February 27, 2025
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Nichole Redinger, Marketing Coordinator
Ohio Designer Craftsmen/Ohio Craft Museum
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Ohio Designer Craftsmen Artist Travels to Nepal with U.S. Arts Envoy Program
Columbus, Ohio—Ceramics artist/Ohio Designer Craftsmen member Mark Nafziger and his wife Joyce Nafziger were invited to participate in a week-long cultural exchange workshop in Bhaktapur, Nepal, November 2024, through the Arts Envoy program.
Arts Envoy is a cultural exchange program within the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs that connects U.S. artists with international audiences for an exchange of skills and knowledge. Mark, owner of Brush Creek Pottery located within Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio, was one of the first potters to be invited to participate in the program.
The workshop took place in Bhaktapur, one of three main cities within the Kathmandu Valley. There, Mark and Joyce were introduced to their students, a group of local female artisans. “I did a little demonstrating. They did a lot of questioning. I was questioning them, it was a back and forth,” Mark said. “They just jumped right in and started working.”
Mark took away a new appreciation for the resources and supplies accessible to him as an American potter. “I was really impacted by the fact that as potters, you feel an immediate connection with the struggles across cultures and across the world,” Mark said. “We all deal with the same issues in just the process itself: the firing, trying to figure out problems that arise, dealing with the materials themselves. But in comparison with Nepal, if something changes with my materials, I have resources to adapt to those changes to where I can continue doing my work with no problem. They don’t have access to the materials at all.”
The program ended with an exhibition of the work the women had created throughout the week. Mark, Joyce and the students also attended a reception at the U.S. Ambassador to Nepal’s residence. The pair spoke at Kathmandu University’s Department of Arts and Design, and were interviewed by the national press.
Photos courtesy of U.S. Embassy Kathmandu, Nepal