Native Imports: Native and South American Decor for Your Home

When Jeffrey Smith and Alice Drysdale went hiking a few years ago, they started talking about creating a business that might bridge some of the challenges low-income artists in Mexico and Central America face. Just a few months ago they opened up their new store, Native Imports in the Claycomb's Plaza Mall. They specialize in hand crafted home decor and art with an emphasis on discovering brand new artists. "Many import stores have the goal of buying cheap to sell high," says Jeffrey. "We see the importance of promoting fair trade between the artists and our store. We see ourselves as a marketing and distribution tool for artists. Our goal is to continue to travel to rural villages and meet individual artists and give them the chance and materials to promote what they make," he says.

Native Imports carries three main lines of furniture including rustic pine, alder wood (which actually originates from Oregon, is shipped to Mexico and then comes back to Oregon) and reclaimed wood and recycled, hammered copper that comes from a small village in Central Mexico where natives have been coppersmiths for centuries. They also carry a line of pottery in the centuries old style of Mata Ortiz, which was an art form that was lost up until a few decades ago and has now been rekindled.

While on a trip to a small town in Mexico last Thanksgiving, Jeffrey remembers meeting an ironworker artisan who made incredible beds and wine racks and while the artist was showing him his workspace (which was also home to his wife and four children), Jeffrey noticed that his welder was literally held together with duct tape. Knowing that this artist needed a welder in order to survive and provide for his family, Native Imports bought him a new arc welder and the materials he needed in order to keep going. This philosophy of ensuring that native people have the materials they need in order to create their chosen art, best reflects Native Imports vision of sustaining artists and their communities. "We're providing something unique to Ashland and at the same time our customers know that by buying these pieces, they are helping artists obtain things that we take for granted. Even basic things like clean water and adequate shelter. Our goal is to recycle as much as we can back into the artists community."

Jeffrey and Alice plan to continue to develop new relationships in rural South American villages to find undiscovered artists, which means that shopping at Native Imports will always be exciting. Visit them and see the many colors and styles of unique items for your home. They are currently building a website presence (www.nativeimports.com) which will eventually include bios of artists and photos of their families and villages. "There's no limit to what we might have and what people can discover," Jeffrey says.