ARCHBOLD — Archbold potters Mark and Joyce Nafziger of Brush Creek Pottery, located at Sauder Village, recently returned from Budapest, Hungary, where they represented the United States as guests of honor at Hungary’s 40th Annual Festival of Folk Arts alongside 16 other American artists.
American artisans and performers were invited to the festival by Hungary to honor the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence and showcase how tradition and innovation shape the enduring cultural ties between the two nations.
During the four-day festival held Aug. 20-23, the Nafzigers engaged with many of the festival’s estimated 100,000 attendees and collaborated with Hungarian craftspeople. Their booth showcased examples of their pottery and, throughout the festival, the couple gave demonstrations of their techniques.
The Nafzigers agreed pairing the United States, celebrating its 250th year, with the much older nation of Hungary created an interesting juxtaposition between their work and traditional Hungarian ceramic art. Mark Nafziger was surprised to see his own pottery had an unconscious Hungarian influence.
“Here in the U.S, we draw from all these other cultures around the world and all these different times and places, and it gets melded and incorporated into our work,” Mark Nafziger said. “It’s not conscious, but there are influences from everywhere and every when. I could see a connection between my designs and patterns and what we were seeing in the booths there.”
Mark Nafziger explained festival attendees and the Hungarian artisans seemed to connect with their pottery, allowing them to find common ground despite the language barrier.
“The pottery bridges that gap between the cultures,” he said. “I think that’s what it’s all about: bridging those cultural gaps and people finding connections on both sides.”
The Nafzigers expressed gratitude for the opportunity, leaving with an increased appreciation for Hungarian culture and the way art can be a universal connection point.
“We want to go back,” Joyce Nafziger said. “Budapest is such a beautiful city, and the Hungarian people were so welcoming, too.”
Brush Creek Pottery’s invitation to participate in the Festival of Folk Arts came less than two years after they participated in the Arts Envoy program, a cultural exchange program within the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs that connects U.S. artists with international audiences. The Nafzigers visited Bhaktapur, Nepal, as part of that program in 2024. The participation of U.S. artists in the Festival of Folk Arts was supported in part by the same program.
Mark Nafziger established Brush Creek Pottery in 1981. Since retiring as an art educator in 2022, Joyce Nafziger has become more involved in the studio by carving and decorating some of the pottery.
(Information submitted by Sauder Village.)
