The Potters'Gallery

The Potters' Gallery at 1 High Street in Conwy has operated since 2003 as a co-operative of eighteen selected potters who live and work across North Wales. Unlike a conventional retail gallery, it is staffed entirely by its own members, who take turns behind the counter, so a working potter is generally on hand to talk about how a piece was thrown, glazed or fired. Every item on display, from domestic tableware to decorative one-off pieces, is individually designed and made by a co-operative member in their own studio rather than bought in from elsewhere. The gallery opens daily through most of the year, with reduced winter hours and a weekly closure on Wednesdays between January and March. Registered with Co-operatives UK, the gallery has no separate owner or parent company; premises costs and returns are shared among the potters who exhibit and sell there, keeping the business rooted in the group of makers who founded it.