Agustin Cruz Prudencio 3D Art

Agustin Cruz Prudencio is a Oaxaca-born master of alebrijes — fantastically colorful wood carvings. Oaxacan wood carving, using regional copal, dates to pre-Hispanic times, when the ancestors of artisans like Prudencio made carvings for practical use. His sculptures depict images with local Indigenous, Christian and everyday significance.

Andrea Velasco NGO Impacto Apparel

Design

The highlands of Chiapas is a region of outstanding cultural richness. Its Indigenous communities preserve the heritage of their pre-Hispanic ancestors through the traditions of complex embroidery and the backstrap loom. NGO Impacto aims to dignify the lives of Indigenous Maya Tzotzil women by celebrating their traditions and talents. The artisan-owned clothing line features their complex designs on contemporary silhouettes.

Armando Enrique Jimenez Aragon

Cuna De Artesanos

3D Art

Residing in San Antonio Arrazola, a town in Oaxaca, master carver Armando Jimenez Aragon is known for his brightly painted, whimsical sculptures. He and his family are masters at creating alebrijes, carefully carved and vividly painted creatures. Today he runs a workshop of around 200 artisans.

Bonifacio Vásquez Pacheco and Aurelia Gómez Jiménez Apparel

Bonifacio Vásquez Pacheco and Aurelia Gómez Jiménez live in Tlahuitoltepec, a small town in the Mixe region of Oaxaca. Traditional dress, especially the use of shawls, is common there. Vásquez Pacheco designs shawls and scarves. Gómez Jiménez designs their fringes.

They employ several community members, who assist with dyeing, weaving and making fringes.

Carla Fernández Apparel

Innovation and Design

Carla Fernández is a Mexico Citybased fashion designer inspired by the richness of Indigenous textiles of Mexico. She has collected and cataloged hundreds of Indigenous garments. She works with more than 94 artists in five states to ornament clothing with hand embroidery, beadwork and leather fretwork. In some cases, the fabric itself is woven by local weavers.

Colectivo Yolcuu Ñomndaa Tejiendo Resistencia Apparel

This group of seven Indigenous women of the Nnancue Ñomndaa people in Guerrero came together in the belief that solidarity between women who weave and embroider creates a common good that strengthens them as a whole. From childhood, the women were taught the art of weaving on a waist loom by their mothers and grandmothers. They produce exceptional huipiles, blouses, rebozos, shirts, tablecloths and more.

Elisa Ayala and Josué Castro Razo

3D Art

Innovation and Cultural Preservation - Evolving

Master artist Josué Castro from Salamanca creates meticulously crafted, handmade toys that captivate the young and the young at heart. He applies techniques he learned as a mechanical engineer to construct mechanisms and gears for his toys, which feature traditional Mexican skulls, devils, dolls, masked people, musicians and more. They are all made from cartonería, or cardboard, as well as engrudo, a type of natural paste, and acrylic paint.

Federico Jimenez Museo Belber Jimenez Jewelry

Oaxacan silver filigree jewelry is distinctive for its incredibly delicate and ornate design. Artisan Nancy Barragan Bautista, was born into a dynasty of fine jewelers. Many of her earrings feature finely articulated flowers or birds, coupled with gently abstracted elements and sometimes complemented with colorful stones.

Fernando Nieto Castillo Ceramics

Innovation

Fernando Nieto Castillo comes from a traditional family clay workshop in San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca. In the 1950s his grandmother Doña Rosa invented the shiny finish that is most associated with Oaxacan black clay. Inspired by the utilitarianism of pre-Hispanic clay pieces, he began collaborating with groups such as Oaxifornia to create pottery suited for contemporary use. It is “a continuum of tradition in a new form,” he explains.

Florencia Espinal Ramírez and Vicente Castillo

3D Art

Master wood-carvers Florencia Espinal Ramírez and Vicente Castillo, a veritable creative dream team, make a range of extraordinary lacquered boxes designed to hold any number of treasures. From selecting choice pieces of olinaloe and piñon wood to painting with earth pigments and deer-tail brushes, this husband-and-wife team uses their creativity and entrepreneurialism to counter the destabilizing effects of narcotrafficking on their community.

