Updated June 1 2010

News / Social Notes

**A Triumph for Mata Ortiz. Along with 210 other studio potters from all over North and Central America, Diego Valles submitted two entries for the Third Biennial Concordia Continental Ceramics Competition, January 28-February 19, 2010. Sponsored by Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota, this is a prestigious event in the ceramics world. Thirty-five from the total entries were juried into the show, and both of Diego’s were included among these. When all was said and done, the panel of judges awarded “Best of Show” to—you guessed it—Diego! Way to go, Diego!

Results of the 2009 Pottery Concurso  The 2009 annual pottery competition, the XIII Concurso de la Cerámica de Mata Ortiz, went smoothly. Unbelievably, the quality of this pottery continues to rise, and where Mata Ortiz is headed is anyone’s guess. Unfortunately, FONART and Casa de las Artesanias once more were unwilling to exhibit the winning pieces, either in Mata Ortiz or at the Museo de las Culturas del Norte in Casas Grandes. We’ve complained for years about the very brief display of an hour or two in the old train station, chiefly that no names of the artists are shown with the pots. But all in all, everyone was pleased with this year’s Concurso, and happily the children’s category was reintroduced this year. We heard no complaints from the potters. Strangely, and we have no explanation, FONART purchased no pots this year. Bearing in mind how difficult judging is, the winners in the eight categories were:

A. White Polychrome

Blanca policromada

          1st place     Hector Gallegos & Laura Bugarini

          2nd place    Lila Silveira

          3rd place     Gregorio Silveira, Jr.

B. Blackware, plain or decorated

Negras: Bruñida, con graffito (con o sin diseño)

          1st place     Salvador Baca

          2nd place    Andrián Rojas

          3rd place     Luís Martínez

        C. Effigies

            Figura o escultura en barro (zoomorfa,antropomorfa, fitomorfa, etc.)

                   1st place     Olivia Domínguez

                   2nd place    Elías Peña

                   3rd place     Sabino Villalba

        D. Colored Clays (red, tan, cream, marbled etc), plain or                         decorated

            Barro de color: rojo, café, crema y marmoleada (con o sin diseño)

                   1st place     Celia Veloz

                   2nd place    Carlos Loya

                   3rd place     Noé Quezada

        E. Miniatures (up to 6 cm)

            Miniaturas (hasta 6 centímetros)

          1st place     Hector Gallegos & Laura Bugarini

          2nd place    Adolfo Tena

          3rd place     Baudel López

F. Innovative Ideas in Design, Form or Color

Nuevas propuestas (diseño, forma o color)

          1st place     Martín Cota

          2nd place    Salvador Baca

          3rd place     Gerardo Tena

G. Sgraffito or Open Work

Esgrafiado (calado o grabado)

          1st place     Claudia Ledezma

          2nd place    Angel Trillo

          3rd place     Efraín Lucero, Sr.

H. Non-Traditional Colors

Con o sin diseño con pinturas de color no tradicional

          1st place     Elí Navarrete Ortiz

          2nd place    Ernesto Ramírez

          3rd place     César Domínguez

 I. Children’s Category

          1st place     Joel Corona

                   (son of Vidal Corona & Luzelva Gutiérrez)

          2nd place    Josué Navarrete Ortiz

                   (son of César Navarrete & Ana Luisa Archuleta)

          3rd place     Adrián Lozano

                   (son of RubénLozano & Anastacia Villa)

Best of Show

Galardón

          Diego Valles Trevizo

Best Among Competing Former Galardón Winners

Premio a la Excelencia

:         José Quezada

2009 Mexican Ceramics Competition.   The 33^rd ceramics competition, Premio Nacional de la Cerámica, held each year in Tlaquepaque near Guadalajara, took place June 5-10, and again this year our Norteños shone. Salvador Baca Carbajal placed first in the burnished pottery category with an elegant black creation, for a prize of $40,000 pesos. His wife, Virginia Lozoya Delgado, placed second in the miniatures category with a three-piece set for a prize of $30,000 pesos. Carlos Loya placed second in the traditional ceramics category, for a prize of $30,000 pesos. Also present and competing were José Luís Loya and Adrián Rojas. Besides his own, Adrián also brought and entered pieces by Elvira Bugarini, Lupe Gallegos, Efraín Lucero, Diego Valles, and Diego’s wife, Carla Martínez.

