shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileKazakhstan

on the central steppe of Kazakhstan, east of Astana

Karaganda

Name: Karaganda — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — the city the coal seam wrote.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“A city of about half a million on the open Kazakh steppe, founded in 1934 when the Soviet state opened the coal basin and brought workers, prisoners, and deported families to dig it. The grid was laid wide. Winter holds long here, summer comes hot and short, and the wind crosses without anything in its way until it reaches the next town two hundred kilometers on. from the studio

from the studio

— bring it home

Karaganda, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Karaganda

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

Karaganda is the capital of Karaganda Region and the fourth-largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of around 500,000. The city sits on the central Kazakh steppe at roughly 550 meters elevation, about 230 kilometers southeast of Astana. It was incorporated in 1934 to work the Karaganda Coal Basin, the third-largest coal field in the Soviet Union after the Donbas and the Kuznetsk. The Nura River runs to the north and feeds the city's reservoirs.

— informed by Wikipedia

— the year

The city's history is bound to Karlag, the Karaganda Corrective Labor Camp, which operated from 1931 to 1959 and held hundreds of thousands of political prisoners and deported peoples — Volga Germans, Chechens, Koreans, Poles. Their forced labor built much of the early city and worked the mines. The KarLag Museum in the village of Dolinka, the camp's former administrative center, preserves the record. The 1954 Virgin Lands Campaign brought a second wave of settlers from across the Soviet Union.

— informed by KarLag Museum

— the air

At 49 degrees north on open steppe, Karaganda holds a sharply continental climate: January averages near minus fifteen Celsius, July near twenty. Wind crosses the grasslands unimpeded; spring blizzards, called burans, can close roads for days. The city was laid out on a generous Soviet grid with wide boulevards and the long Bukhar-Zhyrau Avenue running east to west. Trees were planted in belts along the streets to break the wind, and a Central Park sits at the city's heart.

— informed by Köppen climate data

— where

Kazakhstan · Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan

— elevation

553 m · 1,814 ft

— position

49.8047° N · 73.1094° E

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

230 km NW

Astana

national capital

45 km SW

Karlag Museum, Dolinka

history museum

380 km SE

Lake Balkhash

endorheic lake

Karaganda

Astana

Karlag Museum, Dolinka

Lake Balkhash

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Karaganda — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

Karaganda sits on the central Kazakh steppe, about 230 kilometers southeast of the national capital Astana. It is the administrative center of Karaganda Region, the largest region of Kazakhstan by area.

Karaganda was incorporated in 1934 to work the Karaganda Coal Basin, the third-largest coal field in the Soviet Union, after extensive seams were mapped in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Karlag, the Karaganda Corrective Labor Camp, operated from 1931 to 1959. At its peak it held hundreds of thousands of political prisoners and deported peoples whose forced labor built the city and worked the mines.

Sharply continental. January averages near minus fifteen Celsius, July near twenty. Spring blizzards, called burans, can close roads for days when wind crosses the open steppe.

Around half a million people, making Karaganda the fourth-largest city in Kazakhstan after Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent. The wider region holds about 1.4 million residents.

Kazakh and Russian are both in daily use. The city has long held a large Russian-speaking population, the legacy of Soviet-era settlement, alongside Kazakh, Ukrainian, German, and Korean communities.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for customers whose families came from the city or the wider Karaganda Region. A Small with a handwritten note from the studio carries the steppe home.

The greys, ochres, and deep blues read well with Soviet-modern, industrial-warm, and Eastern European maximalist rooms. The piece sits naturally above a dark wood console or a stone mantel.

Yes. The piece pairs with the current industrial-warm look: brick walls, blackened steel, oak tables, and a single grounded landmark hung as the center of the wall.

A single Large covers most consoles. Above a standard sofa we recommend a four-tile Mural; above a long sectional, a nine-tile Mural anchors the wall.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist scratches and steam, and either works for a backsplash, a powder room, or a shower wall.

A soft microfibre cloth with water lifts dust and fingerprints. Avoid abrasive pads and solvent cleaners; the colour lives in the ceramic surface, not on top of it.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. There is no licensing and no third-party catalog behind the work.

— if this one stayed with you