CURRENT & COMPLETED PROJECTS

2010 INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES WITH LOS AMIGOS

Funded by a Donation from the Mammel Foundation

INTERNSHIP NUMBER ONE:

The intern selected will lead in a project to choose, scan and upload onto the LADAP website research materials from the correspondence, notes, essays, recordings and photos of the late writer/collector/museum curator, Lenore Hoag Mulryan. Lenore wrote books published between 1980 and 2006, on the popular ceramics of Mexico. The intern will need to read these three books in order to familiarize themselves with this genre. The project goal is to provide public access to Lenore’s research through the internet. Intern(s) will gain practical experience, work in a real world setting, interface with a national membership, be exposed to the popular art of Mexico and enhance their resume notably.

LADAP – Los Amigos del Arte Popular is a non-profit organization with over 375 members in 17 states and Mexico. Members include collectors, aficionados of Mexican folk art & those who simply love Mexico as well as the more serious writers, professors, museum personnel, appraisers & dealers of Mexican art. Our goal is to promote & educate the public about Mexican popular art. For more information, see www.ladap.org

Paid Internship - The Internship provides potential for a stipend totaling up to $1,200 for a period of 12 weeks. Actual pay will be determined by hours worked and monthly bench marks of achievement. Office and equipment are provided in southwest Houston. Neither housing nor transportation will be provided.

Volunteer Internships Available – Volunteer positions are available throughout the year based on project workload and availability of the Program Director. Interested applicants may apply at any time by writing to the address above or emailing mexamigos@att.net Though volunteer internships are unpaid appointments, they provide (1) an excellent experience & reference for future related careers, (2) a service to the organization by contributing your time and talents and (3) professional partnerships and links.

Eligibility - Internships are open to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled or students who have graduated within the last six months. Applicants should have a minimum of 15 semester hours of art history, anthropology, archival, library or information management or museum studies or any relevant academic preparation. A specialization or interest in Mexican art history or Mexican popular art is helpful but not required. Preference will be given to bilingual English / Spanish speaking applicants.

Application - Applicants should submit (1) one copy of the application form found on LADAP website under Special Projects, (2) one letter of recommendation and (3) a brief essay discussing interest in this project and how this internship will benefit them.

Deadline - Applications for paid internship will be considered as long as the task remains unfinished  and applications may be mailed to LADAP Internship – PO Box 771117 – Houston, Texas 77215
 

Required Reading - These books will be made available for loan to the intern selected.

Mexican figural ceramists and their works, 1950 to 1981: Conservators of tradition, agents of change (UCLA Museum of Cultural History Monograph series) - 1982

Nagual in the Garden: Fantastic Animals in Mexican Ceramics - 1996

Ceramic Trees of Life: Popular Art from Mexico – 2003

For more information or to submit application below, contact Program Director - mexamigos@att.net

INTERNSHIP NUMBER TWO:

INTERNSHIP TO GENERATE DISTRIBUTION OF ARTISAN VIDEOS

The intern selected will design & carry out a marketing plan to advertise & place specific artisan videos in colleges, universities, high schools, museum gift shops, public & private libraries, etc. The goal is to distribute the videos to a broad range of end users for maximum viewing potential which will in turn promote & educate the public about the popular arts of Mexico. The intern will need to view these videos in order to familiarize themselves with this genre; one video lead is available at http://www.ladap.org/library/videos.php It is expected that such a marketing plan would involve a telephone campaign with follow up mail outs. Intern(s) will gain practical marketing experience, work in a real world setting, interface with a national non-profit organization leadership, be exposed to the popular art of Mexico and enhance their resume notably.

LADAP – Los Amigos del Arte Popular is a non-profit organization with over 375 members in 17 states and Mexico. Members include collectors, aficionados of Mexican popular art & those who simply love Mexico as well as the more serious writers, professors, museum personnel, appraisers & dealers of Mexican art. Our goal is to promote & educate the public about Mexican popular art.

Paid Internship - The Internship provides potential for a stipend totaling up to $1,200 for a period of 12 weeks. Actual pay will be determined by hours worked and monthly bench marks of achievement including sales results. Office, equipment & supplies are provided in southwest Houston. Neither housing nor transportation will be provided.

