USPS Publication Number 16300
THE
SUMMATIONWeeklyy
This Community Newspaper is a publication of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association
S E RV I N G T H E F I RS T J U D I C I A L C I RC U I T Vol. 26, No. 6
February 11, 2026
SummationWeekly.com
1 Section, 8 Pages
Section A, Page 1
STOKING THE FLAMES WOODSTOKE POTTERY AND KILN FESTIVAL RETURNS
Photos courtesy of Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Office
By Darien Hardy
T
he Gulf Coast Kiln Walk (GCKW) Society is taking their annual walk through history for the 21st WoodStoke Pottery and Kiln Festival. The WoodStoke Pottery and Kiln Festival is an annual event hosted by the GCKW Society. The festival celebrates the culture surrounding the ceramic arts and traditional wood-fired pottery by unloading historic kilns alongside local and national ceramic artists and selling unique artwork. Attendees are invited to watch— and even participate in—the kiln unloading, buy handmade pottery from more than 30 potters and enjoy homemade food courtesy of the Navarre Beach Area Garden Club. “The festival is a display of the culmination of weeks of collective work by a dedicated community of clay artists,” Pensacola State College (PSC) Assistant Professor of Art (ceramics) Micah Cain said. “The firing is truly a collaborative effort from artists, students and volunteers that all contribute to loading, maintaining and tending the kiln.” As a participating GCKW artist, Cain actively supports PSC student involvement, working side by side with his students as they load the kilns and rotate through shifts during the multi-day firing process. “I always enjoy the opportunity to bring PSC students to take part in the Kiln Walk’s annual wood firings,” Cain said. “For many, it is their first encounter with this traditional firing method, making the experience especially meaningful. Additionally, engaging with the broader community of artists and potters reinforces the value of collaboration within our regional arts community.” While the festival is free to attend, event-goers are encouraged to explore a variety of ceramic art pieces on sale by the potters in attendance. “We just started, in the last 10 years, setting up so that the participating artists can have their own booth and tables for their art,” co-owner of Holley Hill Pottery and founding member of the GCKW Society Brenda Stokes said. “At a designated time, all the artists can go collect their pieces and bring them to the table. Attendees can write their name and number on a piece of painters tape and stick it on the pieces they are interested in. That
puts it in the artists’ hands to contact interested parties about the sales.” A limited number of commemorative bowls and mugs will be available for a $20 donation, which includes the chance to sample seafood, chili and other specialty dishes prepared by members of the Navarre Beach Area Garden Club, one of the event’s many sponsors. Members of the public are invited to help the potters unload the 32-foot wood-fire kiln, passing freshly fired pieces hand to hand to awaiting tables where attendees can browse the pottery for sale and connect with the artists. “The opening of the kiln is an especially meaningful moment,” Cain said. “Students, fellow artists and members of the community gather for the reveal of the finished work. Sharing in the collective excitement as each unique piece emerges from the kiln and is passed among those present is one of the most rewarding aspects of the annual firings and festival.” All proceeds from the WoodStoke Festival support the new ceramic art center to be constructed adjacent to the historical kilns. Holley Hill Pottery owners Brenda, Marty and Jason Stokes deeded one acre of their property to the GCKW Society to begin construction on the building. “The center will be a place where anyone can come and take lessons,” Stokes explained. “We’re going to gear lessons toward elementary age and beyond so that anyone can take art classes.” The GCKW Society focuses on wood fire kilns over gas or electric due to the environmental benefits. “We’re going to focus on beginning wood fire kilns, which are easier to operate,” Stokes explained. “Beyond that, we have four different ways of firing pottery here, from Raku to salt to soda to wood fire. That’s why we call it the Kiln Walks, because you can walk through the history of different kilns.” The center will be a public learning center for the arts, and it will be open to allow artists to come in and work at their own pace while offering lessons to anyone who is interested. “The [GCKW Society] offers opportunities for learning, mentorship, and artistic growth for me as well as for PSC students,” Cain said. “The festival is a celebration of shared labor, tradition and the vibrant ceramics community that makes it all possible.”
