Wender·Vista
Poverty Point
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
in the cane fields of northeast Louisiana

Poverty Point

— ridges raised by basket, three thousand years ago.

— 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

“Six concentric earthen ridges open like a half-moon toward Bayou Macon, with the great Bird Mound rising seventy feet behind them. The people who built this carried the soil in baskets, one load at a time, more than three thousand years ago. No farming. No metal. Just a plan held in common, and the patience to finish it.

from the studio
Poverty Point
— bring it home

Poverty Point, 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 Poverty Point

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

Poverty Point sits in West Carroll Parish, in the flat cotton country of northeast Louisiana, about twenty miles west of the Mississippi River. The site covers more than 400 acres and centers on six concentric C-shaped earthen ridges and several mounds, including the seventy-foot Bird Mound. Built between roughly 1700 and 1100 BCE by a pre-agricultural people, it is one of the largest and most complex earthwork sites in North America, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.

— the year

The construction window spans roughly six centuries, beginning around 1700 BCE and ending around 1100 BCE, which makes the site older than Olmec La Venta and contemporary with Egypt's New Kingdom. The builders were hunter-gatherers who moved an estimated 27 million cubic feet of earth without draft animals, the wheel, or metal tools. Trade goods recovered on site come from as far away as the Great Lakes and the Appalachians, suggesting a reach that crossed half the continent on foot and by river canoe.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the visit

The site is managed by Louisiana State Parks as Poverty Point World Heritage Site, near the town of Epps, and is open most days of the year except major holidays. Admission runs four dollars for adults, with children under thirteen free. A 2.6-mile interpretive driving loop crosses the ridges and circles Mound A, with shorter walking trails through the plaza. Ranger-led tram tours run seasonally and are the simplest way to read the geometry, which from ground level can be hard to see.

— informed by Louisiana State Parks
— where
United States · West Carroll Parish, Louisiana
— within
Poverty Point World Heritage Site
— position
32.6361° N · 91.4053° 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.
3 km W
Epps
town
35 km E
Lake Providence
river-port town
90 km S
Monroe
city
N
Poverty Point
Epps
Lake Providence
Monroe
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Construction began around 1700 BCE and ended around 1100 BCE, making the earthworks roughly 3,100 to 3,700 years old. It predates the Olmec of Mesoamerica and is contemporary with Egypt's New Kingdom.

Pre-agricultural hunter-gatherers built it, which is unusual: most monumental earthworks worldwide come from settled farming societies. The builders' name has been lost; the modern site is named for a 19th-century plantation.

The earthworks cover more than 400 acres and include six concentric C-shaped ridges, the seventy-foot Bird Mound, and several smaller mounds. The full plan is best read from the air.

In West Carroll Parish, northeastern Louisiana, near the town of Epps and about twenty miles west of the Mississippi River. The closest small city is Monroe, about an hour south.

UNESCO inscribed Poverty Point in 2014 for its outstanding universal value as the largest and most complex earthwork of its era in North America, built by a pre-agricultural society.

No. The Bird Mound and the ridges are protected; visitors stay on the driving loop and designated trails. The ranger-led tram offers the closest view of Mound A's base.

— about the piece in your home

It travels well to anyone who grew up in the northeast parishes or studied Southeastern archaeology. The Small or Medium reads cleanly on a desk or in a study.

The earth-tone palette holds in warm Modern Farmhouse, Southwestern, and the quieter end of Maximalist rooms. It also pairs with library walls of leather-bound spines and natural wood.

Yes. Heritage-rooted Southern interiors lean heavily on land and ancestry right now, and a Louisiana World Heritage Site fits the conversation more honestly than a magnolia print.

A single Large covers most sofas. For a longer wall or a wide console, a 4-tile Mural reads as one piece, and a 9-tile Mural takes a true statement wall.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for vertical installations in bathrooms, kitchens, or any room with moisture or splash. Both finishes are scratch-resistant and clean easily.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin glossy finish, so it does not lift or fade with ordinary cleaning.

Yes. Every piece in the WenderVista atlas is created in our Knoxville studio under Reid Wender's eye. We do not license outside artwork or resell stock images.

— if this one stayed with you

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