Experience the 10th Annual Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibition and Sale from April 11-19.

The Macon Arts Alliance’s annual Fired Works benefit is much more than a display of potters making and selling their works for a great cause. So many cultures around the world use various styles of kilns to create fired works that can range from bricks to fine porcelain. This annual nine-day lineup of activities for Fired Works also pays homage to the lifestyle of the original people, Creek Indians, who lived and roamed the land we presently know as Macon.

The 65 featured artists for this year’s Fired Works will stir up the ghosts and spirits of people who made pottery from clay near the Ocmulgee River thousands of years ago. Because the exhibition cross-promotes the legacy of the Ocmulgee National Monument, the park rangers and staff partner with the Macon Arts Alliance (a Knight Arts grantee) to help organize Fired Works. Approximately 6,000 pieces of pottery will be available for purchase this year.

Although the potters are compensated for selling their products, proceeds benefit the Macon Arts Alliance and its programs, which nurture Macon’s community in many ways.

“There’s an economic component, too. Along with attracting residents and tourists to Macon for Fired Works, the exhibit and sale also produce income for artists,” Jonathan Harwell-Dye, communications director for the Macon Arts Alliance, noted via email. “In 2014, Macon Arts Alliance paid over $47,000 in commissions to participating artists. That’s real income for working potters, and supporting them is at the core of our mission.”

The theme for the 10th Annual Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibition is “Earth, Wine & Fire.” The kickoff is a preview party on April 10 from 6:30-9:30 p.m., where works can be seen and purchased they before become available to the general public. On April 11 from 10-11:30 a.m., a limited-seat Sip & Spin Pottery Workshop will take place, with mimosas and sweets is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. You will create your own piece of pottery, which will be placed in a kiln and later delivered to your address.

With the rise of the do-it-yourself and maker movement, it makes sense to incorporate the Farm-to-Table Feast in the Fields of Ocmulgee, which will take place on April 11 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Ocmulgee National Monument. Later on April 11, you can also enjoy the sounds of the Macon Pops Jazz Orchestra at the Cox Capitol Theatre as they play the music of Frank Sinatra. This show starts at 8 p.m. If you happen to have some pottery around the house, you can bring it to the 10th Annual Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibition and Sale to be appraised at the Pottery Road Show on April 12 at 2 p.m. in Central City Park.

Interactive pottery workshops for the entire family will also be offered as part of Fired Works. Free clay workshops for children and teens will be held on April 11 and April 18, and two new seminars catering to adults have been added this year: the Corks and Clay workshop on April 15 and the Pints and Pottery workshop on April 17. Tickets for each of the adult classes are $30.

The 10th Annual Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibition and Sale will be held April 11-19 in Macon’s Central City Park; 478-743-6940; firedworksmacon.com.