          The eight categories were: Vidriada Libre de Plomo (Non-lead glaze); Cerámica Tradicional; Cerámica en Miniatura; Cerámica Navideña (Christmas nativities); Figuras en Arcilla (Clay figurative sculpture); Cerámica Bruñida (Burnished clay); Cerámica Pintada en Frio (Ceramics painted after firing); and Cerámica Contemporanea. In each category, the judges looked for Ejecución, Originalidad, Diseño, Composición, Aprovechamiento de Materiales (Use of materials), Presentación, y Espontaneidad.     

Since this annual competition started 33 years ago, all winning pieces have gone to the local Tlaquepaque museum, Centro Cultural “El Refugio,” resulting in a remarkable collection of ceramics.

Kiara Hughes (505-345-3546, kiarahughes[at]aol.com), passed with flying colors her dissertation defense in ethnology at the University of New Mexico, May 18, 2009. Dr. Hughes studied the ways in which women's participation in the household production of pottery in Mata Ortiz has affected their personal, economic, and artistic autonomy. Kiara, congrats!

A Second Baby Girl: Diego Valles and Carla Martínez Vargas now have a second baby girl, Ana Victoria Valles Martínez, born April 5, 2010, a sister for their first, Reginia Sophie, born March 5th, 2008. Diego and Carla married in Carla’s hometown of Zaragoza in 2007, and although both graduated with highest honors in engineering (electrico-mechanical and industrial respectively, after Diego’s winning a year’s scholarship at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia), they have opted for careers in art. Diego was galardón (best of show) winner in last year’s Concurso.

Politics  In a surprise upset election in July, 2007, potter Dagoberto Quintana became the new presidente municipal of Casas Grandes, the large municipio, or county, including Col. Juárez, parts of the Sierra, and Mata Ortiz. He says his job is a whole lot harder than pottery making. His three-year term is now coming to a close.

Jewelry Concurso  The first annual, international jewelry competition took place in Mata Ortiz October 5-6, 2007, with jewelers from Taxco and the American Southwest competing with jewelers from Mata Ortiz. Judges were Carlotta Boettcher, Santa Fe, coordinator of New Mexico’s native American artisan’s programs, and Mónica Benítez, head of the Jewelry Design Center for Industrias Peñoles, world’s largest silver producer (a third judge at the last moment could not appear). Salvador Barrera, of Taxco, took second and third places, while Ariel Rentería, of Mata Ortiz, placed first. However, when it came to the Sponsors’ Awards (the four sponsors of the competition being the Matiz Jewelry Company, Mata Ortiz; the Center for Casas Grandes Studies, Casas Grandes; El Pueblo Galería, La Mesilla, NM; and Lapidarios Barrera, Taxco), Salvador beat out Ariel. Best of all was the camaraderie that developed among the participants, with generous sharing of techniques and terminology. After postponing follow-up events for three years due to legal and political uncertainties, they are hopeful of resuming the competition for 2010. For information regarding that next competition, contact Spencer and Emi MacCallum (915-261-0502, sm@look.net), Center for Casas Grandes Studies, Avenida Victoria #405, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua.

Memorial CD for Manuel Olivas (1940-2007) Jon Samuelson (520-820-3834, jlsamuelson[at]msn.com) created for Manuel Olivas’ family a moving CD memorial with exceptionally fine photos of Manuel. Set to music but without words, it is effectively ‘bilingual.’ Manuel’s obituary appeared in the May 2007 Editorial section (Go to “Archives” and click on “Editorials”). This CD, which is among the photographic classics of the potters, is available for $30 with proceeds going to the Olivas family. Contact Spencer or Emi MacCallum (915-261-0502, sm@look.net).

New Neighbors  Don José Martínez, for many years Mata Ortiz’ beloved mechanic and tire repair person who had moved in with daughter and son-in-law, Graciela Martínez and Hector Gallegos, died in 2008 at 89 years of age. Spencer remembers the many times in the early years of the pottery project when Don José, working under the shade of an enormous white willow, saved his old Datsun truck, enabling him to get back to Los Angeles.

 Don José sold his home and place of business to artists Carlotta Boettcher and Ana Livingston, of Santa Fe, NM, who have made their home in Mata Ortiz. Carlotta and Ana have been warmly welcomed into the community. Before beginning their restoration/renovation, they carefully recorded the Martínez home photographically.

