Big Article on Upcoming Screening
February 17, 2012
Great piece on the movie from Flagstaff Live featuring the photography of Raechel Running.
More Screenings Announced!
January 21, 2012
If you live in or around:
Sedona, Arizona
Durango, Colordo
Tucson, Arizona
Seattle, Washington
Sonoita, Arizona
Eugene, Oregon
Joshua Tree, California
Santa Ana, California (Orange County)
Go to the screenings page to find out where you can see The Renaissance of Mata Ortiz.
Hector Gallegos, Jr. & Laura Bugarini Website
January 8, 2012
One of the most talented (not to mention one of the nicest) husband-and-wife teams in Mata Ortiz has a new website. Check out all of the awesome pottery at www.hectorylauramataortizpottery.com.
Find a Potter in Mata Ortiz
November 1, 2011
Check out this
interactive map of Mata Ortiz! Now you
can find where several potters live in the village
without wandering aimlessly.
Great Turnout in San Diego!
October 22, 2011
Wow, the response at the
screening at the San Diego Museum of Man
was
amazing! The staff had to bring in extra seats. I was
happy to see lots of friends from San Diego (and even
LA-thanks for driving all the way down Donna, Herman
and Victoria). Jerry Boyd and
master potter Jorge Quintana brought a ton of pots from
Mata Ortiz to sell and Spencer MacCallum did a Q&A
after the screening with yours truly. Thanks to Micah,
Phil and the museum staff for a great event and for
showing off some of Spencer’s archive that’s housed at
the museum.
..................
.................
.......
................Grace Johnson (Museum
of Man) and Spencer MacCallum.......................Jorge
Quintana shows off a pot.
Shaping Beauty from the Desert
October 12, 2011
Check out the nice story
from Michigan Today, the alumni magazine
from my alma mater, the University of Michigan. Here’s
the intro:
“Scott Petersen is a filmmaker who stumbled on the amazing
story of two strangers—an American anthropologist and an
impoverished Mexican potter—who became friends through the
potter's extraordinary artwork. ‘The Renaissance of Mata
Ortiz’ is Petersen's lively and fascinating documentary
about an unlikely friendship and the transformation through
art of an entire town. Michigan Today asked Petersen to
take us behind the scenes of his movie.”
Results from the Ceramics
Competition
September 24, 2011
Congratulations to all the winners!
Listing courtesy of Diego Valles
1st
Municipality Ceramics Competition
BEST OF
SHOW
Octavio Silveira
WHITE
POLICHROMES
1st Gregorio Silveira
2nd Lorena Lopez
3rd Daniel Gallegos
COLOR
CLAY
1st Jose Quezada
2nd Florencio Sanchez
3rd Sabino Villalba
BLACK
CLAY
1st Diego Valles
2nd Salvador Baca
3rd Salvador Baca
EFFIGIES
& FIGURES
1st Martin Cota
2nd Fabiola Silveira
3rd Olivia Dominguez
SGRAFFITO
1st Ramiro Veloz
2nd Hector Quintana
3rd -----? Reyes
NON
TRADITIONAL PIGMENTS
1st Cesar Dominguez
2nd Cesar Dominguez
3rd Cesar Navarrete
MINIATURES
1st Jerardo Tena
2nd Guadalupe Gallegos
3rd Laura Bugarini
Sad
News from Mata Ortiz
August 15, 2011
Nicolas Quezada, Juan’s
brother and one of the original artists in the village,
passed away today after a long illness. I will always
remember the joy on his face as he described the squeaky
table on which he worked for 40 years. A brilliant artist
and wonderful person.
Kindergarten
Graduation
July, 2011
Below is the first graduation picture from the kindergarden
in Mata Ortiz after the new addition to the classroom. This
addition was built with donations from the Mata Ortiz
Foundation. Photo courtesy of Walter
Parks.
Concurso
Winners
May 31, 2011
Some photos (courtesy of Grant Taggert) from recent
Concurso.
The
Maestro Juan Quezada
June 17, 2011
I took a quick trip to Mata Ortiz to see a few folks. I had
a nice visit with Juan. BTW, he was happier than
he looks in this picture. The sign outside his house and
gallery was destroyed during a recent storm, but anyone in
town will be able to direct you to his
place.
Wood
Artist Roberto Hernandez
June 17, 2011
Roberto Hernandez is an incredible wood artist in Colonia
Cuauthémoc, just a few miles from Mata Ortiz. He creates
chairs, tables, mirrors, etc. from found wood in the
mountains. Some look like animals, some like women. If
anyone has some pictures of his work, please send them my
way.
If you are driving from Casas Grandes, take the sharp right
turn to Colonia Cuauthémoc (there’s a sign). Go 1.1 miles
and turn right. There will be an orange house on your
right. There used to be a sign for his place on the road,
but someone hit it with their car or truck and dragged it
all the way to Colonia Juarez.
Drive a minute or two
until you see his house on the right. It’s at the end of
the dirt road and is easily identified.
You might see his truck or
a lizard. He has some loud dogs, so beep your horn if you
don’t like dogs.
.............
Hopefully, he’ll be home
and show you what he has for sale. He lived in the States
for many years, so his English is
excellent.
Poster
Art
February 28, 2011
My awesome designer, Chris St. George, just finished the
poster art for The Renaissance of
Mata Ortiz. Thanks to
photographer Raechel Running!
Great
News from Mata Ortiz
December 7, 2010
Diego Valles just won the Premio Nacional de la Juventud
2010. This is the highest award that the Mexican government
can give to a young citizen. This is the same award that
Juan Quezada won in 1999, except that this award is for
young people. A great honor for Diego and a great tribute
to the town of Mata Ortiz. Congrats, Diego!!!
pot by Diego Valles (photo: Scott
Petersen)
2010
Gathering of Friends of Mata
Ortiz
October 15, 2010
.....
