‘It’s our responsibility to pass this on’
Artists come together to celebrate New Mexican traditions and find inspiration from each other
For artists, Santa Fe’s annual Spanish Market is a family affair.
That is literally the case for 13-year-old Gabriel Duran of Española, who on Friday won not one but two first-place awards in the youth division of the 66th iteration of the arts and crafts show focused on New Mexican traditions.
Duran’s father is a furniture and jewelry maker whose work has been included in the market for 13 years. For the last six years, Duran has been following in those footsteps.
“I just think it’s really fun, really cool,” Duran said of living in a family of artists. “They all give me so much inspiration.”
Duran’s first place award in the youth precious metals category was for a filigree necklace, shaped like a heart, and inspired by his mom. He learned how to make the second award-winning entry, a metal knife forged from a tractor part, from Ralph Sena, an accomplished Spanish Market artist who has been a friend of Duran’s family for so long he’s basically family.
“It’s part of the culture. We live to help each other,” Sena said. “It’s just a wonderful community.”
Eugenio “Gene” Gurulé of Las Vegas, N.M., won a blue ribbon by following that same collaborative spirit.
Gurulé, a tin artist, partnered with santera Lorrie Garcia to produce a tin-framed wooden retablo of the Virgen de Guadalupe. The Virgin’s dress is painted down to the tiniest detail, and Gurulé insured the tin roses he crafted for the frame have a precise number of petals. The mixed-media collaboration won the Our Lady of Guadalupe Award for the “best depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe in any traditional art form.”
Gurulé’s tinworking skills were passed down from his family and he has been doing it for close to three decades. He knew Garcia because they were both teachers in Peñasco, and he wanted to collaborate with her because he knew, and loved, the quality of her work.
There are other artists at the show who he regards almost like family, even if they’re only kindred spirits.
“We all have that one thing in common,” he said. “It’s very cultural. Historical, cultural, and the religion is there, too. It kind of binds us all together.”
Martha Varoz Ewing, a Santa Fe native, crafts her artwork with religious guidelines in mind. When she is creating a piece, Ewing said, she lights a candle and prays to the Holy Spirit to guide her in creating something that touches people’s hearts.
She points to the clusters of threes in her designs on a small chest of tinwork and straw applique, which won this year’s multi-category award, as examples of the holy trinity. And the dove at the center of a straw applique cross that took second place in judging for the Paula and Eliseo Rodriguez Memorial Award for Straw Applique is meant to inspire peace and love in viewers.
Ewing started as a tinwork artist and was introduced to straw applique by a family neighbor, Paula Rodriguez, who she says was in part “responsible for the revival of the dying art form.”
“I like to think of her as being my grandma,” Ewing said.
In turn, Ewing introduced the craft to her sister, whose own artwork was hanging on a wall at El Museo Cultural in the Santa Fe Railyard, where Friday’s Spanish Market preview took place. She helped draw interest from her nephews and grandchildren in the art style. And she has created do-ityourself packages for children who see her work and are inspired by it.
Recently, she has been working with an 11-yearold from Gallup who saw her work at a booth, watched a demonstration, and wanted a mentor of her own. Ewing sends the girl straw, and the pair use the Skype, an online communication service, and talk over the phone about the artistic process.
“I totally want to continue spreading this art form,” Ewing said. “It’s interesting to see how children are eager to learn this. It’s our responsibility to pass this on, so after we’re gone it will continue.”