The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia invites visitors to take advantage of the Smithsonian Institution’s annual free museum day Saturday, Sept. 29.

Coupons are available at www.smithsonian.com/museumday that offer free admission to a participating museum.

“When you visit our museum, you will not only learn about folk pottery, you will learn more about our unique relationship with the Smithsonian Institution,” Folk Pottery Museum Director Chris Brooks said.

The Folk Pottery Museum has on long-term loan from the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian a 600-year-old bowl of the Mississippian culture, which was excavated in the early 1900s from the Indian mound at the junction of Ga. Highways 17 and 75.

In the 1960s, the Smithsonian Institution sponsored a national exhibition and produced a documentary about the Meaders family potters of White County that, in the following decades, helped Northeast Georgia folk pottery to be recognized as a significant American folk art.

“Part of the Smithsonian documentary is incorporated into our own permanent display video, where Meaders family potters show and tell in their own words how they create pottery using traditional methods handed down through the last century,” Brooks said.

On Sept. 1, the museum opened a one-year exhibition titled “Another Look at Lanier,” showing the variety and depth of work by Lanier Meaders, beyond the face jugs that brought him national recognition.

The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia is located on Ga. 255, a quarter-mile north of the intersection with Ga. 17. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors and $2 children. Anyone with a Smithsonian coupon will be admitted free Saturday.

For more information, visit www.folkpotterymuseum.com or call 706-878-3300.