An Invitation to a World of Folk Art

Tricia Stoddard, Nancy Walkup, and Naina and Surendar Valasai, who represent a women's cooperative in Pakistan.

SchoolArts/CRIZMAC Folk Art Extravaganza in Santa Fe, New Mexico

July 10-14, 2014

The International Folk Art Alliance (formerly called the Santa Fe Folk Art Market) will again be our destination for the SchoolArts/CRIZMAC Folk Art Extravaganza. This event has changed the lives of the artists involved. According to creative director Judith Espinar, "The focus is always the same, which is to bring the world together to celebrate world culture, and to do everything we can to keep it on the face of the earth." Here participants get to meet the artists and hear their stories. A good introduction to the Folk Art Alliance is the film, Half the Sky. Another great resource is The Work of Art: Folk Artists in the 21st Century. We have worked with many of the artists featured in this book.

Cilau Valadez, a Huichol artist from Mexico

We're especially excited because we just found out that three of the folk artists who usually work with our group have all been accepted for the 2014 Market. Artists have to reapply each year to a jury to be invited, no matter how many times they have been accepted before. Our friends who are coming include Naina and Surendar Valasai from Pakistan (they represent a women's quilt-making cooperative), Agustin Prudencio Cruz (Mexican folk art carvings) and Cilau Valadez (a Huichol artist from Mexico who works with yarn and beeswax to make incredible "paintings"). Plans call for them to speak and demonstrate to our group as they have in the past. All of these artists are included in the book mentioned above.

Agustin Prudencio Cruz, representing his family of Mexican woodcarvers.

Though not originally intended as a development project, the Market has impacted the lives of the artists and their villages and cooperatives by creating a sustainable market for their wares, often in developing countries and regions where there has been no other way to make a living. The artists often make more in the two days of the market than they may make in a year at home.

Artists' work is juried but participation is not limited to selling artworks. Invited artists also receive training in marketing, booth display, pricing, and how to tell their own stories. The success stories are amazing. There is no better opportunity to go “around the world in a weekend!” We will meet and work with folk artists and create a number of hands-on projects related to the work we will see, working in an open studio fashion.

Stevie and I have been leading experiences such as this in New Mexico for quite a long time and we always look forward to returning to this magical place. We’ll do our best in both seminars to provide the most outstanding professional development experience you’ve ever had! Please come join us! A commuter rate is available if you do not need housing. You will find prices and more details on both offerings and can ask questions and register here. You can also contact me at Nancy Walkup at walkup@netzero.net and Stevie Mack at steviemack@crizmac.com.