Carlotta is bi-cultural Cuban-American. Her recent medium is art on automobiles (her work was shown at the Tucson Museum of Art Paint on Metal show in 2005). A photographer and filmmaker, she studied under John Collier Jr., has an MA from San Francisco State University in Visual Anthropology, and trained in Paris at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts. For the last 14 years, Carlotta lived in Santa Fe and Abiquiu, NM, fostering in Native American and Hispanic rural communities economic development thru the arts. She coordinated the Native American Artisans Program at the Palace of the Governors-New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe.

          Ana, a noted jeweler, grew up in Guatemala and has always considered the color and texture of the textile arts of the Maya Highlands to be her artistic muse. How did she come to be in Guatemala? Her grandmother in 1928 was the only passenger on the maiden voyage of Pickwick Airlines from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires. The single engine plane landed in Chihuahua, then got as far as Guatemala City before breaking down completely. Ana studied at Konstfakt School of Design in Stockholm, Sweden, the home of “Scandinavian Design,” and has a master’s from Stanford University in Museum Education. Her jewelry is represented in more than 60 galleries in the United States. Welcome, Carlotta and Ana!

Artist-in-Residence  Photographer Raechel Running, of Flagstaff, Arizona, is in her fourth year as artist-in-residence at the Casa Azul, a program of the MacCallum’s Center for Casas Grandes Studies. She is recording the rich, many-faceted life of the Casas Grandes region. A prolific artist and beloved member of the community, Raechel’s work last year, 2009, included a 30-page spread on Chihuahua consisting entirely of her own text and photos in the May number of Vision China, China’s largest publication; a high-art photo coverage of Chihuahua in Sojourns Magazine (Summer-Fall 2009), and a show of her Chihuahua work at the University of Albertay in Dundee, Scotland. She’s surely making Chihuahua’s rich and variegated culture known in the world. Before coming to Casas Grandes, besides her photography, Raechel was a professional river guide in the Grand Canyon with more than 90 rafting trips to her credit. She is the daughter of John Running (www.johnrunning.com/Resume.html), whose photographic coverage of the Rarámuri, or Tarahumara, in the early 1980s is exhibited at the Casa Azul (see under “Exhibitions”). Contact Raechel at 928-458-0603 or by email at raechel[at]raechelrunning.com.   www.raechelrunning.com

Museum Director  Archaeologist Eduardo Gamboa succeeded Laura Vásquez Vega last year as the new director of the Centro Cultural Paquimé and the Museo de las Culturas del Norte, and is doing an excellent job of further building up the Museum as a cultural center for the community. Laura Vásquez, who had studied at the Universidad Nacional in Spain and assisted in planning the administration and preservation of the archaeological sites of Teotihuacan, Tlacotalpan in Veracruz, and Tulum in Quintana Roo, had for personal reasons to return with her husband to Mexico City after an all-too-brief term here. She in turn had succeeded Mercedes Jiménez when the latter transferred to the Papalote Museo del Niño in Cuernavaca to be near her mother, whose healthhad been failing. Mercedes’ was a hard act to follow. More than any other director before her and with almost non-existent funding, she made the Museum a vibrant cultural center for our community, with one or more programs every month showcasing local talent—classical guitar concerts; poetry readings; dramatic presentations; dance performances; exhibitions of sculpture, painting and drawing, ceramics, wood art, and photography; book inaugurals; and endless workshops for children. A model of professionalism, she was loved as a human being and is more than a little missed. She can be reached in Cuernavaca by email at pequechango[at]hotmail.com.

Carl Socolow, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, won a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship to complete his project of documenting over a six-year period the changes in the ordinary life of the once-isolated village of Mata Ortiz following the completion of the paved road. The Sunday, April 23, 2006 Patriot-News (800-692-7207), of Harrisburg, PA gives it excellent coverage(see under “Publications”), and the Morrison Gallery at Penn State University exhibited (Nov 1-Dec 30, 2009) Mirror on a Country Road, “a lyrical photograpic study of the village of Mata Ortiz, Mexico.” See www.carlsandersocolow.com/Invite.for a statement by Carl about the intent and meaning of his work. Contact Carl Socolow at 717-979-3070 or by email at carl[at]socphoto.com.  www.carlsandersocolow.com

Archaeologists in Casas Grandes   Eighteen graduate archaeologists, led by Michael Whalen of the University of Tulsa and Paul Minnis of the University of Oklahoma are again spending June and July with the MacCallums at La Casa del Nopal as they have for the last four summers. They are excavating some small sites across the river from Paquimé.

