Editor’s Letter
“Live in fragments no longer. Only connect . . . ”
—E.M. Forster, Howards End
It is my understanding that there is no word for art in most indig-
enous cultures. John Reyna, a Native American from Taos Pueblo,
stressed this fact about Pueblo languages in his introduction to
SchoolArts’ Folk Art Traditions and Beyond seminar in Santa Fe
this summer.
John explained that Western notions of art and religion find no
separation in Pueblo culture, as all aspects of life are significantly
interconnected. We found a multitude of such interconnections
while meeting 123 artists from forty-six countries at the sixth
annual Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, the largest interna-
tional folk art market in the country.
For us, just twenty-four of the 23,000 in attendance, it was a joy
to meet and interact with so many different artists whose work
expressed every aspect of their lives through an unbelievable num-
ber of media. Yet for the artists, the market is even more life chang-
ing in multiple ways.
First, the artists take home ninety-three percent of their sales, an
average of $16,000 per booth. Since ninety-seven percent of the folk
artists come from developing countries where the per capita income
is less than $750 per year, these earnings change the lives of the
artists, their families, their communities, and 16,000 cooperative
members back at home.
The market also offers the artists workshops on pricing, cus-
tomer service, creative labeling, booth display and design, interna-
tional sales opportunities, web marketing, technology resources,
and artist cooperatives. The artists are welcomed as honored guests,
provided translators as needed, and introduced to New Mexican cul-
ture through field trips and hands-on artist workshops.
On a smaller scale, my greatest pleasure is that I know our
participants will take their experiences in New Mexico and at the
market back to enrich their own students, fellow teachers, and com-
munities, making interconnections in which art is always at the
center.
Note: Look for information about School Arts’ New Mexico 2010
summer seminars in the January issue.
Top: Nancy and Sue Rundstrum, program coordi-
nator for Ghost Ranch in Santa Fe, an adult con-
ference center, at the Santa Fe International Folk
Art Market. Middle: Ndebele artist Mama Esther
Mahlangu from Kwmhlanga, Mpumalanga, South
Africa, trying Native American beading. Bottom:
Manjula Devi Maithil Bahun from Nepal incorpo-
rating her traditional style of painting with New
