The new folk art exhibition Mostrando la Fuerza de Mi Pueblo (Showing the Strength of My People) opened on December 8 at the Museo Estatal de Arte Popular Oaxaca (MEAPO) in San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca. FOFA President Arden Rothstein, and Treasurer Deborah Huntington represented the organization at the opening celebration. The exhibition's sixty-six art pieces are the winners from FOFA-MEAPO's August 2018 competition.

A highlight of the event was the presentation of FOFA's 2018 catalogue to each of the winning artists. The catalogue includes photos and information about each artist and their piece. Over two hundred people attended the festive occasion, including the families of the winning artists, prominent Oaxacan master artists ("maestros"), a delegation from Los Amigos del Arte Popular (LADAP) which helped fund the FOFA catalogue, government officials, and the media.

Above, congratulations are extended to textile artist Mauricio Gael Cuevas Magaña. The dignitaries at the dais included (pictured here left to right) Katherine Reinke (LADAP incoming grants chair); Trinie Garcia-Valdez (LADAP newsletter editor); Gayla Pierce (LADAP incoming president); Deborah Huntington (FOFA Treasurer); Arden Rothstein (FOFA President); Lic. Leticia Valle Mijangos (Oaxaca State Sub-Secretary for Culture); Maestro Carlomagno Pedro Martínez (Director, MEAPO); Maestra Crispina Navarro Gómez; not pictured are Georgina Barrionuevo (FOFA Administrator in Oaxaca); Linda Hanna (FOFA Advisory Board); Maestro José García Antonio and his wife Teresita Mendoza Reyna Sánchez; Maestro Jacobo Mendoza; and Maestro Arturo Salgado Vásquez.

 

It was an exciting and memorable occasion for the artists.

 

Fifteen-year-old Jenifer Teresa Garc í a L ó pez won First Prize in "Creative Youth" (artists 16 years of age and younger) with her ceramic tableau portraying the people in her town who persevere despite enormous challenges.

 

 

Leonardo Daniel Mart í nez Mendoza, age 20, won Honorable Mention in "Shuttle Loom Rugs." This complex tapestry, which references Zapotec mythology, reveals Leonardo's other identity as an accomplished painter. He has been weaving for only four years.

 

The winning pieces were chosen from the record 132 works of art submitted by artists age 30 or younger. Nearly two-thirds of the entrants were first time participants.  All 66 works are on display at MEAPO through March 8. Then an exhibit of the first, second and third place winners will move to the chapel of the Centro Cultural San Pablo in downtown Oaxaca, part of the Alfredo Harp Helu Foundation, March 15-May 17.

 

This new catalogue is  FOFA's fifth in ten years, and the third that showcases the work of the talented art photographer Otto Piron.

The catalogue is free with your $100 annual membership, or for sale for $20  which includes shipping.  Use the donation button below to order.