Beth Bagwell Awarded Prize  Beth Bagwell, recent archaeology PhD from the University of New Mexico, who did several seasons of fieldwork in the Sierra and lived in Casas Grandes for a year while writing her dissertation, won the 2007 Popejoy Dissertation Prize at UNM.  This prize for the best UNM dissertation in the previous three years in the Social Sciences and Education Departments came with a $1000 award and a plaque. Beth's dissertation examined the organization of labor in middle-range societies using two small cliff dwellings in the Tres Rios near the Sonora border as her case studies. Beth (Cell 505-610-1278, bagwell.beth[at]gmail.com) is now working with Aspen Environmental Group in Sacramento, California.

Restorations Completed  Spencer and Emi MacCallum have completed the construction phase of the project they undertook on moving to Casas Grandes six years ago to help conserve some of the old aspect of Casas Grandes by restoring/renovating a group of adobes near the plaza and furnishing them with local antiques. To help sustain this conservation effort, they offer visiting artists, archaeologists, writers, etc., rooms and apartments for inexpensive, extended-stay rentals ($150-$250/week) and occasionally overnights. The main facility, La Casa del Nopal, resembles a small hacienda with seven units and a small library/lecture room opening onto a large garden courtyard. With wireless Internet and with overflow accommodations close by, it makes an attractive setting for small-company retreats and academic conferences. La Casa del Nopal is a popular attraction for tour groups to see it and hear a brief talk of welcome and historical orientation to Casas Grandes. Contact Spencer and Emi MacCallum at 915-261-0502 (rings in Mexico) or by email at sm[at]look.net.

Mata Ortiz Foundaton Completes Its Second Project

Mata Ortiz pottery traders several years ago at their annual Gathering established The Mata Ortiz Foundation to work with the people of Mata Ortiz to benefit the community. As a fund of the International Community Foundation of San Diego, a 502(c)(3) entity that can make tax-exempt contributions outside the United States, the Foundation combines tax-deductible donations from the United States with local resources. Unidos por Mata Ortiz, a local non-profit qualified under IRS rules as a receiving entity, initiates village projects and requests Foundation grants.

Library: In January 2003, Unidos made a community library its first project. Manuel Mora, school teacher and president of Unidos, obtained Mexican federal and state approvals along with books and materials; a private Mexican supplier of educational materials donated educational videos; the Ejido de Juan Mata Ortiz provided a building on the river street; and the Municipio de Casas Grandes engaged a librarian, Armando Valles. The Mata Ortiz Foundation donated funds for chairs, desks, shelves, a new door, and bathrooms. The library was dedicated on Saturday, October 8^th, 2007 following the annual Gathering of Traders & Friends of Mata Ortiz. The library is now fully functional. Dropping in recently on a Thursday afternoon, Spencer and Emi MacCallum found two children playing chess and half-a-dozen others absorbed in reading.

Schoolrooms: Encouraged by the success of its first project, Unidos por Mata Ortiz decided the village needed two additional schoolrooms in the badly overcrowded and under-provided secondary school. With partial funding assistance from the Foundation, private donations from the village, and provision of an air-conditioning system by the State of Chihuahua, Unidos completed building and furnishing in January, 2008 two new classrooms which have now been put into use.

Now, Unidos por Mata Ortiz is deciding on its next project. Any who might like to make a tax-exempt gift to further this work can do so by writing a check to the Mata Ortiz Foundation at 1420 Kettner Blvd, Suite 500, San Diego CA 92101, or on-line at

http://donate.icf-xchange.org/donate.php/mataortiz. For further information, contact Walter P. Parks (909-684-4224), Mata Ortiz Foundation Advisor, 6154 Hawarden, Riverside CA 92506. wparks909[at]charter.net

Social Notes

Tito Carrillo (520-861-2068, TurtleWinsTheRace[at]hotmail.com), of Tucson, our Society Editor, provides information about weddings, obits, quinceañeras, and other events of interest about Mata Ortiz and its “extended family” of Americanos and Latinos north of the line. Kindly notify Tito or us when you learn of interesting things happening of a social nature.