Emi Caley and Spencer MacCallum in Mata Ortiz at the
Gathering
Chairwoman
and tour guide Diana Acosta
(Agave Lindo Tours)
Another
New Mata Ortiz Book
October 14, 2010
Check out The Magnetism of Mata
Ortiz, a cool new book about
Mata Ortiz and northern Chihuahua. I met one of the
authors, Ron Bridgemon, in Mata Ortiz and he’s filled
with great stories. Get your copy
today.
A
New Mata Ortiz Book
August 10, 2010
It’s been some time since The Many Faces of Mata
Ortiz and The Miracle of Mata
Ortiz, so I’m happy to report
that a new book about Mata Ortiz is now available. Written
by John V. Bezy and Stuart D. Scott, it’s called
The
Artistry and History of Mata Ortiz and it even features a
photo I took of Spencer MacCallum and Juan Quezada. I just
ordered mine and can’t wait to get it. For more information
about the book, go to: http://www.mataortizartists.com.
The
Latest...
August 8, 2010
I’m almost done! The awesome Patrick Kirst finished the score and
now it’s in the hands of my audio guy,
Bobby Garza, Jr. for sound editing, etc.
I still have to do some assorted technical stuff to do
after that, but it’s very close to being submitted to
festivals. I was engaged in a nasty battle with the
proper way to do the subtitles when Bouke over at
the VideoToolShed came to the rescue with
his SubBits subtitling software.
Thanks, Bouke!
If you know of any cool places (museums, independent
screening facilities, universities) in your town or
anywhere on the planet, please let me know and I’ll drop
them a line. And a big thank you to the people who have
donated to the project. Your generosity is very much
appreciated. Give yourself a big hug!
A quick story from Spencer MacCallum.
The
Little Church of Divine Mercy
May 20,
2010
This is the story of a little church in Casas Grandes,
Chihuahua, a small town in northern Mexico cradled in a
rare valley in the Sierra Madres. Natural springs and the
Casas Grandes River irrigate its fields and orchards. In
the 17th century, Spaniards admired
the fertile valley and built the town of Casas Grandes and
a Franciscan mission, San Antonio de Padua de Casas
Grandes.
But in modern times, beginning in 1992, a prolonged drought
struck the region. Unable to make a go of it in the absence
of rainfall, people from the surrounding Sierras migrated
into the valley in search of work, nearly doubling the
population of Casas Grandes. As housing spread west, Padre
Antonio Quezada Valdez saw that the old church in the
middle of town was no longer adequate. Another was needed,
and with it a new church plaza.
Wondering what sort of church to build, Padre Antonio had a
dream. Instead of putting up just another modern structure,
why not replicate the 350-year-old church of the now ruined
Franciscan mission? He would call it El Templo del Señor de
la Divina Misericordia (Temple of the Lord of Divine
Mercy). Little remained of the original church, built in
1663 and destroyed in the Pueblo Indian revolt of 1680. But
its plan was known because a team of archaeologists had
once excavated the mission site.
With a limited budget, Padre Antonio realized that he could
not replicate the original size of the mission church. But
he thought he could accomplish the effect on a slightly
smaller scale. Sadly, the budget did not allow even that.
Construction began in 1999 and continued to where services
could be held, and there the funding ran out. The towers
were left truncated, and no work had been done on the
plaza. And so the church stood for several years, known
only to its parishioners.
Then a miracle began to unfold. In 2004 a local artist,
Gricel Ortiz, who had trained in Italy and painted chapels
there, came home to care for her aged mother. Finding the
little church, she volunteered to cover the entire wall
behind the altar with a mural of the Divine Mercy. At the
focal end of the long nave, with perfect lighting from a
clerestory, the wall offered an ideal space for a major
work of art. Gricel was inspired. She filled the chapel
with classical music as she painted, high on her
scaffolding. Without help, she completed the mural in six
days. Her dream, when the padre could afford to buy
materials, was to paint the whole interior of the church
with a surround mural of clouds, angels, and saints so that
visitors on entering the church would feel they had entered
heaven.
The MacCallums had renovated La Casa del Nopal near the plaza, and a guide for Grand Circle Travel, Teresa Zinser, had begun bringing her tour groups to this historic adobe. During one of these visits, Spencer boarded the bus and guided the group to the little church, explaining its story on the way.
He told the tour group they would see a rare example of Chihuahua’s original style of church architecture, like that of the adobe churches of New Mexico to the north with their long, narrow nave, and he explained that the reason for the narrow nave was that the builders were limited by the trees they had to span it. He told about the mural and explained why the church was unfinished. He said this would not be for all, but if some felt inspired by the beauty they were about to see and wanted to feel a part of the project, he knew the padre would welcome it. As they left the church, he said, he would stand near the entrance with his inverted sombrero for those who freely cared to contribute.
Such was the response that within months, as Teresa continued bringing groups and others joined in, construction on the church resumed, bringing employment to the neighborhood. Within the year, not only were the towers complete, Gricel had paints and materials to carry out her over-all vision for the church.
After installing professional lighting that will effectively illuminate the art work, future plans include offering concerts of string quartet and other kinds of chamber music in this unique setting.
While Gricel prefers anonymity, her art set in motion a miracle for realizing Padre Antonio’s dream. The little church of Divine Mercy in Casas Grandes is without a doubt one of the most interesting and beautiful
religious structures in northern Mexico. Its simplicity and spirituality will inspire many for years to come.
Spencer MacCallum
Casas Grandes, Chihuahua
20 May 2010
