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GREENSBORO - Some area potters have a different idea on how to spark business in a tough economy: bring the pottery to the people.

A group of Seagrove potters is organizing the spring festival at the Greensboro Coliseum in April.

"We thought we should go to the public for a change instead of asking them to come to us," said Phil Morgan, the president of the Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery. "Like a good neighbor, we'd bake our pie and bring it to the customers, to the new people."

But while the move promises to bring the tiny Randolph County town's pottery to a larger market, it also has created a new front in a battle between warring pottery clans.

That fight erupted into public view last year when a group of rebel potters created a festival to compete with the traditional fall pottery festival, which is affiliated with the museum.

Both personality conflicts and increasing competition over customers factored into the spat, which shows no signs of fading.

Sally Larson, president of the Seagrove Area Potters Association, which created the rival Seagrove festival, said some potters are not happy with the Greensboro festival.

"They're taking business away from the community. They're bringing it to Greensboro," she said. "It's definitely cutting into the local pottery business."

She also takes issue with the name of the new festival, noting that it won't be limited to Seagrove-area potters.

"It's unfortunate that they're calling it the Seagrove Pottery Festival," she said. "They're making it seem like Seagrove is any potter in North Carolina, and it's not. It's very unique to this one area."

And as the fall featured two competing events, so will the spring. Larson said a number of Seagrove potters will hold "a celebration of spring," featuring new pieces by area potters.

The controversy has created hard feelings.

Don Hudson, a Sanford potter who has been involved with the original festival, said the creation of a new event on the same fall weekend revealed the rival group's bad intentions. Instead of providing a new opportunity for potters to reach an audience, holding the festival at the same time forced potters and festivalgoers to choose one or the other.

"What was done in Seagrove last fall was hateful," he said.

The idea for the spring festival grew out of the traditional kiln opening many potters participated in each spring. Winter is traditionally a slower time for potters and a chance to experiment with new ideas and new pots. Come spring, they unveil the new work.

"We're all excited, and we want to show them to the public," Morgan said.

While the dispute has in some cases turned potter against potter, Morgan said no one would be excluded from the spring festival.

And though the competition has increased, Morgan said that doesn't mean the fall festival won't keep going.

"What they do has no effect on what we do," he said. "We've done it for 27 years, and we hope to do it for another 27 years."

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or at jason.hardin@news-record.com