By: Mary Cate Kelleher
Posted In: Entertainment
Photo credit: Mary Cate Kelleher
Katie Dyer and Jane Perkins stand in the free trade shop, Cadeaux du Monde, in downtown Newport.
Katie Dyer and Jane Perkins of Newport have done their share of traveling. The mother-daughter duo are the co-owners of Cadeaux du Monde, a fair trade shop in downtown Newport that sells artwork and jewelry from all over the world, representing over 40 countries.
Both women have been traveling for a long time, experiencing other cultures and inspiring in them a love of learning and an appreciation for world art. Perkins’s husband was in the Navy,so most of her married life and Dyer’s childhood were spent moving all over the country. Originally from Wilmington, North Carolina, Perkins received a certificate in Business at Peace College in Raleigh. After a brief career as a legal secretary, she became a wife and a mother. She later enrolled at the University of Rhode Island to continue her business studies. Dyer was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in theatre arts and a minor in math. After college she joined the Peace Corps and taught high school math in the Central African Republic for two years. She is currently on the Board of Rhode Island Peace Corps Volunteers. Both women teach a multi-cultural workshop that can be set up by appointment. Currently, they are preparing for the American Heart Association’s Art Exhibit “Art for the Heart,” and Newport’s Annual Gallery Night. WHAT DOES CADEAUX DU MONDE MEAN?K. Dyer: Gifts of the World WHAT EXACTLY IS FAIR TRADE?
K. Dyer: It’s fairly traded folk art, directly from the village. There’s not a lot of middle men. It’s the same idea as fair trade coffee.
J. Perkins: Where the producers actually get a fair price.
K. Dyer: We buy directly from them.
J. Perkins: So they’re in control of their prices. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS?
J. Perkins: Since November, 1987. WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA?
K. Dyer: We both thought of it. I was done with the Peace Corps and my mother was done with raising children and working dead-end jobs. We wanted to have an impact, to help keep cultural heritage alive, and encourage the development of education. WHAT ABOUT THE COMPETITION?
J. Perkins: Wal-mart has changed shopping patterns. It changed how others do business and how people look at shopping. We hand-pick everything. We do a lot of research. We look at trends and colors, we look to see what else is out there in the market. If we find a product that closely resembles something in chain stores, we won’t buy it. We want to make sure what we are buying is unique. WHAT IS THE MOST UNUSUAL PLACE YOU HAVE VISITED? Dyer: The most different place we’ve been is Pakistan. They are still under Islamic law, [and] it’s a very homogenous society. We would be walking down the street and bus loads of people would lean out the windows to stare at us. They would follow us for blocks. This was mostly the village people, not in the urban areas so much. You come back with a real appreciation. DOES THE MEDIA ACURATELY PORTRAY THE CULTURES YOU’VE SEEN? Perkins: Hollywood sensationalizes everything. People are people all over the world. WHY THE PEACE CORPS? Dyer: I always wanted to go to Africa and I wanted to travel. You know when you go to college and you’re going through school and you’re doing all this stuff, it’s all very self, self, self, self, and so I decided that I wanted to do a service. I wanted to do something that was a little bigger than myself. Especially when you’re doing your education it’s always you, you, you, you, and I thought, ‘okay, it’s time to think about somebody else’. So I wanted to do something like the Peace Corps. WHY AFRICA? Dyer: This is the corniest thing. One of the reasons I always wanted to go to Africa is because I used to watch Mutual Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that on reruns or anything like that. It used to be on Sunday night. They had like, Wild Kingdom and the Walt Disney and we would watch it. WHAT IS GALLERY NIGHT? Perkins: We do it annually. It runs from February to December and on the second Thursday of every month we showcase a different artist for 11 months. It has to be work that we can hang on the wall. Newport Gallery Night begins the second Thursday in February from 5p.m. to 8p.m. and runs monthly until November at Cadeaux du Monde. “Art for the Heart” runs from Feb. 1 through March 8. Cadeaux du Monde is located at 26 Mary St. in Newport.