Volunteer Internships Available – Volunteer positions are available throughout the year based on project workload and availability of the Program Director. Interested applicants may apply at any time by emailing mexamigos@att.net Volunteer internships are unpaid appointments; however, they provide (1) an excellent experience & reference for future related careers, (2) a service to the organization by contributing your time and talents and (3) professional partnerships and links.

Eligibility - Internships are open to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled or students who have graduated within the last six months. Applicants should have a minimum of 15 semester hours of college work. Preference will be given to applicants with marketing hours or experience. Classes in art history, anthropology, museum studies or any relevant academic preparation is a plus as is specialization or interest in Mexico or Mexican popular art.

Application - Applicants should submit (1) one copy of the application form found on LADAP website under Special Projects, (2) one letter of recommendation and (3) a brief essay discussing interest in this project and how this internship will benefit them.

Applications for paid internship will be considered as long as the task remains unfinished and applications may be mailed to LADAP Internship – PO Box 771117 – Houston, Texas 77215

For more information contact Program Director - mexamigos@att.net
 

INTERNSHIP APPLICATION FORM

NAME: ______________________________________PHONE NUMBER:____________________

UNIVERSITY: ___________________________________________________________________

CURRENT ACADEMIC STATUS: ____________________________________________________

RELEVANT ACADEMIC PREPARATION: ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

BILINGUAL ABILITIES: ____________________________________________________________

AVAILABILITY TO WORK: __________________________________________________________

DISCUSS INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT & HOW IT WILL BENEFIT YOU:

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‘Flores Silvestres’ – Traje Revitalization Project

New cycle for natural dyeing starting April 2010

Purpose and description of Project
Since the earthquake of 1985 in Mexico City closed down their supplier for the natural dyes - indigo and cochineal, it has been increasingly difficult for the Mazahua group of Santa Rosa de Lima to procure these materials. Their colorful wool costume is traditionally dependent on these red and blue colors. Currently they are paying an inflated price of 300 times over the cost of these dyes in their source, Oaxaca. Severe economic conditions in an isolated community in central Mexico, where the only choice for survival is to migrate to the US or Mexico City, has made the situation even worse. Interestingly enough, there is still a respect for this very old traditional Mazahua costume, worn for ceremonies and fiesta partonal, but they just haven’t been able to produce many in the last two decades.

Santa Rosa is on the verge of losing this traditional traje unless more women learn something of the process. Originally an individual woman had to hand spin enough yarn to make her skirt (weighing about 7lbs). The dyes had to be bought. The yarn had to be dyed (usually in a group) and then a weaver wove it on a back-strap loom, usually taking about 20 days for each 18 foot lienza (width of 50 cm) and two lienzas were needed to complete a skirt. A skirt took 40 days to weave! Obviously the weaving of the skirt is the most laborious part of the process but added to that is a fine woolen embroidery on the top and bottom of this enredo (circle of skirt–as it is constructed into a tube) – a very large and heavy one at that!

This skirt was done in pasos, meaning that many people had a hand in a certain part of the process. But initially you had to spin enough wool to have it dyed, to then find a weaver and work out a trade with her. Then work out a deal with the embroidery person unless you had that skill. This whole process could take 9 months to a year or longer just for the skirt. But things moved along more evenly in the past when more women knew how to weave and spin. Not so today.

At this moment in time, many young women are not learning any of the skills to keep this traditional costume alive. Their grandmothers are dieing and not passing down their skills. Regina Torres has initiated the revitalization project ‘Flores Silvestres’ to teach some of the skills necessary to continue the traditional costume of Santa Rosa de Lima. For over a year every Saturday women gather in her yard to spin, being assisted by the ‘master’ women who already know how. They then dye their finished yarns in the indigo dye vessels only in April and May, when the air is warm enough to support the fermentation and oxidation process of the indigo. The other colors, red and orange are more easily dyed from cochineal and wild marygold flowers in huge ceramic bowls over a wood fire. They set up the warps for the skirt in groups and slowly slowly the skirts are being woven. More training for weavers is needed. Regina also wants to start weaving soon, but she already has excellent skills as a hand- spinner, dyer and embroiderer.

