Medalta in the Historic Clay District — Attraction in Medicine Hat

What a disappointment. There is considerable potential here and it was a big let down to visit - this place has so much hype as a mecca in the ceramic world but justice was not done with the exhibition; and as a visitor, it almost felt like they didn't want us to be there. We were greeted with little more than ambivalence, handed a pamphlet, and sent on our walk about through the old building and gallery collection.

The self guided tour was lackluster and didn't share much about the stories of the people who have been involved with Medalta at all - mostly just the pottery making process. Not even that much actual history, comparatively. Sure, the process is interesting- ish but there's nothing to connect to there and it frankly comes off as "we were cool once but we peaked 100 years ago and its been all downhill from there". Hype it up, make it more engaging and memorable. People connect with other people - you need to share stories to bring history to life. The museum dropped the ball on this and frankly I'd rather not have seen it as now my regard is diminished. They say you should never meet your idols, and Medalta has proved that true.

Even the "faces of Medalta" section on the little pamphlet only has 2 actual human faces with a tiny snippet of relevancy - the other 4 entities are not even people! Come on. You could even highlight famous as artists that worked at Medalta. Give us something to connect to.

People travel from over the world to see this historic...

I went to the second open weekend of the summer market. There were good and bad things to be said. The food trucks could use some tweaking on cooking for crowds. Not enough staff and the prices were a bit steep for a food truck offering. The market has some cool things; the lady from Saskatchewan with the bee soap is very professional, her products are nice smelling and good to the skin if you are delicate and her display at the market is very compelling. The pen guy was there and I get that its a very individualized thing making pens. Nice choices available.

The actual Medalta itself has wonderful cups, bowls and books but their price line is a bit too far above what the average Joe can afford. 25.00 for a standard coffee cup is a bit much. Unique, yes, but a big over priced. Take 5.00 off and see the crowds swarm you folks. Its all about marketing. The musicians were good. I expected to see many more crafters and more produce for sale or things like quilts, honey, knitting, patches for sales, homemade shoes, etc... Needs to be expanded up a bit to make me want to come back. I suggest they offer local gift shops to have a space. Reduce the space price or start an artistic coop and get it going on. It has potential but right now...

Medalta pottery in the historic clay district of Medicine Hat, Albert is very interesting and historic museum on the production of pottery. This was the century old factory that produced most of the pottery that was made for western Canada. They even produced everything that was needed for the Canadian military during the wars.

Back in the day, to survive the winter, Canadians had to preserve their food, and this is where the containers came to do that. They produced a wide selection of dishes and pottery for many uses. The massive kilns still stand and you can walk inside them and imagine the heat and smoke that they would have produced.

There is also a collection of antiques and you can tour the factory floor. It is a very well maintained and preserved site and very interesting and informative. You can see the entire process from harvesting the clay to the final product. I recommend watching the video there, as it has old footage showing the factory in action and how it was all created.

My aunt was a ceramic shop owner from Vancouver and she was in her glory. As someone who loves history, I definitely learned something that I didn’t know about our country. Well worth a visit and check out their...