The workshops cluster on Calle Carapungo and the streets feeding into the main square. Most are small family operations — a back room or a courtyard — and the front of the house doubles as the shop. The artisans are happy to be watched at work, and many will show you the stages from dough to painted figure if you take an interest.
Prices are a fraction of those in Quito's tourist markets. Nativity sets and Day-of-the-Dead figures are the strong sellers, but the wider range — Andean musicians, condors, llamas, miniature market scenes — is what makes the trip worth making.