A
love of Latin American culture and a taste for adventure have led James
Potemkin from a job teaching science to a life collecting Mexican arts and
crafts.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I spent several years traveling in
Latin America during the summers,” Potemkin says, “and what awakened in my soul
wasn’t just the beauty of the landscapes but the wonderful arts and crafts.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย After several trips, Potemkin had
enough stuff to fill a small storage facility. And he still wasn’t done.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I finally opened a small store,” he
says, “primarily to pay the bills and to put out the crafts.” That store,
Animas Traders, opened in September, 1995.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Potemkin isn’t satisfied buying
goods in large markets, preferring to get to the source. “I know at least 95
percent of the people who make these things,” he says. “My personal interest is
in meeting the people and telling the stories of the artists.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In eight years, Potemkin has racked
up 280,000 miles driving throughout Mexico. He’s been lost many times but
enjoys the adventure. “You have to take risks,” he says. “Nothing will unfold
unless you do.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย While most people believe bargaining
for lower prices is accepted in Mexico, Potemkin refuses to do it.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “The prices are so reasonable,
there’s no reason to argue for lower ones,” he says. “This store is Fair Trade
which means that the people set the prices and the people who actually make the
things get a living wage. The vast majority of people I deal with are campesinos. They live in wrenching
poverty but they’ll insist you go to their family fiestas. I’ll be on a buying
trip but they’ll pull me off the track of buying and into being part of their
family.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย He pauses and smiles. “Mexico. It
just pulls you in.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Animas
Traders is located at 975 South Clinton Avenue, 442-8538.
—
Joseph Sorrentino
Merger in motion
On June 15, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School’s Board of Trustees approved a contract with the University of Rochester for a
merger of the two institutions’ libraries. By summer’s end, a number of books
will be moved from the Ambrose Swasey Library and the Rush Rhees Library at the
University of Rochester.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Over the next two summers, a large
part of the Swasey collection — “something fewer than 300,000,”
says Dean of River Campus Libraries Ronald Dow — will be moved to Rush Rhees.
Duplicates of items found in both collections will be sold. And some of the
empty stack space at Swasey will be used to store seldom-used materials from
UR.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย One main difference between the
contract adopted June 15 and the terms approved by the board in May is the
addition of a shuttle bus. The bus, part of a shuttle service UR runs to
connect its campuses, will give Colgate students free transportation to the
moved books.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Materials that would support the
general curriculum would stay where they are, Dow says, and those with more of
a research focus would come to Rush Rhees. The details — what will go and
what will stay — have not yet been decided.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s not what we hoped for,”
says Colgate senior Tobias Pinckney. “Many of us are in shock. We are still
expecting a change in direction that will live up to the legacy of this great
seminary.”
Correcting ourselves
In our Rochester
International Jazz Festival wrap-up (“All that jazz,” June 16-22), we
mistakenly reported that Cuong Vu’s drummer was John Hollenbeck. The drummer
for the Rochester sets was, in fact, Rochester native Ted Poor, who has been
playing and touring with Vu for the past several months.
This article appears in Jun 23-29, 2004.