Regina Torres was recently invited to the Museo Textile de Oaxaca to present her ‘Rescate de la Traje Mazahua’ during Mazahua Week January 21st- 24th. Along with my documentation pictures, she impressed many people at the presentation, and braid demonstration, with her skills and dedication to the preservation of her village’s traditional costume. She then participated in an inter-artisan exchange with the Bii Dauu Co-op in the rug weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle where she shared natural dye recipes and weaving patterns and ‘finishes’ with the Zapotec weavers. I think Regina finally received the acknowledgement she deserves for her initiation of the rescate efforts for her village’s remarkably beautiful and labor intensive costume. This is highly commendable considering the economic depression this area is experiencing.

Amount Granted - $1,400
Phase I – Completion of the goal of 30 skirts, with the purchase of the natural dyes, indigo and cochineal, at cost, in Oaxaca. 5 kilos Indigo and 5 kilos cochineal = $700
Phase II – Dyes for the next production dyeing cycle that usually starts in late spring. This second purchase of dyes is so that the women artisans, who are invested in this process, will be able to produce a few extra skirts and quechequemitls (small capes that are worn for tops) for sale to collectors, thus creating an economic incentive to keep producing this costume. The quechequemitls are very saleable, also time consuming, but not as much as the skirts, and won’t be inexpensive

SEE LIBRARY ARTICLE BY THE SAME NAME FOR MORE INFORMATION
 

2009 - Funding of Electronic Equipment for the Digitization of the

Ruth D. Lechuga Collection Database

Dr. Lechuga left an impressive collection of close to 10,000 pieces of folk art, of these a little over 8,800 pieces were numbered and classified over a 5 year period in the early 1990s based on successive US-Mexico Fund for Culture grants. However, the index cards were typed using a portable typewriter, as Dr. Lechuga was not computer oriented, and the sponsors stipulated that the grant could not be used to buy equipment.

In 2008, the Franz Mayer applied and received a grant from the Mexican Congress to work on the collection from various perspectives including conservation, security, inventory and outlines for exhibits by specific type of craft. For the period covering 2009-2010, they are working on the mask and textile collections. A comprehensive exhibit of the mask collection is slated to open in March 2010 at the Franz Mayer Museum.

However, the government grant specifies that the money given to the project does not include acquisition of equipment (this is a standard practice in Mexican government grants). In the same vein, the Franz Mayer is dependent on donations to purchase its own equipment as there are severe restrictions in its budget due to falling returns and the world-wide crisis.

Therefore, Los Amigos del Arte Popular has been requested to fund the purchase of a computer, scanner and digital camera to digitize the data base. This process will broaden researcher’s and collector’s access to the collection.  Eventually, the database may be accessed on-line. The amount requested and granted by Los Amigos was $3,000.  The equipment will be acquired in Mexico for reasons of maintenance and guarantee. The total cost of the project is estimated at $100,000.

In her will, Dr. Lechuga named Marta Turok as co-executor of her estate. The Franz Mayer Museum, headed by Hector Rivero-Borrell was the recipient of her collection.

Dr. Lechuga’s collection is one of the most important Folk Art collections in Mexico, put together by a single individual over a lifetime. Most pieces were bought in the field and directly from artisans, and in her index cards she was able to provide specific information on the date the piece was made and the one it was bought. In many cases, authorship is also recognized.

LADAP membership includes an important group of highly informed collectors and folk art lovers who exchange information constantly. Access to this database will benefit all those interested in 20th Century Mexican folk art. LADAP’s support will allow the Ruth D. Lechuga catalog to be digitized in a database that will include a photograph of the piece, the information Dr. Lechuga wrote and references to her photographs (when available).

2009 - Creation of the Lenore Hoag Mulryan Research Archives

Lenore Hoag Mulryan was a member of Los Amigos and an author of several books & essays on Mexican folk art before she died in 2008.  She spent over 30 years doing field research with artisans throughout Mexico.  From 1982 to 1991 she was curator of the Jorge Wilmot Collection of Mexican Art which she was instrumental in purchasing & donating to the Fowler Museum.  Lenore was the author of Mexican Figural Ceramists and Their Works (1983) and Nagual in the Garden: Fantastic Animals in Mexican Ceramics (1996) and a contributor to Ceramic Trees of Life (2004) and the Artes de Mexico issue produced by Los Amigos in conjunction with Artes de Mexico on The Ceramics of Tlaquepaque 1920-1945 (2007).

