Michoacán Artisan Support Team

Terry Baumgart, the artist co-ordinator for Michoacán, raves about the team that supports local artists and makes the Michoacán presence at the Feria a reality. In this article, she introduces readers to Alice Garcia, Lupe Garcia Rios and Teo Servin Barriga.

Alice Garcia, a volunteer photographer from California, helps with local projects and with the Feria and captures the beauty of the artists and their work. (Photo not available ... photographers are always behind the camera.)

Lupe and  one of her pieces of work.

Guadalupe (Lupe) Garcia Rios, in addition to assisting in the co-ordination of Feria artisans from Michoacán has been making pottery for over 24 years. Her specialty is high-fire ceramics, which is lead-free and fired at about 1,250 degrees centigrade. 

Guadalupe has been teaching her craft to her three daughters and one son and they are all now highly accomplished ceramicists as well. Lupe and one of her daughters will be showing pottery made by the family at Feria 2018. Lupe has won national awards and she and her children have won numerous State awards as well.  

Lupe creates extremely complex three-dimensional work that includes pre-hispanic symbols and legends of the past as well as modern day depictions of traditions and customs of their community. This work is crafted on both non-electric and electric wheels which are then fired in a gas kiln. Her more modern, but extremely time-consuming approach differs markedly from the old-style approach of other ceramicists.

International buyers come to the Feria to purchase her concurso (judged shows) level pieces. Recently, a film maker honored Lupe for her work by creating a short documentary film that includes the long trek up the mountain to obtain her clay to the actual producing of her work. Lupe will present this video along with a workshop this year at the Feria. A version with English subtitles is being produced, but you can view the Spanish version here.

Lupe at work.

What is apparent when one talks with Lupe is her spiritual connection with her work and mother earth. In addition to Lupe's commitment to sharing her knowledge and expertise with her children, Lupe has taken courses at the Escuela Nacional de Ceramica (National Ceramic School) in Jalisco and has then shared her new gained knowledge not only with her family, but with fellow artisans in her community. In addition, thanks to the coordination by Brigitte Ordoquy Plummer, the Feria coordinator for Chiapas, Lupe and her family recently went to Chiapas as volunteers and shared some of their knowledge regarding high fire ceramics, glazes, and so on with many artisans of Chiapas. 

Lupe believes that teaching the younger generation is her way of ensuring that her craft will endure.

Lupe's work.

Lupe lives in the village of Tzintzuntzan near Lake Pátzcuaro, one of many Michoacán towns continuing the living tradition of alfarería (pottery making). Clay is abundant in the hills and many Purépecha dedicate their lives to creating both utilitarian and artistic pottery.  

Her designs are inspired not only by pre-Hispanic symbols but also from the countryside and nature. The land around her with its high volcanic peaks, lakes, wildlife and other environmental elements figure prominently in her creations. Using local clay to create each piece, Lupe feels that she is giving back to the earth that which makes her art possible.

Lupe's work.

Lupe with a large work.

Lupe and her daughters in their studio.

Teófila (Teo) Servin Barriga also helps support the artisans attending the Feria from Michoacán. Teo is generous with her knowledge and expertise and has presented workshops locally, nationally and internationally. In addition, she provides advice and orientation to new invitees to the Feria.

Teo and award-winning rebozo

Teo started  embroidering when she was twelve, learning her craft from her mother and has taught many younger family members in order to ensure that the craft continues. Her specialty is colorful hand embroidery work on manta (a traditional hand-woven cotton) or other cotton cloth. Her unique, whimsical, and original designs tell of life in the lakeside communities: farming, fishing, fiestas, including depiction of the traditional old men dances, marriages, trees of life and other themes and events. 

Teo's rich imagination enlivens her charming tapestries (see below for photos of some of the detail in her work). In addition, when a researcher arrived in her community many years ago, she learned more about the prehispanic symbols of the Purepechan people. Thus, some of her designs include these ancient symbols. The result of Teo's work includes a variety of clothing for both men and women, purses, shoes, dolls, pillows and more!

