SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Michiana Pottery Tour returned this weekend for the 15th year. The Northern Indiana Clay Alliance (NICA) and several other sponsors held the ten-stop tour for potters and pottery enthusiasts. NICA aims to raise visibility for the ceramic arts and make Michiana a premiere area for ceramics. This year Nora Ruth hosted the South Bend stop. A former guest artist, she called the guest experience life changing and was happy to invite people into her studio to see her work. "This is my favorite weekend of the year." Ruth said. "I get to see so many people. As a potter it's very solitary work a lot of the time, so to have everyone come here and share our passion for clay is so special. It's a very intimate event. When you participate in big art fairs you can get lost in a sea of people, but here it's that small town energy where you get to know each other" Ruth has been able to make a living from selling her pottery which ranges from small items like cups to large vases that weight almost 100 pounds. She has inspired others to do the same, like Marret Metzger, who noted a recent change in the perception of the craft and its craftsmen. "This area has a lot of craftspeople in general," Metzger said. "I think there's a history here of people having so much knowledge but not owning the fact that they indeed are artists. And I think owning that and bringing that to my work and embodying all the women and tradition that came before me-that I think wasn't acknowledged as a deep craft-is really important. And I love how much history is in the area." The next pottery event will be the holiday pottery tour on the first Friday of December.