About 50 collectors and art aficionados traveled from as far as Washington, Massachusetts and Louisiana to marvel at potter and tilemaker Artus Van Briggle's legacy.

They came to Colorado Springs for the three-day Van Briggle Pottery Symposium that began Thursday at various venues throughout the city honoring the 100th anniversary of the Van Briggle Pottery Co., the oldest American art pottery studio still in production today.

They came for lectures on Van Briggle, a firing of special collector pieces, a silent auction and to find out how much their Van Briggle pieces are worth.

Frank Cooper, whose great uncle had been a master potter at Van Briggle, was there to have three pieces valued. All of them were made in 1902 when the potter was still alive.

He had three examples of the most valuable designs, which can fetch up to $30,000.

Cooper and other Van Briggle fans gathered Thursday for the dedication of the Memorial Pottery Building at the corner of Uintah and Glen streets. The fanciful building with the shapely smokestacks was conceived and built by founder Artus Van Briggle's wife, Anne, after he succumbed to tuberculosis in 1904. Land for the studio was donated by Gen. William Palmer and completed and dedicated in 1908.

Among attendees at the symposium are art deco pottery aficionados and collectors, as well as Van Briggle descendants and retired master potters, who shared stories of working at the pottery and of the Van Briggle family.

Many of the Van Briggle fans started collecting because their parents were either collectors or Van Briggle employees. They also shared a fascination with how Van Briggle influenced and benefited Colorado Springs' history and spoke of a great appreciation for the pottery as high-quality decorative art.

You can find Van Briggle pieces all over, even on eBay.

But collectors warn that online pottery purchases can be problematic.

"EBay is not a great source for Van Briggle pottery; two pieces I bought through that site were cracked," said Krista Allensworth, who has been collecting for eight years. "I would recommend buying from auction houses over online services."

Some collectors focused on the market. Others talked about the joy of living with Van Briggle pieces.

Al and Lynne Dunton have remodeled an 1878 loft in Fort Collins using turquoise Van Briggle tiles to define every room. Al Dunton started collecting because his mother was a collector and because of his appreciation for Van Briggle's influence on local history.

He said, "acquiring the tiles was challenging because they had not been making tiles for quite a few years."

The style and techniques drew the Duntons.

"Van Briggle spent years recreating the Ming Dynasty pottery, a technique that had been lost for centuries," he said.

The glaze is hard but looks soft and has distinctive coloring. Van Briggle was experimenting in France and Ohio, but it wasn't until he arrived in Colorado Springs that he really got the process to work for him and developed the distinctive "dead matte" glaze that is still produced today.

Mary Sue Garay of Baton Rouge, La., said that Van Briggle is unique because he gained so many national and international awards within four years of opening, which was unprecedented even for the time.

"When Artus Van Briggle started out, skiers would come to Colorado Springs and collect his pottery," she said. "There was more of an overlap of interests back then than there seems to be today. I think it's a shame people aren't more like that nowadays."

EVENTS TODAY

At the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
• 9.30 a.m. - Introduction of Guests
• 10 a.m. - Presentation by Fred Wills: " A Day In the Life of a Potter"
• 1 p.m. - Presentation by Scott H. Nelson, author of "A Collectors Guide to Van Briggle Pottery."
• 2:45-4:45 p.m. - Guided tours of the Van Briggle Collections, Pioneers Museum Basement (sign-up sheets available at 11.30 a.m.)
• 6 p.m. - Tour of Van Briggle Memorial Pottery