Barro Sin Plomo (Clay without Lead) Exhibit and Sale of Lead Free Pottery

LA JOLLA – The Institute of the Americas hosted a Nov. 5 exhibit featuring Barro sin Plomo (BSP), a multinational organization that trains artisans to use lead-free glazes and business techniques and markets lead-free products worldwide.

Surrounded by colorful pottery vases that illuminated the Institute’s Weaver Center, Victor Aguila Sanchez, founding director of Barro Sin Plomo, joined by Anna O’Leary, director of Barro Sin Plomo U.S.A., and Francisco Pinedo, CEO of Cisco Brothers, presented their pioneering lead-free glazing techniques that enable artisans to continue producing distinctive Mexican ceramic pottery without poisoning themselves or their children.

Mexican potters have used lead to glaze pottery for centuries. Tragically, potters and their children chronically inhale and ingest dangerously high quantities of lead, with a devastating impact on family health and the environment. “Our mission is to end the use of lead in traditional Mexican pottery, substituting lead-free production methods which protect the health of artisans and their communities,” explained Aguila, who is the founder of this initiative, as well as an anthropologist and master trainer in lead-free pottery.

Barro sin Plomo, translated as “Clay without Lead,” has worked for the past 10 years in more than 120 communities in Mexico and has collaborated with U.S. and Mexican universities and research laboratories, Mexican public health agencies, government institutions and NGOs to research and develop a lead-free solution for potters.

“Barro Sin Plomo’s program transitions potters to lead-free pottery production, assists potters in marketing their lead-free products, and helps artisans build kilns which use 30 percent to 40 percent less fuel than traditional kilns,” Aguila said during his Nov. 5 presentation at the IOA.

The innovative exhibition attended by nearly 60 San Diego and Baja California residents, displayed more than 50 decorative glazed hand-painted statues, vases, small jars, cups, bowls, plates and pots in a wide variety of colors and shapes inspired by a distinctive Mexican style.