[Vision2020] A Great meeting

[Bill London]

I am impressed with Phil's suggestion (below) for locally-based economic
development -- local clay to locally-produced pottery.  value-added!
What do the LEDC board members on this list think of that option?  What
could the LEDC do to make it reality?
BL



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Nisbet" <pcnisbet1 at hotmail.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 10:30 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] A Great meeting


> Sorry that some of you could not make the Grange meet tonight.  Thanks to
> those of you who made it.  Joan was there.  Donovan was there.  Roger had
to
> be there, because he is the President of the New Moscow Grange.
>
> One of the points that Mike Wendt made at the meeting is something that
> ought to be discussed.  He noted that his on site sales of pottery from
his
> out of the way shop in Lewiston, not exactly the best place for tourist
> trade, had a cash register that in a little less than 20 years of
operations
> had rung up over 3 million dollars in sales.  That is not from mass
produced
> ceramics, but from true hand crafted pottery.
>
> Mike's materials come from right here in Latah County.  We have the raw
> stuff from which to form a high value added art related industry in
Moscow's
> backyard.  And its not common clay or low value feldspar and quartz, its
> some of the best porcelain producing material in the world.
>
> We need to encourage the Latah Potters Guild and to help it to grow, give
it
> space to highlight the skills and talents in the ceramic arts from our
local
> materials that can give us something vibrant that is the Palouse's very
own.
>   A handcrafted ceramics industry does not sound like it can be an
economic
> engine, but look at places that have done so, like Marshall Texas or even
> Fairbanks Alaska.  Those towns employee hundreds of people in production
and
> their activity draws tens of thousands of tourists every year, just to see
> the potters work.  And it means painting and design jobs as well, a near
> full gamut of the arts that would keep some of our talented artists here,
> rather than see them drift down to Arizona or California.
>
> I would just like to see us put arts back into Moscow's motto of Heart of
> the Arts.  We have the materials here in Latah County that could make us
as
> important to ceramics as China was from the Kaolin district from which
Ming
> porcelain was made.  It would be grand as far as I am concerned to see
more
> businesses like Wendt Pottery turning out things of beauty right here in
> Moscow and I hope to convince the list that it's worth doing as a
community.
>
> Phil Nisbet
>
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