Fomento Cultural Banamex A.C. Mixed

Fomento Cultural Banamex A.C. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote investment in cultural development and to preserve and disseminate Mexican culture. The organization works with 181 artists and benefits around 1,800 families. Other goals are to diversify and improve income sources in rural, Indigenous communities; promote sustainability with producers; and revitalize market interest in traditional folk art.

Francisco Javier Sanchez Rios Silver Sanchez Blanco

Jewelry

Silver Sanchez Blanco was started by husband and wife Francisco Javier Sanchez Rios and Maria del Refugio Blanco Lopez as a family workshop in Zacatecas. The family studio is noted for its intricate filigree and innovative designs, many “based on wild flora of our state and [in the] old style with a touch of our style.”The jewelry includes both everyday pieces and items for special occasions.

Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts Jewelry

The Wixarika people have a long cultural tradition of making beadwork with intricate patterns. Traditional Wixarika beadwork was limited to a few available colors and materials, but these constraints have lifted with access to modern materials. The beadwork passes down a large inventory of traditional symbols to future generations, thus conserving many Wixarika cultural traditions and icons that may have otherwise disappeared.

Isabelle Collins Arte Ventosa

3D Art

Mexican ceramicist Isabelle Collins makes artwork that is as beautiful as it is useful. Collins has a unique spin on Talavera, hand-crafting maiolica poblana pottery in a manner that both honors tradition and propels the art form forward. Along with the organization Arte Ventosa, Collins seeks to educate people about the fascinating, centuries-old tradition of these functional art pieces.

Jose German Punzo Nuñez The Punzo Family

Metal

Innovation

The large Nuñez family lives in a small town about an hour and a half from Morelia, the capital of Michoacán. Copper and silver work is the main source of livelihood for many of the community’s artisans, and the Nuñez family are masters of this traditional and remarkably distinct type of work. Much of the group’s artwork comprises vessels as sturdy as they are artful, in gleaming earthy copper or refined, elegant silver.

José Luis Reyes Martínez Ceramics

San Antonino Castillo Velasco in Oaxaca is home to a centuries-old ceramic tradition and is also the residence of sculptor José Luis Reyes Martínez. His pieces are both beautiful and ceremonial, with local citizens routinely requesting figures for special occasions, such as Day of the Dead and Christmas. He learned this folk art from his father-in-law, José García Antonio, a widely recognized master ceramist.

Juan Isaac Vásquez García, Jerónimo Vásquez Gutiérrez, Isaac Vásquez Gutiérrez and Wilmer Vásquez Luis

Isaac Vasquez Studio

Rugs

Environmental Sustainability

The community of Teotitlán del Valle in Zapotec has long been recognized as a center for gorgeous textiles. In the last several decades, the intricate weavings of the Vásquez family have gained international attention. Motifs are mostly based on traditional Zapotec design elements from pre-Hispanic buildings, ruins and other ancient sites.

Julio Laja Chichicaxtle

Manteles Bordados Otomí Hechos a Mano

Textiles for Home

When he was 10 years old, Julio Laja Chichicaxtle’s grandmother taught him to make manteles, traditional Mexican tablecloths with ancient roots in the region of Puebla, where he was born. His design motifs include fish, birds, flowers, the moon and sun, and any number of abstracted designs and symbols. Sometimes these are actualized in ecstatic, vivid rainbow hues across a single mantele. In other cases, a single color is the only hue.

La Familia Lorenzo Mexican Folk Art 2D Art

The Lorenzo family of Guerrero is unique among Mexican retablo makers. Not only does the multigenerational trio of artisans work together; they also create distinctive scenes that capture timelessly beloved Mexican imagery as well as contemporary and often playful takes on traditional retablo paintings.

Magdalena Pedro Martínez Ceramics

Working with the distinctive black clay of San Bartolo Coyotepec in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, Magdalena Pedro Martínez sculpts figures of women dressed in regional costumes. What gives her sculptures a creative edge are their carefully engraved details.

Manuel David Reyes Ramirez and Maricela Gomez Lopez Ceramics

Innovation

Manuel David Reyes Ramirez and Maricela Gomez Lopez met in Cuernavaca before returning to their native Mixtec area in Oaxaca. Inspired by both pre-Hispanic symbols and contemporary clay practices, they decided to create their own style of pottery. Everything they use, including the clay and pigments, is processed by hand.