Teo working

Teófila is a very prolific worker and she has won many prizes at concursos (judged shows). She is considered a "maestra sinidal" or expert by the Instituto Del Artesano Michoacano (IAM) and is called upon by the State organization to be a judge in other communities in Michoacan at their judged shows. A book has been written about her called "Bordados para ser Contados."

Teo and her work.

Detail of Teo's work.

More detail of Teo's work.

Terry Baumgart ... blame it on the dolls!

Terry Baungart with dolls, shirt from
Zipiajo, a collective that will be at the Feria this year.

Forty years ago Terry Baumgart bought three simple cloth dolls in Pátzcuaro. It wasn’t an unusual purchase. She was always decorating her California home with Mexican pottery, textiles, or toys purchased on her many explorations of Mexico, which started primarily after graduate school with two years of informal studying of Spanish and culture throughout Mexico.

Her Mexico experiences prompted a desire to retire in Mexico, which she and her husband did about ten years ago. They wound up in the village of Zirahuén, near Pátzcuaro on a stunning lake which is often called "the mirror of the Gods.” A local legend says that the lake was formed by the tears of a kidnapped maiden, but Terry has shed few tears during her years in Michoacán.

"I remember being worried about being bored in my retirement,” Terry says. 

“An interesting thing happened soon after I moved to Mexico. I have three simple cloth dolls that I thought were from Pátzcuaro. Fast forward to nine years ago when I moved to Zirahuén, and was introduced to the president of the local artisans’ group. She came to my house and I showed her the dolls. She immediately told me who had made them so many years ago and that they were from Zirahuén!”

That synchronicity accelerated Terry’s interest in Mexican folk art and about eight years ago, she celebrated her birthday by attending the Feria Maestros del Arte. Her husband told her to buy herself a gift. 

"Well, I certainly bought more than one gift! I was so excited by the incredible arts offered at the Feria that I introduced myself to Marianne Carlson, the Feria founder. And, again the next year  As I learned more about the Feria and how incredibly respectful it treats the artisans, I just knew I had to be part of it. I offered to help out and was eventually offered the volunteer position of Michoacán coordinator. My life has been so exciting and fulfilled ever since! I never have to worry about being bored with all the Feria offers me.

Hi-fired ceramics by Guadalupe Garcia Rios

"My volunteer work for the Feria has provided me with the satisfaction of seeing artisans' lives changed for the better right before my eyes! My first "aha" moment was early on when a young artisan from Michoacán told me on a Sunday after the Feria that he had never had so much money in his pocket in his life!
  

Then I saw how the contacts he made began to provide him with year-round work and I saw his humble lifestyle improve as he built a nice house with plumbing and on and on. That is only one example as there have been so many positive, transformative stories.

"I can't begin to express how much my work with the Feria 

provides me with a real sense of purpose in my life." 

Embroidery work by Teofila Servin Barriga 

"And, of course, the interaction with the artisans, the many friendships that have grown with them, is never-ending. I receive lots of "gracias" from them, but I don't really think they realize the extent of the reciprocity that is involved in our relationships. I receive so much more than I give. 

BTW, I don't want to leave out the three important people who help to ensure that the Michoacán Feria experience is a success every year. Two artisans, Guadalupe Garcia Rios and Teofila Servin Barriga, are volunteer artisans who assist me year round in accessing resources from our state artisan agency and provide me with the perspective and advice that only an artisan can provide. In addition, they help with phone calls, artisan meetings and whatever else is needed. (The work of both volunteers will be shown at the Feria this year.  More about these artisans here.)

"Alice Garcia, a California native who resides in Michoacán, is our volunteer photographer who also provides assistance before and during the Feria each year. In addition to providing many of the official photos of the invited artisans, she accompanies me on artisan search trips, annual trips to Uruapan during Easter week and comes on the bus with the artisans to the Feria. During the Feria, she provides translation, problem-solving and much more! Guadalupe, Teofila and Alice are a fabulous team! 

"In summary, it is an understatement to say that I feel blessed.  Our Michoacán team, the fabulous Feria volunteer staff in Jalisco and the awesome artisans of Mexico are the perfect recipe for a fulfilling and joyful retirement."