all about saGada potteRy

With the arrival of Archie Stapleton, the son of two Episcopalian missionaries who were stationed in Sagada decades ago, pottery in the area began to take shape. Stapleton returned to Sagada to look for equipment, wheels, and other supplies. He then began instructing a small group of artists in 2000 at the Sagada Pottery Training Center on Besao Road. His training included every step of pottery-making, from finding local clay and glaze resources, processing them, and throwing the finished pieces, through glazing and kiln-firing them. The center gave the people of Sagada a means of support.

​

Sagada would have to be the only such pottery community in the nation. More than a dozen residents of Sagada received training at this facility and worked actively making pottery for a few years. They have now moved on and now work regular jobs or own some businesses, but they have kept their pottery skills. From the initial 12 potters at the Sagada Pottery, there are now just three artists left at the Training Center: Siegrid Bangyay, Tessie Malecdan Baldo, and Ardeth Angway Butic. Together, they currently manage the center's visitors while also pursuing their individual careers.

​

The potter, Bangyay, belongs to the Applai Kankaney ethnic group. She served as Stapleton's apprentice for two and a half years and has experience working for a number of NGOs. The older artist, Baldo, worked the dirt to grow food before receiving instruction from Stapleton. In town, she also owns a coffee shop. The younger Butic also does demonstrations and hands-on pottery for the visitors. All of them are welcome to visitors

and tourists and share the history and knowledge of Sagada Pottery.

​

In several exhibitions at the Ayala Museum, BenCab Museum, Pinto Art Museum, MaArte, and Art in the Park, all ladies have

displayed and showcased their respective bodies of work.