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Porum, Oklahoma - Cherokee Heritage Pottery is hosting its Open House Thursday, Sept. 18 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the retail store, Cherokee Arts & Pottery Center, located off exit 278 in Warner, Okla. Open House visitors will have the opportunity to view a display of the new pottery lines, including dinnerware designed by Cherokee artist/potter Pat Gilliam Stewart. Guests are also invited to participate in guided tours of the pottery plant in Porum.

Mary Ellen Meredith, executive director for the Cherokee Heritage Center, welcomes guests to learn more about how the pottery plant is promoting Cherokee culture.

"We have a new and exciting product line, and we think it is important and interesting for everyone to know how the pottery is made and to know how producing the pottery speaks directly to our mission of preserving and promoting Cherokee history and culture and educating the public about that history and culture," said Meredith.

The Open House will also give visitors the opportunity to meet the pottery plant staff.

"We want to introduce the public to the people who work there, because we’re enormously proud of them and what they have been able to accomplish," said Meredith.

Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and Deputy Chief Joe Grayson are expected to attend, as well as many Cherokee Nation Council members and other Oklahoma leaders.

Cherokee Heritage Pottery was established in 2000 by the Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc., the parent non-profit organization of the Cherokee Heritage Center (CHC) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

For more information on the open house, please contact Rhonda Clemons, at the Cherokee Heritage Pottery plant, phone: 918-484-5155 or call toll free: 888-800-0409, or for more information on Cherokee Heritage Pottery, visit the CHP web site,