Jeweler’s Studio: Kewa-Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico
Under the Palace of the Governors portal sit Native American artisans, displaying their craft. They may sit on small camp stools or cross-legged on a blanket waiting for us. Their hang tags tell their name, their pueblo, and authenticate what they sell. This is a juried system. The portal at the Palace of the Governors […]
Native American Jewelry Making — Ancient Art of Identity
The tombs of Monte Alban, the ancient Zapotec civilization perched atop a mountain in Oaxaca, Mexico, revealed, when excavated, unparalleled Mesoamerican gold metal smithing, stone and beadwork. For many of us who live in Oaxaca or visit there, we become attached to filigree work in traditional designs brought to Mexico via the Moors who taught […]
Mexico in Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico—International Folk Art Market
Tonight the famed Santa Fe International Folk Art Market opens on Museum Hill to the thrill of all of us who embrace the work created by indigenous people as an expression of self, culture and community. It will continue through the weekend. On Thursday afternoon, skirting a dramatic downpour of rain, the IFAM officially began […]
Santa Fe, New Mexico Consignment & Thrifty Shopping: The List
Driving from Denver, Colorado, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with stops back and forth in Taos and Abiquiu–Ghost Ranch (to pay homage to Georgia O’Keeffe), I am constantly reminded that this land was once Mexico. The landscape reminds me of Oaxaca: expansive with arroyos, crevices, looming 12,000 foot mountains, scrub oak, sign posts telling of […]
Chatino Textiles from Oaxaca at Santa Fe Trunk Show
The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market runs from Friday night to Sunday afternoon the second weekend of July each year. Festivities start days in advance with galleries and retail shops all over town featuring artisan trunk shows from various parts of the world. (Mark your 2017 calendar for July 14, 15, 16) Barbara Cleaver […]
New Mexico Dry. After the Santa Fe Folk Art Market.
By Tuesday after the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market ended, most friends returned home or continued with travels. Market weekend was HOT, over 100 degrees fahrenheit with no rain, unusual for July when afternoon thunderstorms usually cool things off, they say. There’s no air conditioning here, my local friends remind me. Adobe, shade and […]
Oaxaca-Santa Fe Connection and the International Folk Art Market
The 2016 Santa Fe International Folk Art Market is over. Hard to believe it’s been ten days since I last wrote a blog post. This is the second year I’ve come to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to volunteer for this amazing, often overwhelming experience of meeting hundreds of artisans from around the world. They come […]
Injustice, Coping: Fine Oaxaca Black Pottery Maker Goes to Santa Fe International Folk Art Market
Right now, there’s mango cardamom chutney cooking on the stove. It’s a clear, cool day after a series of heavy rains and the sky is brilliant blue. White puff clouds hug the mountain just beyond my reach, and I’m thinking about the injustices in our world and how people cope. In about three weeks, I’m […]
Color Culture: Oaxaca at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market
Oaxaca and Mexico is well-represented at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, a knock-your-socks-off bazaar of many of the world’s best artisans. Interspersed among the over 150 exhibitors are some of Oaxaca’s best artisans, too. Selection to participate is very competitive. Preference seems to be given to collectives and cooperatives that further the economic, […]
Labor Day and Saludos From Taos, New Mexico
We have this last 3-day holiday weekend of summer, Labor Day to honor the United States of America labor movement and workers around the world. As I look out onto panoramic scene of the Rio Grande River Gorge from my friends’ home on a high mesa outside of Taos, New Mexico, I think about the advocacy and […]
Arts, Culture, Textile Journey to Santa Fe and Oaxaca
Postponed until Summer 2013: Oaxaca Cultural Navigator collaborates with Australia’s Desert Traditions to bring you Beyond Santa Fe. Join textile artist and group leader Carole Douglas from Sydney, Australia, Santa Fe textile expert Sheri Brautigam, and Norma Hawthorne for a cultural immersion experience of a lifetime.