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Pottery Lot Hosts “Brain Tumor Awareness Day” — A Creative Community Fundraiser Inspired by Personal Experience

On Monday, May 19, The Pottery Lot will host Brain Tumor Awareness Day, a powerful day of community, creativity, and purpose. Through hands-on pottery classes and fundraising efforts, the event will raise money and awareness for those affected by brain tumors—both locally and beyond.

The day features three hand-building pottery classes at 11:00 AM–1:00 PM, 3:00–5:00 PM, and 6:00–8:00 PM, open to all skill levels. The cost is just $35 per person, The Pottery Lot’s lowest class fee ever offered, with 100% of class proceeds donated to support brain tumor awareness, research, and care.

What makes this event especially meaningful is the personal story behind it. Just four days before The Pottery Lot’s grand opening, after spending eight months renovating a 100+ year-old building, owner Emily Roberts suffered a seizure and was suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumor. While Hurricane Helene was bearing down on the community, Emily and her husband Michael were at Duke, where she underwent emergency brain surgery to remove a golf ball-sized tumor behind her left eye.

“It was not how we imagined launching our dream of a community pottery studio,” Emily says, “but we could not be more grateful for the care and support we received. This cause is now deeply woven into our story, and we want to pay that forward.”

In addition to class fees, each participant’s finished pottery piece will be donated and featured in a special fundraising gallery display, where 100% of the proceeds from those sales will go to brain tumor-related support. The Pottery Lot will also donate one-third of all gallery sales that day.

Please note: participants will not keep their finished piece, as all work will be included in the donation effort.

For Emily and her family, this day is about more than fundraising—it’s about honoring those in the community who have faced similar diagnoses. “Brain tumors are now a part of The Pottery Lot’s story,” she says. “We want this day to be one of remembrance, reflection, and support for anyone whose life has been touched by this disease.”

If you or someone you love has been affected by a brain tumor, The Pottery Lot welcomes your story and would be honored to include their name in the day’s events.

To sign up for a class or to share a name for remembrance, visit www.thepotterylot.com or contact Emily at 828-967-0133 or pottery@thepotterylot.com.

This is more than a pottery class. It’s a day to come together, to create with purpose, and to give back. Clay for a Cause.