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Community Profile
Pottery Studio Helps Mold Downtown Sanford

A planned working pottery studio and gallery will be a tourist gateway to Sanford’s downtown and will lay the foundation for a strong arts community in Lee County, says its creator.

Don Hudson, owner of D.K. Clay Pottery, says the new pottery operation will be situated at two intersecting major thoroughfares — one being Route 421 — through which about 30,000 cars pass daily.  Renovation to the old building that will house the gallery will cost at least $100,000. It will be developed as the center of operations for Hudson’s business partner, Kenneth Neilsen (left), and will be named the Kenneth Neilsen Studio and Gallery.

“To my knowledge, I don’t know of another place with a fully functioning studio combined with a high-end gallery,” Hudson says. His other gallery, North State Stoneware, is on U.S. 1 and features the work of 30 potters.

Hudson says he came up with the idea for the working studio as one way to promote tourism and the arts. “Everyone gets more money if you have an arts community that draws in tourists left and right. We want to bring in weavers, stained glass shop owners and traditional painting artists. We want to create an arts community here, and Sanford is ideally situated for this,” Hudson says.

The new gallery will feature tiles designed by Siglinda Scarpa, a well-known artist. The floor, walls, shelving, counters and fireplaces will have panels and porcelain themes of earth, wind, water and fire.

“It will be filled with themes of creativity and the elements,” Hudson says. “We will do the work to produce them, but then she’ll put her name on it.”

He adds that, “It would take Sotheby’s to value the building when it’s done.”

Meanwhile, people will be able to watch Neilsen through a glass wall as he’s working from the street. 

“We hope that word of mouth gets out that you can see pottery made right there,” Hudson says. “We have enough going on in Sanford to make it worthwhile for a day trip.” -- Heidi Russell Rafferty

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