Andreas Goff has returned to the area after conducting a children’s art workshop in Sitka, Alaska. Andreas was artist-in-residence in 2007 at the MacCallum’s Casa Azul, and his ceramic sculpture was the subject of an exhibition at the Museo de las Culturas del Norte, where he also conducted workshops for children. He likes the area so much that he has bought property in nearby Col. Cuauhtémoc and is resurrecting a small, old adobe house near the river as his home.

Lila Silveira and Carlos Sandoval celebrated their daughter, Evilín Sandoval’s quinceañera (meaning “fifteenth year”) on Saturday, May 26, 2007, the day of the annual Concurso. This traditional rite-of-passage for a fifteen-year-old girl marking her transition to womanhood is one of the most important events of a woman’s life, and the celebration can be more elaborate than for a wedding. David and Carolyn Moser, of Tucson and several friends (Chuck and Sara Willsey, Norman and Ginny Sherman, Gary Kern, and David McLean) attended by invitation and reported it for the Calendar, saying, “It was one of the most special and amazing things we’d ever been asked to participate in. It really touched all of us.” The quinceañera began with a formal celebration of Mass in the church at 4pm. Here Evilín was attended by a “court” of 15 formally attired young men and 15 young women, all 15 years old or under, the latter including little girls as well as contemporary friends, sisters, cousins, etc. Following custom, Evilín had chosen her favorite color for the color theme, in this case a bright lime green. The men attendants wore lime-green gingham shirts and white Stetsons except for Evilín’s three brothers, who had black Stetsons. Of course all removed their Stetsons inside the church. Following the Mass, a procession (paseo) of cars wound from the church through the village to Evilín’s home in Barrio Porvenir, where Carlos and Lila hosted 400 people to a barbecue dinner under outdoor tents. The ceremony of the evening came after dinner, at 8pm. The littlest girls in Evilín’s “court” surrounded her in a ring and sang a song with some such words as “I’m leaving my childhood,” and her father then knelt and replaced her lime-green satin flats with high-heeled shoes, signifying her arrival into womanhood. Finally came the traditional waltz. Evilín waltzed first with her father, then with her escort (chambelán) and each of the other 15 male attendants, and finally with various significant others including her grandfather. All of this was prelude to general partying and dancing to a live band into the early hours of the morning. For some photos of this event, go to the Mosers’ link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/EclipsechaserDave/MataOrtizMay2007QuinceaEara?authkey=oGrPW_aseu8

Felix Ortiz, one of the earliest potters, almost contemporaneous with Juan Quezada, died 2007. He and his late brother, Emeterio, experimented in the early years, developing a continuous-coil technique for building a pot like that used by the Pueblo Indians and unlike the single-coil technique pioneered by Juan. Their method is still largely used in Porvenir at the southern end of Mata Ortiz. Felix was noted for his effigy pots, especially those portraying coyotes, badgers, and crows. His daughters are carrying on his tradition. He is sorely missed.

Uriel López Saenz won Mexico’s national roping championship (Campeón Nacional de Lazo Doble) April 29-30, 2007, competing at Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua against 120 contestants from all over the Republic. Besides prize money, he won a brand new pickup truck. Way to go, Mata Ortiz!!

Several Norteamericanos have recently completed homes in Mata Ortiz.  Susan Hill, pottery trader of Santa Fe, completed renovation of her home in Barrio López which she acquired from the estate of the late María de Jesús Celado Saenz, maternal aunt of Juan Quezada, known to all as “Tia Chu” (see the March 2007 editorial). The house, last on the right as you go north to the cemetery, has a fine view of the trees along the Palanganas and the hills beyond. Bill King, Albuquerque pottery trader, completed a house just north of the new Salon de Actos, overlooking the town. Both Susan’s and Bill’s work was contracted by Luís Tena, who also carried out the MacCallums’ restoration of seven old adobes near the plaza in Casas Grandes. A third new home is that of Phil and Jeannie Stover, of Sarasota, Florida. This beautifully sited new house just north of the church and overlooking the Palanganas River was built by Steve Rose, of Mata Ortiz, a trader who has found that his true calling is architectural design. He now has several homes to his credit in Mata Ortiz. Collectors, among other things, of Mata Ortiz pottery, they want to retire in Mata Ortiz and are developing plans for a collectors’ club on the Internet. 

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