Our success has been built upon our
cultural exchange program where master artisans from San Juan de Oriente,
Nicaragua come to the USA to share their cultural art form.
Our first experiment was a coincidence. Artist Miguel Maldonado called me
on the phone stated that he was in Virginia, had a sack of pots with him, and
couldn't selling them while walking through the streets of DC. I had just
set up a display of Nicaragua pottery at the St. James Museum in Wilmington, NC
and arranged to set up a demonstration.
I got Miguel on a Greyhound to NC and arranged for all the raw material to
arrive from Nicaragua. The demonstration was a resounding success, we
sold all the work, the participants were fascinated, it was clear that this
type of interaction was necessary to fully represent this art form.
Since that time we have hosted over 30 artist visits to our home in Zebulon,
NC. Our collaboration with North Carolina potter Dan Finch has been a
local connection which has linked us to the ceramics community of North
Carolina. Dan has been a mentor and advocate for our work. Trips to
Nicaragua with Dan and other potters has been the motivation to start the visit
Nicaragua program.
We organize 20 to 30 events around our visiting artist program. Luis
Enrique Gutierrez has been the principle member of this exchange. Our
plans for early 2010 are to build the small workshop and artist retreat behind
our home that will also serve as storage and display space.
Everyone is invited to visit NICA Ceramic Art at 500 Stratford Dr. Zebulon, NC
27597
Make sure to call first! (919) 264-3741 We hit the road pretty
hard and it can be tricky to catch us in town
