His voice trembled as he spoke, “Están tomando todo mi trabajo . . . todo" ... They’re taking all my stuff … all of it!”
Emilio Molinero was on the phone, obviously worried about his artwork. He had agreed to be one of the artisans at the first Feria and a volunteer had offered to transport all of his art work to make it easier for him when he took the bus to Chapala from Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán.
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| Photo from Pinterest |
Marianne Carlson, founder of the
Feria Maestros del Arte had explained the process of how they were going to set up his booth for him, however, as she says, “My Spanish was pretty sketchy back then and I think he panicked when the volunteer started carrying all his work out to the car. When he finally got to the Feria and saw all his work neatly displayed, he just had the biggest grin. Of course, it got even bigger when all of his work sold almost immediately."
Thinking back over the
17-year history of the Feria, Marianne remember that
Emilio Molinero Hurtado, a Great Master of Mexican Folk Art, and renown mask-maker
Juan Orta Castillo were two of the artists who agreed to participate. Back then, the norm was that gallery owners and individual collectors would scour villages, carrying back treasures to their homes or galleries. There definitely wasn’t a place where artisans could come together with buyers from all over the world.
After years of traveling the world and exploring Mexico, Marianne knew Mexico was where she wanted to live and she didn’t want to wait for her Social Security years. She had had a varied background of jobs and skills … from running an Arabian horse ranch (her favorite employment gig), to managing wine tasting rooms, to working for the nuclear power plant on the central coast of California. In addition to strong organization abilities, she had computer and graphic arts skills and knew she could make it in Mexico doing something.
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| One of Marianne's gourd kitchens |
Her something turned out to be creating gourd miniatures and running a small gallery (called Avant Gourd) across the street from the Lake Chapala Society. On her trips around Mexico, she began to discover artisans in small villages making things that she had never seen before. She fell in love with the artisans and their work.
The idea for Feria evolved during a trip Marianne took with a friend to 17 artisan villages between Ajijic, Jalisco and Pátzcuaro, Michoacán in March, 2002. She realized she was meeting artists whose work the average person would never have a chance to see. When questioned about where they sold their work, most of the artists said in their homes or at yearly ferias (fairs) or tianguis (outdoor markets) in local towns.
Wheels turned and she started thinking:
Why not have a feria in Ajijic?
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| Marianne's feathered animal gourd |
The first year, 13 artisans from Jalisco and Michoacán brought their work to a conference room at Hotel Real de Chapala in Ajijic. Attendees were delighted and the artisans were selling their work. “I knew when Emilo Molinero, a recognized great master featured in the book "Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art," agreed to bring his work to the Feria, that this was going to be something special, not only for the people who would see his work, but for the artisans. The event moved around for a few years until we finally found a niche at the Chapala Yacht Club where it quickly became a beloved community event.”
This year’s Feria will feature 85 artisans from Jalisco, Michoacán, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Campeche, Chihuahua, Mexico, Puebla, Guerrero, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas with hundreds of volunteers and an expected 4,000 attendees from Mexico and abroad. It is an amazing sight when buses start arriving from Chiapas, Oaxaca and Michoacán, unloading artisans and piles and piles of colorful carvings, textiles, rugs, clay pots, alebrijes, baskets, clothing, dolls, and other iconic art work ready to be organized and displayed under white tents against the green grass and shimmering lake.
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| Feria artisan |
Along with the idea of creating a marketplace for folk art artisans, folk art lovers and collectors, another vision creeped into the mix. Indigenous folk art is a fragile commodity. Handmade, generally from local materials and with techniques and craftsmanship that has been handed down for generations, folk art doesn’t mesh with modern technology and mass production objectives.
Soon Marianne recognized that some of the artisans were growing older and young people were leaving the villages to get jobs to support their families. There was a real possibility that much of Mexico's folk art would disappear over time. Even though she thought the Feria might help support her until her Social Security kicked in, after the first year of the Feria, working with and getting to know the artisans overshadowed any ideas she might have had about making money from the event. The Feria was about saving Mexican folk art and helping the artisans.
Marianne Carlson says: "the Feria isn’t an art show … it’s a heart show.”
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| Feria artisan |
Organized by an army of volunteers,
artists do not pay any fees or percentage of sales. They are
hosted by local families and transportation to the Feria is paid by the Feria. Their participation in the Feria is a unique community event. Every year, extraordinary cross-cultural bonds are forged between families of diverse backgrounds. For many artists, it is their first contact with the outside art world … and every cent of what they earned goes home with them.
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| Artisans delivering a piece to a delighted customer |
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For some artisans, the Feria is a major part of their annual income. Marianne has seen artisans build houses, send their children to school, and pay for needed health care because of the money the earned at the Feria. One of the best indicators is that now the younger generation is often staying in their villages, learning the ancient traditions. She says, "Without the kind of intervention Feria Maestros del Arte provides, the world's most creative culture would lose its exceptional heritage.”
More than a Feria
The Lakeside communities are touched by a special spirit. Perhaps it’s the generous spirits of Neill James or Teomichicihualli (goddess of the lake) hovering over all of us, perhaps it’s the meeting of need and opportunity as hundreds of retired immigrants are eager to stay engaged in their later years and find needs that call to them. Whatever it is, so many people here are touched by this spirit of generosity and wind up spending their time and money helping … whether it’s rescuing stray dogs, bringing food and healthcare to families, teaching English … or art … or chess … or music … to children, or helping create a better future for thousands of folk artists across the country, this is a community with heart. When the Board of Directors of the Feria came together to determine their mission, it came down to four words: More than a Feria.
Feria Maestros del Arte is more than an annual event, it is deeply embedded part of the community … with Operation Feed, the LCS Children’s Art Program, the Women’s Prison Doll program, the children’s chess program and others. The Feria also reaches out to help artisans with special needs such as some affected by the earthquake in Oaxaca and Guerrero.
The Feria has been a non-profit organization since its fourth year and is soon to change to a donataria status, which will allow them to issue Facturas in Mexico that are tax deductible.
More information:
Emilio Molinero:
Photo of Molinero and his wife from Flickr,
