On Wednesday we had a great visiting artist. Michelle Feder Nedoff came to UWM to talk about her work with the Mexican coppersmiths of Santa Clara. She brought along with her some amazing examples of the work that is done by these artisans. Starting at the age of 5 these artisans are taught how to construct copper pots from small to very, very large. It takes about 20 years to become completely versed in their field and Michelle has been working with these artisans for the lat 11 years. She brought along some great images, a huge book full of interviews, images and the history behind the coppersmiths of this area, and a wonderful video documentary and she created. It was interesting to hear her talk about how she learned spanish and metalsmithing at the same time, and she learned from an 80 year-old master in the area, that she was able to live with while she was staying in Santa Clara. It was very interesting and Michelle was great. I also found this clip from last year when she was able to bring a few of the artists up from Santa Clara along with their work and bring them to demos and workshops in the Chicago area. If you are interested in getting the book, seeing the documentary, or supporting these artists to continue their work and support their families visit www.cuentosfoundation.org for more info.
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