Nicaraguense started in Raleigh, NC in October 1998. I had brought some items back from Nicaragua to decorative my friend Chris’s new coffee shop Cool Beans in Oradell, NJ.
I personally opened shop in the weekend flea market at the State Fair Ground in Raleigh, known for its antique exhibitors and collectors. After two successful weekends there I flew back to Nicaragua and started making the alliances that has fueled our business up until today.
My wife Claudia and I would take our daughter Sarah in her little play pen to area flea markets. Sarah is nine years old now and we are still at it.
The significant change occurred when San Juan artist Miguel Maldonado called me from Virginia wanting to sell some pottery he had brought from Nicaragua. I set up an exhibit with a small museum in Wilmington, NC which turned into a demonstration which was very well received and quite successful from a sales perspective.
My first official sponsored artisan visit was in September 2001 with Juan Boza Gutierrez. Arriving from Nicaragua on September 6 one week before the events of September 11th would completely change the landscape. Our events went well and we began to learn the ways of the traveling art exhibit.
Over the past seven years I have organized over 20 artist visits for the Three Generation artists. We have seen the highs and lows associated with market changes, long journeys and mixed results. The one under lying truth of our experience has been the positive reaction of the clients we have served and their contentment with the artwork they have secured from us over the years. Happy customers have supported us time and time again as we continue to build our collector base.
As me and my family prepare to return to Nicaragua on a part time basis I reflect on where we started and where we now stand. So much has changed while the basis of our efforts remain the same…….supply our customers with the most exciting ceramic sculpture possible while elevating the economic security for participating artists and their families.
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