The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia will mark the Smithsonian Institution's annual free museum day Sept. 24.

Featured will be an exhibit of work by Lin Craven along with permanent collection and displays. Suzanne Reese will demonstrate pottery making from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visitors to www.smithsonian.com/museumday can print out a coupon for free admission.

"We hope many will visit our museum, not only to learn about folk pottery, but to learn more about our unique relationship with the Smithsonian," Folk Pottery Museum Director Chris Brooks said.

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

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

"Part of the Smithsonian documentary film 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.

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 through Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

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

For more information, visit online or call 706-878-3300.