In an attempt to save her years of research, her husband, Joe Mulryan, has permitted Los Amigos to gleen through her office, organize, scan, upload & make it all available to the on-line world of Mexican folk art enthusiasts, collectors, researchers, writers & students.  To this end, Los Amigos has once again updated the website to include a research section within the existing Library.  Once the project is complete, anyone in the world will be able to search in this section by category, author, book title and by keywords and drill down to find exactly what they want.  The new research section will also allow anyone in the world to add their own research on Mexican art to our site once they are approved individually by the webmaster. 

This is an exciting project on many levels and we dedicate it to the memory of our dear friend, Lenore Hoag Mulryan with many thanks to her husband, Joe.

2009 - LADAP VIDEO GRANT REPORT
 

Grantee: Troy Lanier and Lisa Orr

Project Title: The Fantastical Art of Ocumicho: Sacred and Profane

Grant Amount: $20,000 - Grant Dispersed: $18,000 - Amount Spent: $12,000

ACTIONS TAKEN TO DATE:

1. LADAP Welcome Video: $1500
Shot and edited a “Welcome to Los Amigos” video in Ajijic. The video was compressed from High Definition in order to prepare for posting on Youtube & after being posted, it is now embedded on the LADAP website.

2. Feria Maestros del Arte: $2500
Shot and edited a Feria Maestros del Arte welcome video along with thirteen individual artist videos at the 2008 Feria.Maestros in Chapala. Created a Youtube Channel for all fourteen videos which was then used to promote the Feria along with promoting via social networks including Facebook.

3. Profane. Production Contribution: $8,000
LADAP contributed to the production costs of this forty minute long documentary. With the exception of some crucial historical photos, production is now complete. LADAP’s contribution played a crucial role in the funding of the production costs which, in partnership with other funding
sources, allowed this documentary to happen. The team is now in the process of editing the rough cut and securing musical rights. The rough cut is slated to be finished in November, with a version being presented at the Feria del Maestros del Arte. Credit is given to LADAP in the opening of the documentary for the funding granted. Upon completion, copies of the documentary will provided to LADAP at cost.

Lisa Orr and Troy Lanier traveled to Ocumicho in order to interview potters, film their process of making typical Ocumicho pottery, and make still photographs of their work. In Patzcuaro, Lisa and Troy interviewed museum officials, documented a ceramics competition and filmed the market. Many hours of interviews have been translated into English and Spanish so that the final documentary can be seen on DVD in both languages. A storyboard has been assembled for the documentary, and a script has been written. The trailer for the documentary can be seen at the following link: www.troylanier.com/ocumicho/trailer.html

In April, Lisa and Troy will host an Austin showing of the documentary, inviting both TX LADAP members as well as Austin Friends of Folk Art to view the US premier of the documentary. An exhibit of Ocumicho pottery will be attached to the premier. Held at a local art theater, there will be a Q and A with the directors as well as a slide show of images collected during the production.

4. Documentary #2 Production: $8,000
LADAP funded the production phase of two documentaries, the second of which, Trees of Life, was slated to be filmed in the summer of 2009. Before this trip, LADAP gave a pre trip sum of $6000 to the team, with the remaining $2000 to be given after completion of the trip. During the summer, and in fact on the day of departure, Lisa Orr’s child was diagnosed positive for Lyme disease and therefore the trip was postponed. The trip has been rescheduled surrounding Thanksgiving 2009.  Originally, the documentary was scheduled to cover Ceramic Trees of Life, but may change depending on what ceramic art is in season during that time. The documentary should be finished by March 31, 2010.

5. Troy and Lisa would like to thank LADAP for its generous contributions to these two documentaries. While the contributions do not cover the cost in full of both documentaries, without them the docs would never happen. By pairing them with our own financial contributions, equipment donations from an Austin production company and in kind services, we are able to make these documentaries which help to preserve and exhibit Mexican Folk Art. We look forward to a long relationship with LADAP in that endeavor.
 

LOS AMIGOS ASSISTING FERIA MAESTROS 2008 THROUGH 2010

How will this LADAP grant support LADAP’s mission to promote awareness, knowledge, and love of folk art?

Areas of publicity that LADAP will be included in are:

How will LADAP’s support benefit LADAP membership?

How will LADAP’s support benefit the Feria?