Manuel Jerónimo Reyes, José Manuel Jerónimo Ceja and María Guadalupe Fabián Medina Ceramics

Santa Fe de la Laguna is a small community in Michoacán and a center of preservation for the culture and customs of the Purépecha people. One example is the tradition of high-glaze black ceramics, a folk art passed down from generation to generation. Two generations of the family of master potter Manuel Jerónimo Reyes continue the work of their forebears in the creation of candelabras, which are commonly used in home altars, rituals and celebrations.

Marco Antonio Ruiz Sosa 3D Art

Cultural Preservation - Evolving

Born in Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico, master artisan Marco Antonio Ruiz Sosa lived in Mexico City for several years. It was there that he fell in love with art. From the seemingly humble material of corn husks, he began making sculptures that represent the colorful myths, legends and daily life of his ancestral Zapotec culture. Today, his prolific output of corn husk figures includes mythical characters and animals.

Oaxifornia Mixed Media

Innovation

Oaxifornia produces collaborations between art and design students, professionals and others in Oaxaca using play and experimentation as the guiding principles. Participants work together to dream up inventive uses for traditional materials and techniques. “The pieces are poetic and contemporary but retain the roots of tradition,” says Oaxifornia’s director, Raul Cabra.

Octavio Esteban Reyes Ceramics

Octavio Esteban Reyes learned diablito, the “little devil” art of his native Ocumicho, Michoacán, from his family. The dragons, drunks, mermaids, gods and demons frequently portrayed in the art form combine in a peculiar hybrid of scenes from ordinary life, native folklore and religious allegory. Popular with collectors, wellconceived diablitos can provide a dependable income to traditional artists. Esteban Reyes stands out as one of the region’s best.

Pedro Meza | Sna Jolobil Apparel

Women’s Empowerment

Textile artist Pedro Meza and his community of 350 weavers create a range of items according to ancient Maya techniques and design influences that span thousands of years. Residing in the highlands of Chiapas, Meza founded the artist collective Sna Jolobil 1978 to advance and promote regionally and culturally specific textiles.

Pedro Ortega Lozano Mixed Media

Retablos have a long history in

Latin American cultures and are typically displayed either in domestic or church settings as treasured reminders of sacred figures. Meticulously rendered and vibrantly unique, the retablos of Pedro Ortega Lozano depict beloved saints or members of the holy family, as well as angels and mermaids.

Porfirio Gutierrez and Juana Gutierrez Contreras

Porfirio Gutierrez y Familia Rugs

Innovation

Master weaver Porfirio Gutierrez and natural dyer Juana Gutierrez Contreras don’t just make art; they also work to preserve the ancient traditions of their Zapotec background. They focus on using sustainable, regionally sourced materials, and they urge both fellow weavers and consumers to seek out natural dyes and naturally dyed fabrics whenever possible.

Rafael Cilau Valadez Wixarikarte

3D Art

Master artist Rafael Cilau Valadez is a member of Mexico’s ancient Wixarika (or Huichol) people, whose artistic prowess has been celebrated for centuries. He crafts intricate compositions in rainbow hues out of yarn, meticulously arranging animal, plant, human and abstract forms in hypnotically appealing ways.

He is also a recognized master of beautifully arrayed bead-on-wood sculptures.

Soledad Martha Hernández de Castillo

Taller Alfonso Castillo Ceramics

Soledad Martha Hernández de Castillo was born in Izúcar de Matamoros, a town in the Puebla region that has long been a renowned pottery center. Taught by her mother and father, she creates ornately configured, vividly colored traditional clay artwork using ancient techniques and contemporary inspiration.

Yesenia Yadira Salgado Téllez Jewelry

Oaxacan silver filigree is famous the world over. For hundreds of years, artisans from this fertile region in Mexico have been crafting breathtaking jewelry in ornate, regionally specific designs. When you add agate, opal, mother-ofpearl, peridot, and even 20-centavo coins into the mix, you get the ingeniousness of Oaxacan master jeweler Yesenia Yadira Salgado Téllez.