Wender·Vista
Nikumaroro
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileKiribati
in the Phoenix Islands, midway between Hawaii and Fiji

Nikumaroro

— — the empty atoll the mystery won't leave.

— 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
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— 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

“An uninhabited coral atoll in the central Pacific, about 1,800 kilometres south of Hawaii and 2,000 north of Fiji. Once known as Gardner Island, it was the site of a failed British colonial settlement abandoned in 1963. Since 1989 it has been a candidate site for the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan. It sits today inside the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, one of the largest marine reserves in the world.

from the studio
Nikumaroro
— bring it home

Nikumaroro, 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 Nikumaroro

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

Nikumaroro is a coral atoll in the Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, lying roughly 4°40′S, 174°31′W, about 1,800 km south-southwest of Honolulu and 1,400 km north of Apia, Samoa. The atoll is approximately 7.5 km long and 2.5 km wide, enclosing a shallow lagoon that drains to the sea through a narrow western pass. It has been uninhabited since the British abandoned the Gardner Island Settlement in 1963 and now sits within the 408,000 km² Phoenix Islands Protected Area, inscribed by UNESCO in 2010.

— the silence

There are no permanent residents and no scheduled boat or air service. The nearest inhabited land is Kanton Atoll, 280 km to the north, with a handful of caretaker families. Access requires a chartered yacht or expedition vessel and a permit from the Kiribati government. Since the protected area was expanded in 2008 and commercial fishing closed in 2015, traffic has been limited mostly to scientific and search expeditions, most prominently the TIGHAR organisation's recurring visits searching for evidence of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.

— the year

The atoll lies just south of the equator and runs warm and humid throughout the year, with sea temperatures between 28°C and 30°C. The drier season runs roughly May through October on the southeast trade winds; the wetter season runs November through April with occasional tropical disturbances. Cyclones are rare this close to the equator but not unknown. The reef on the western side, where the suspected Earhart wreckage is thought to lie, is reachable only at the calmest conditions in late austral winter.

— where
Kiribati · Phoenix Islands, Kiribati
— within
Phoenix Islands Protected Area
— position
-4.6750° S · 174.5167° W
— 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.
280 km N
Kanton
inhabited atoll
90 km NE
Orona
coral atoll
165 km SE
Manra
raised coral island
200 km NW
McKean
seabird sanctuary
320 km N
Enderbury
coral atoll
N
Nikumaroro
Kanton
Orona
Manra
McKean
Enderbury
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Nikumaroro is a small coral atoll in the Phoenix Islands group of Kiribati, in the central Pacific, about 1,800 km south-southwest of Honolulu and 1,400 km north of Apia, Samoa. It is uninhabited.

Since 1989 the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, TIGHAR, has investigated Nikumaroro as the likely site of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan's 1937 disappearance. Bone fragments, aluminium debris, and distress-call analysis support the hypothesis.

Yes. The British established the Gardner Island Settlement in 1939 as part of the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme to relieve population pressure on the Gilberts. Drought and isolation forced its abandonment in 1963. No one has lived there since.

It is part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, a 408,000 km² marine reserve inscribed by UNESCO in 2010 as the first World Heritage Site composed primarily of open ocean. Commercial fishing inside the area closed in 2015.

Only by chartered yacht or expedition vessel and only with a permit from the Kiribati government. There is no airstrip, no harbour, and no scheduled service. Most visits are scientific or TIGHAR-led search expeditions.

Nikumaroro was charted by Europeans as Gardner Island, after the captain who recorded it in 1825. The Kiribati name Nikumaroro became official after independence in 1979 and is now the standard form on maps and charts.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Nikumaroro is the single place most associated with the modern search for Earhart and Noonan. Aviation-history readers and golden-age-of-flight collectors recognise it immediately. A Medium or Large with a handwritten studio note carries well.

The pale reef blues, white coral, and dark lagoon greens sit well in Coastal-modern, mid-century-tropical, and explorer-library interiors. The palette is naturally cool and pairs well with rattan, light wood, and brass map-case detail.

Yes. The current revival of aviation-history collecting, alongside framed sectional charts and original Pan Am route maps, has pulled mid-Pacific atolls back into the visual vocabulary. Nikumaroro fits the category directly.

A single Large reads cleanly above a standard three-seat sofa. The 4-tile Mural carries the atoll's full crescent across a wider wall, and the 9-tile Mural suits a stairwell or a tall library.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle the humidity of a bath wall or the splash zone behind a sink without affecting the colour.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. No solvents, no abrasive pads, no glass cleaner. The colour lives in the surface, so normal cleaning will not lift it.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. We do not license outside artwork or resell stock images. Reid Wender curates and paints the atlas, one place at a time.

— if this one stayed with you

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