This weekend is Spanish Market in Santa Fe. Generally it falls on the last weekend of July. The show is put on by the Spanish Colonial Arts Society, an organization dedicated to the preservation and teaching of traditional New Mexico arts and crafts. The show is juried, and the rules require all crafts are created by authentic and traditional methods. For instance: the paints used in retablos (paintings of saints on wood) are not oils from an art supply store but naturally harvested pigments from the area.
New Mexico's geographic isolation led many of it's early colonists to create things from what was locally available, including utilitarian pieces and artwork. Most of the folk art you see in Spanish Market is a local creation, using available materials to reproduce something remembered from Spain. Today, although the work and designs have become more ornate and detailed in many aspects, the methods and materials remain the same. Many of the artists have handed down their craft within their family from generation to generation.
There's live entertainment and delicious food to be enjoyed. Hope to see you there!
The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art: Santa Fe, New Mexico
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