pottery in our little red schoolhouse with its red roofs. We carry a lot of pride in our history.
What made it possible was not just clay and kilns, but people. From Chris and Richard, to the very first employees like Donna and Gary, to every hand that has worked here since. From our earliest customers in the Red Schoolhouse and Faneuil Hall, to those who return year after year to our Portland and Portsmouth stores. You’ve all been part of this journey, and I am grateful.
But times change, and this chapter is closing. After 50 years of incredible production, we will be shutting down our Edgecomb studio.
This wasn’t an easy decision. When Chris fell ill in 2019, I stepped in full time with the hope of saving it. Maybe it was because it was my last connection to my parents and their life’s work, but I couldn’t walk away. For a time, we made it work. But the continual rise in operating costs—insurance, electricity, processing fees—made it unsustainable to keep producing pottery here.
So what does this mean? We are not closing as a business. Our retail shops in Edgecomb, Portland, and Portsmouth remain open, as does our online store. We still have pottery in stock—though some favorite glazes and shapes will eventually run out. If you’ve had your eye on something, now is a good time to snag it before it’s gone.
Even as we say goodbye to our studio, we are hopeful. In recent years, we’ve embraced our role as a home for not just our pottery, but for hundreds of artists from Maine and beyond. Makers with stories like ours, creating beautiful things against the odds. We will continue to celebrate and share their work alongside our own.
I think of my dad’s words often: “I loved what I did.” That love built this studio, and it has lived in everyone who joined us along the way. We’ll keep carrying that spirit forward—through our mugs, our games, or the local craftspeople we’re proud to showcase.
To everyone who has shaped our clay, sold our work, or carried a piece home—thank you. Truly. For helping create something special here in Maine.
This isn’t an ending so much as the start of a new chapter—different, yes, but rooted in the same love of craft and community. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the past 50 years. Here’s to the next 50. We hope to see you soon and continue to celebrate what makes us, us - and life beautiful.
—Brad Hilton