The 21st annual WoodStoke Festival will be held on February 14 from 9 am to 3 pm at Holley Hill Pottery, located at 7507 Buckeye Dr. in Navarre. The festival is open to all ages, and there is no cost to attend. For more information about the GCKW Society and its annual WoodStoke Pottery and Kiln Festival, visit their website or check out @GulfCoastKilnWalk on Facebook. Q&A with Steven Dark, 2026 Featured Artist This year’s WoodStoke Festival featured artist is Contemporary Folk Artist Steven Dark. Dark’s career with sculpture spans more than 30 years as an Alabama Gulf Coast potter and ceramist. He is well-known for his funky, unusual, sometimes somber and humorous pieces. He usually works on a series of six to eight pieces at a time. Dark’s style focuses on throwing his primary forms on the wheel with decorative parts to make some impressive works of art. When the clay is at just the right stage of dryness, he begins the assembly process to create his one-of-a-kind masterpieces. Pensacola Magazine had the wonderful opportunity to talk more with Dark about his work and involvement with the GCKW Society. For more information about Dark or to commission his work, check him out on Facebook @Steven.Dark2. Can you describe your sculpture style, and how you discovered it? Dark: I discovered my sculpture style with time. I’ve been making pots pretty much my whole life. One thing led to the next. I’ve always been throwing on the wheel. Most sculptors would work on solid clay, which allows them to add and subtract, add and subtract. For my technique, I throw all the parts on the wheel. The piece is hollow from the very beginning. There’s not much room for subtracting. I build these forms up off of various pieces. I’ll sit down for a session or two and make a bunch of different pieces and parts, and then they’ll dry and set to the point when I can handle them without ruining them. There are rules of working with clay that you have to abide by. Clay has to be strong enough to hold itself up, but wet enough where you can still make joints and connections. Once the clay gets too dry, you can’t really join the pieces together. I make the pieces, then I build the forms and add all the details. That would be the face, hair, a costume
of some kind, clothing or anything else. Then, I model the piece like you might think a sculptor would. Part of my style is that the thrown forms dictate the shape of the whole piece. I get a lot of variety that I might not have gotten before. I try not to over plan or overthink the art. This technique allows my pieces to have their own style, separate from what most other people do. Why is making art important to you? Dark: It’s a job. It’s funny. I’m trained. I did an informal apprenticeship with a man who talked me into going to college. I have two degrees. I have a bachelor’s of fine art. I have a master’s of fine art. I have a terminal degree in my field, and I think of it like whether I was a doctor, a lawyer, plumber or anything else. It’s my job. I did not want to be a factory worker—I didn’t want to be a number. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so the art thing kind of came out of nowhere. Now, I’m hopelessly blue collar because I work like a dog, but I didn’t want to work in a factory. Sort of backfired on me. What part of your creative process excites you the most, and why? Dark: I like throwing on the wheel and working the clay to its extent. With sculptures, there’s different ways to work with clay— like hand building and throwing are two different things. You can make coils, you can make slabs, you can pinch. I like to combine all of those things together. The pieces start on the wheel, and the concepts unfold as I work. It’s like constant problem solving. I don’t really try to get an exact likeness, because the forms that come off the wheel may not be exactly like the shape of your head, but still, I can reference other things. I use a lot of context clues when I do these commissions, and somebody will say, “I’m a retired forensic scientist, I play golf and I have five kids.” I can build all these elements into the sculpture to suggest who it is, and lean on the context as much as or more than photographic likeness. That part is fun, because everyone’s totally different. When a customer requests a piece, I tend to make at least two sculptures and I work on them simultaneously even though they’re the same person. Maybe there are some variations. I’ll send [my clients] pictures along the way, talk to them about the process without giving them too many chances
to make changes and then I let them choose one that resonates with them. How did you get involved with the GCKW Society, and what has been the best part of being a featured artist for the 2026 WoodStoke Festival? Dark: I have a kind of three legged stool. I teach, I show and sell in galleries, and then I do some outdoor arts and crafts festivals. I met Marty and Brenda really early in my career, and they too did outdoor arts and crafts festivals once upon a time. I heard Brenda talking about this idea she had about the [GCKW Society], but I wasn’t really around at the moment of building the kiln. I didn’t get to participate the very first time, but I’ve been in on it every other time since then. I’ve been involved in over 20 firings [of the kiln], basically since the start of it. I was pretty reluctant about being this year’s featured artist. I had a lot of work this year, and it kept me from getting started on this project until late. I made a lot of pumpkins this summer and that spawned right off into Christmas stuff. And all those commissions took so long that I got a late start getting ready for this kiln. I still have some nice stuff to put in there, but I wish I had more. I would much rather just be the guy carrying the wood and throwing it in the oven. I like firing the kiln. The process is probably the most important part of it. It’s an extremely arduous process. It’s labor intensive, and we burn a lot of wood to make the kiln get to the right temperature. It’s a big old longer, and it takes a lot of people. There’s a lot of hands on deck, there’s a lot of coordination, and a part of the excitement is the camaraderie and the team building that comes through. Looking to the future, what goals do you have for yourself and your art? Dark: I always want to reflect on what I’m doing and improve on it. Every time I sit down to start a new cycle, I’m building off the one before it. My ideas have all been growing off of each other for all these years. I’ve probably got 15 different things or more in my portfolio that I’d like to make. The portraits are just one of them, but that’s what I’ve been focused on most lately. And so, the goal is just to continue to improve and try to stay excited after all this time. I’ve been married to clay, basically, for 40 years, so some days I have to manufacture excitement, and some days it comes more naturally.■
visit SummationWeekly.com