Art, impact and global culture
The slogan says it all: 15 years of art and impact.
Such is the story of the International Folk Art Market | Santa Fe, the now-beloved annual tradition that started from the notion that art had the capacity to change the world, one sale at a time, adding up to global impact. This year’s version takes place this weekend on Museum Hill, with activities taking place all week to lead up to the market itself, especially Thursday’s Community Celebration and traditional procession of artists around the Plaza.
From the beginning, the market at the top of Museum Hill brought the world to Santa Fe. For locals and visitors, there was the opportunity to see traditional arts from around the world in one convenient place. For global artists, the market literally can mean an opportunity of a lifetime. Over the 15 years of market, there have been some $30 million in artist sales, with 1,000 artisans from 98 countries taking part.
“Those are big numbers,” writes market
CEO Jeff Snell in his introduction to the 2018 market. “But our eyes, like yours, are focused on the one-by-one transformations of individual artists and entire communities that result from participation at the market.”
Snell, whose entire letter can be seen in the 15th anniversary International Folk Art Market | Santa Fe magazine — published by the Santa Fe New Mexican, a proud market partner since the very first year — is correct in pointing out that this anniversary is special. (The magazine is available for sale in the Sunday newspaper. Directed by Deborah Villa and edited by Pat West-Barker, this is the essential guide to activities all week long.)
The idea for the 15th is to build on what has come before, always focusing on expanding opportunities for artists. That includes expanding the markets to other cities, using Santa Fe as a model, as well as finding more ways for international folk artists to sell their handmade creations.
There will be wisdom shared from honorary market chairman Nobel laureate
Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the microloan industry that is changing the lives of poor people around the globe.
Designer Donna Karan is on board for the 2018 market as well, with her Urban Zen Foundation sponsoring the Wear Your Impact initiative.
She has worked with international folk artists for the past decade and understands the power of traditional arts to make a difference — not just for artists but also for consumers who then begin to understand the power of handmade goods. By working with traditional artists, and now the folk art market, Karan is helping to expand opportunities.
And that’s the ever-present goal of the International Folk Art Market, to provide a place and a way for people who want to preserve their culture and tradition to continue doing so.
These art forms are not set in stone, either. Once more this year, the market will offer its Innovation Inspiration section, featuring 28 artists with work in social commentary,
design and sustainability. The beauty of culture, after all, is that it is ever-changing.
What does not change is that Santa Fe supports its markets, whether the global traditions of the International Folk Art Market or the closer-to-home Native Treasures, Traditional Spanish Market and Contemporary Spanish Market (just two weeks away) and the biggest of them all, Santa Fe Indian Market. All of these markets recognize art as essential for life, for creativity and for cultural survival. Art, too, we are learning, can be a way to rev up the economy.
This is true whether we are talking about Santa Fe as the place for markets, the village of Chimayó as a weaving center, Zuni Pueblo as home to artists, or a village in Africa whose artists come here and return with enough money to pay for schooling or the digging of wells.
Art has impact. For 15 years, the International Folk Art Market | Santa Fe has been making that impact felt around the globe. Here’s to many more years of changing lives.