Arts Enter New Era with Cain Center Expansion
The Puckett Pottery House, located in downtown Cornelius / Photo by Jason Benavides
A newly renovated ceramics studio at the Cain Center for the Arts is set to open this month, marking a new era and an expansion of hands-on arts opportunities in Cornelius.
The Puckett Pottery House, located along Catawba Avenue in downtown Cornelius, provides a permanent home for the center’s growing ceramics program. The project reflects the organization’s broader effort to grow its programming and increase community access to the arts.
Details on the Puckett House
Dionne
“Our goal from the beginning was to be stewards of the downtown area and create a vibrant district for the arts,” said Executive Director Justin Dionne. “These new buildings and the surrounding courtyards will serve as a new welcome to downtown, and create a vibrant space that brings activity and connectivity with our community as a whole.”
The studio is part of the center’s Sculpting the Future initiative and was developed through the renovation of the historic Puckett and Goodrum houses. The adaptive reuse project preserves the look and feel of early 20th-century Queen Anne–style homes, while creating new buildings that offer spaces for arts education and community use.
The facility will house pottery spinning wheels, electric kilns and a raku kiln, which is used to produce metallic and cracked glaze effects on materials.
Davidson firm Nicole Perri Architecture and Cornelius-based RJK Construction led the redevelopment effort.
The design features numerous aesthetic elements and reclaimed items from the old homes, including a decorative window that once hung in the Goodrum House and diamond-shaped cedar shakes inspired by the Puckett House gables.
The courtyard will host music and arts events
The upgraded facility includes modern ceramics equipment and dedicated areas for classes, workshops and artist collaboration. An outdoor courtyard has also been added to support events, performances and public gatherings. Additional office space was created in the Goodrum House, with room for future expansion.
There is a third adjoining property that has also been designed as a courtyard that the center expects to expand into in the future.
The Puckett House is named for former Cornelius Mayor William Lee Puckett and Mary Washam Puckett, who owned the Puckett Grocery Store.
The Goodrum House is named for Perry Goodrum, an administrator at the Cornelius Cotton Mill.
The home sites were preserved through the efforts of former property owner Elaine Howard, Debbie Monroe at Lake Norman Realty, the Town of Cornelius and Preservation Mecklenburg Inc.
To mark the opening, the Cain Center will host a series of public events, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony, open houses and interactive ceramics activities.
Opening Week Events
Community Dedication Day & Ribbon Cutting
Wednesday, May 6 | 9-11 a.m. | Free
Open House
Thursday, May 7 | 6-8 p.m. | Free
Hands in Clay: Open Studios + Tours
Friday, May 8 | 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday, May 9 | 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Open studio access with day passes, drop-in classes, and free guided tours.
Location
Puckett Pottery House, 21212 Catawba Avenue
