Waccamaw Pottery’s new owner says he has no crystal ball for its development

The new owner of the former Waccamaw Pottery said that he hopes the 3W International Cultural Center will become a place where Americans can learn about Chinese.

Its first offering, an exhibit headlined by six Chinese artists that includes a number of works by area artists as well, debuted in a corner space at Waccamaw on Thursday and will be open to the public through March 12.

Wei Min Wang, one of a group of investors that includes his brother in China, said meditating on the art can make people like him grow old slower.

In much the same way that Wang hopes the exhibits at the Cultural Center will educate Americans about China, he said that he and the other investors in 3W are learning what will restore the energy of bygone days at Waccamaw Pottery.

“We don’t have any crystal ball,” he said more than once.

Wang, who lives in New Jersey and owns a home in Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, said the shopping area reached out to the investment group because of its long history on the Grand Strand and the five million shoppers that used to go there for bargains of all sorts.

“I hope we can restore some of the old days’ glory,” he said.

After purchasing Waccamaw Pottery three years ago for $7.5 million, 3W has spent several million dollars restoring and renovating the space, Wang said, including new roofs. But sounding like a home renovator, he said that the renovations uncovered other things that need fixing.

Work is underway on new landscaping that could give Waccamaw a different look to attract the eyes of the thousands of people who pass by daily in cars on U.S. 501. A new sign has been installed by the road and temporary signage is in place in the parking lot to direct shoppers to individual stores.

Spaces at Waccamaw include a handful of retail offerings such as a costume, auto supply, womens wear and Chinese art stores, as well as spaces occupied by small service-type businesses at the rear and a church.

“We are learning and adapting,” Wang said.

He said that investors are thinking they’d like to attract Chinese manufacturers to open outlet stores at Waccamaw.

Wang said he learned of Waccamaw through local Realtor Jane Zheng.

“We came here, we looked and we talked with people,” he said.

“The weather is so beautiful here,” he said later.

As for the art, Wang and others said they hope that a cultural exchange can be established between those of He Nan, the Chinese Central Plains home of the six artists whose work is on exhibit for the next month, and the artists of Myrtle Beach.

The Chinese works include oil paintings, watercolors, prints, calligraphy and wood cuts. The American work exhibited in other spaces in the Cultural Center include photography as well.

The exhibit is entitled “The Wind from Central Plains.”

“We’re coming closer and closer together from an investment standpoint,” Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said at the opening Thursday, “from a visitor standpoint.”

He hopes the art will be another way to bring the two worlds together.

Wang said he doesn’t have expectations for the number of people who will visit the exhibit during its one-month run, and he carries the same feeling about his shopping center.

“It’s just like this art exhibition,” he said. “The first one is hard.”

This story was originally published February 15, 2015 at 12:08 AM with the headline "Waccamaw Pottery’s new owner says he has no crystal ball for its development."