Ceramic artist Katia McGuirk won the right to run the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works for the next 30 years as the Bucks County Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to offer her nonprofit the contract for supervision of the famed tile factory in Doylestown.
The commissioners voted for the contract without asking any questions of McGuirk, after she made a presentation showing the ceramic murals and other artistic endeavors she has created as well as lists of her board of directors and other officials involved in the new nonprofit, The Tile Works of Bucks County.
Bucks County Controller Neale Dougherty will be the county representative on the board, which county Commissioner Chairwoman Diane Ellis-Marseglia described later as a smart move.
Nonprofit To Take Over Operations Of Famed Moravian Pottery & Tile Works
Credit: Pamela V White
Bucks County’s famed Moravian Pottery and Tile Works will be operated by a nonprofit organization, removing the financial burden from taxpayers.
At their Wednesday meeting, the Bucks County Commissioners approved a 30-year license, management, and services agreement with the new group, TileWorks of Bucks County, which will be led by well-known ceramic artist Katia McGuirk, who previously worked at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works.
The TileWorks of Bucks County nonprofit is run by a board featuring those with knowledge of ceramics, management, county government, and the law. Bucks County Controller Neale Dougherty will be on the board.
Former Bucks County Commissioner Chairman Andy Warren wants to delve back into the inner workings of county government.
He s running as a Republican candidate for controller, one of the row offices up for election in the May 18 primary. I totally thought elective office was an honorable position, he said of his previous service, adding that he wants to run again to be a leveling voice in this tumultuous time.
Warren, 77, of Middletown, served as county commissioner from 1980 to 1995. He still regularly attends the commissioners bi-weekly meetings, questioning expenses that he thinks should be better explained before they are approved by the three-member board.