Guild Meeting - “Woven Stories: Andean Textiles and Rituals” by Andrea Heckman

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Santa Fe
9:30AM - NOON

“Woven Stories: Andean Textiles and Rituals”

Andrea Heckman has studied textiles and rituals in Peru and specifically in the Ausangate region southeast of Cuzco for over 25 years.

20,800’ Ausangate is a sacred mountain, or an Apu, to the Quechua people of Southern Peru who live near it and its presence influences all life and rituals. Their daily activities include herding alpacas and llamas, weaving, planting potatoes, pilgrimage and rites of passage. They weave the stories of their lives metaphorically into the textiles and Heckman has documented this visually through her book, Woven Stories: Andean Textiles and Rituals (2003: UNM Press) and in her film Ausangate (2006: 60 minutes). She will present this story through rich visual images.

Andrea Heckman (Ph.D. UNM, Latin American Studies, Anthropology and Art History) has researched Andean textiles and festivals for over thirty years. She was a Fulbright Scholar (Peru1996) and published Woven Stories: Andean Textiles and Rituals, which won the John Collier Award for Excellence in Visual Anthropology. She is a documentary filmmaker: Ausangate (Peru 2006); Moun- tain Sanctuary (New Mexico 2009); Bon: Mustang to Menri (India, Nepal 2011) and Woven Stories: Weaving Traditions of Northern New Mexico (2011). She teaches Anthropology and Media Arts for the University of New Mexico and serves on the Society for Visual Anthropology Board (American Anthropology Association) and lives in Taos. 

Guild Meeting - “Textural Landscapes” by Lewis Knauss

Saturday, February 2, 2013

“Textural Landscapes”
Program by Lewis Knauss

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Santa Fe
9:30AM - NOON

Lewis Knauss will present images of his work at the February meeting. He is best known for his textural landscapes that are mainly woven incorporating a wide range of materials and off-loom techniques.

He recently retired as Professor of Textile Design after more than 20 years on the faculty at Moore College of Art and Design. He has held faculty positions at several colleges and universities, and has conduced numerous workshops in the United States.

Born in Macungie, PA., Lewis has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions, and one person exhibits. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts, several Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowships and the Lindbach Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2012 he was elected to the American Craft Council College of Fellows.

His work is included in numerous public and private collections. Museum collections include: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), Allentown Art Museum and the Cooper - Hewitt National Design Collection.

Las Tejedoras Guild Meeting: Myra Chang Thompson - “Jerga, the Textile of Commerce”

Tuesday, January 8, 2013   
Westminster Presbyterian Church / 841 W. Manhattan Ave. / Santa Fe

Program by Myra Chang Thompson 

“Jerga, the Textile of Commerce”

Myra Chang Thompson, native weaver, spinner, and dyer will be the guest speaker for our January guild meeting. She will present a program on “Jerga, the Textile of Commerce.” 

Jergas are a traditional, Spanish Colonial textile with a long history in the Rio Grande Valley and on the Camino Real. Myra will present a short history and speak on the great importance of this utilitarian textile in New Mexico. 

Myra describes herself as a pair of hands attached to a body that can’t stop mak- ing things. She’s been playing with yarn and thread since a very young age. Myra has been a weaver for more than 35 years. A former member of the Stockton, CA Weavers Guild and the Weavers Guild of Boston, she has exhibited on both coasts. 

She maintains a teaching studio in Los Chavez, outside of Belen. Teaching weaving to children and adults is her passion. You can find her frequently teaching classes for Village Wools in Albuquerque. She is the current president of Fiber to Fin- ish Guild of Valencia County, a member of Las Aranas Spinners and Weavers Guild and a long standing member of Handweavers Guild of America.