Mata Ortiz is a small rural village of about 2,500 people living along the Palanganas River in Northern Chihuahua, Mexico. Although its history is long and fascinating, it has become famous today for its emergence as a pottery-making center for the international art market. This came about under the tutelage of Juan Quezada during the 1970s—thrusting his village into the world of art and changing its economic base from subsistence farmers and day laborers into a colony of artists. For more information about Mata Ortiz, you’ll want to read The Many Faces of Mata Ortiz.