Tehachapi Museum and Errea House featuring Pez dispensers and displays of pottery

On First Friday in January the Tehachapi Museum will feature several continuing exhibits from 5 to 8 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

The Community Case features a display of the pottery of Mata Ortiz. The Mata Ortiz region of NW Chihuahua, Mexico has a pre- Columbian history as a trade and cultural crossroads between its site of Paquime and the cultures of central Mexico and the Hohokam, Anasazi and Mogolion people of what is now the American Southwest.

The dream of one man started an industry and saved a village. It started with one man who had a talent for pottery, a love of the history of the region and a strong drive to better both his family and the region. That man was Juan Quezada and the time was the mid 1970s. The pottery was originally marketed as Southwestern art but gradually took on a separate identity. The people of Mata Ortiz are Mexican mestizos lacking any explicit ties with Indian culture. They prize their ability to experiment with design and technique. This ability sets them apart from typical Southwestern pottery. Today the area produces world class pottery that is featured in museums, private collections and galleries in North America, Europe and Asia.

Sisters Mary Cunningham of Tehachapi and Gianna Ranuzzi of Berkeley have loaned the Tehachapi Museum some of their collection for this display. Most were collected in Mata Ortiz.

A separate exhibit features Pez dispensers on loan from local collector Harold Cox.

An exhibit and sale of pottery items created by Jim Yurk also continues through January.

The Tehachapi Museum is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The Museum is at 310 S. Green St. and the Errea House Museum is across the street at 311 S. Green St. For more information, call the museum at (661) 822-8152.