Article Database - Medalta Project Head Wins Heritage Award

It isn't every year the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation confers its prestigious award of honour. So the occasion was that much more special when the Foundation chose to honour David Jamieson last fall for outstanding achievement in the heritage field for his work at the helm of the Medalta Potters projects in Medicine Hat. It was the first such award the Foundation has given in five years.

Jamieson founded and chairs the Friends of Medalta Society, which has worked for over a decade to transform the Medalta potteries complex and the Hycroft China factory next door into a living, working museum of southeastern Alberta's historic clay products industry.

"It's terrific that people recognize the time and effort spent on these two projects," Jamieson told the Medicine Hat News when he won the award. He says the sites are becoming known across Canada and around the world. Both sites are Provincial Historic Resources and Medalta is also a National Historic Site. Besides housing an unrivaled collection of pottery and china produced in the area, the sites contain the largest collection of early 20th century pottery manufacturing equipment in North America.

The society recently acquired stands and storyboards from a major Glenbow Museum display of Medalta pottery, which will be used to upgrade the exhibits on the sites. In another new development the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension has agreed to gift or loan the society the majority of the equipment from its ceramics program, which was discontinued last year.

Visitors will be able to take a self-guided tour of the Hycroft china site with the help of 16 touch-screen computers donated by Canadian Fertilizers.