About the Exhibition
This exhibition was developed in 2020, and opened online in October. Due to the pandemic of COVID-19, the exhibition was mostly limited to this online presentation (which originally included links to sell artwork and supplies through the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center's new online store). There was also an in-person exhibition at the Fuller Lodge Art Center in Los Alamos in early 2021.
We thank those who have contributed to the project:
The Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area (NRGNHA), established by an Act of Congress in 2006, is one of 49 National Heritage Areas in the United States. National Heritage Areas are places where natural, cultural, and historic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape. The Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area encompasses more than 10,000 square miles in Northern New Mexico bounded by Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, and Taos counties. The mission of the NRGNHA is to help sustain the communities, languages, cultures, traditions, heritage, and environment of Northern New Mexico through partnerships, education, and interpretation. riograndeNHA.org
The Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area (SdCNHA), located in south-central Colorado, includes more than 3,000 square miles of the San Luis Valley. It was established by the ACt of Congress in 2009. Its mission is to promote, preserve, protect, and interpret its profound historical, religious, environmental, geographic, geologic, cultural, and linguistic resources. These efforts contribute to the overall national story, engender a spirit of pride and self-reliance, and create a legacy in the Colorado counties of Alamosa, Conejos and Costilla. sdcnha.org
The Española Valley Fiber Arts Center (EVFAC) is the hub for all types of fiber arts activity in Northern New Mexico. EVFAC was established in 1995 by a handful of local artists. Today it is a nonprofit, member-focused organization with 501(c)(3) status. EVFAC operates in the heart of a historically rich weaving region and offers education programs to teach fiber arts skills to all ages. EVFAC’s mission is to cultivate and support multi-generational participation in local, traditional, and contemporary fiber arts. The center regularly organizes colcha embroidery classes, carries materials for embroidery as well as raw materials, such as natural dyes, sabanilla weaving yarn, natural-dyed colcha embroidery yarns and churro wool for spinning, thus enabling anyone to learn the skill at any stage from the raw beginning onward. nmfiberartscenter.org
Toadelina Trading Post is operated by Mark and Linda Winter, who reside in Northern New Mexico. The Trading Post on the Navajo reservation works with contemporary Navajo weavers by purchasing and marketing their textiles. For over 50 years, Mark and Linda have been dealing in and collecting Hispanic Mexican, New Mexican, and Native American art, with a particular focus on textiles. Linda, also an avid collector, moved from New York City to New Mexico 15 years ago, where the pair met and became a couple, supporting each other's collecting habits. Their collection of textiles from Northern New Mexican includes Carson Colchas, entirely covered with the colcha couching stitch. Owning them over several decades has given the couple unique insight into the history of textiles in the region. However, the actual verdict of their provenance requires more research and study. toadlenatradingpost.com
Photographs of artwork available for sale by Lee Akins
Photographs of artists and of artwork in artists' personal collections by Rebecca Abrams