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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