Page 175 - Constructing Craft

environment but suggested that, with perhaps a more local focus, a similar

organisation could be set up.

Laird’s plans were probably too grandiose for the national policy makers of the time
and his main concern was the founding of his own business. In 1964 the Lairds

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established Waimea Craft Pottery in a rural location on the outskirts of Richmond,
a small town near Nelson, with the help of a local investment company. Waimea

Craft Pottery prospered, but Laird’s ideas for the rejuvenation of rural New Zealand

never received support from the government. Farming remained the dominant use
of rural land but, as will be seen later, craftspeople and rural communities were able

to work together to their mutual benefit.

Jack and Peggy Laird in the showroom at Waimea Craft Pottery, c. 1964.
The pottery was a semi-industrial operation located on rural land near
Nelson. The Lairds ran a very successful business producing a range of
tableware made by employees and individual pieces made by Jack Laird
and employees – usually in their own time. Photo: New Zealand Potter.

Constructing Craft