In 2014 Aprendiendo del Arte-Learning from Art was birthed. With the help of my good friend and fellow art teacher, Barbara Martinez at the American School in Monterrey, Mexico, the name was formed. The goal of Aprendiendo was to bring artists from other countries to Kansas State University, once a year, in an art and culture exchange, where learning was paramount, by both the artists and our college faculty and students. We just completed our third annual Aprendiendo del Arte, bringing artists from South America in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The first year Cilau Valadez and Agustine Prudencio Cruz were our guests, both from Mexico. Cilau is a Huichol yarn painter and Augustine is a Oaxacan wood carver. Last year Victor Guitierrez was our guest. He is a retablista from Peru. And this past April, Zoila Guaman Quizhpe and Zoila Alejandra Chalan Lozano were our guests. They are from Ecuador and part of La Mega women's cooperative in the Saraguro region and do the amazing and intricate beading the Saraguroan women are known for. These experiences have been so pleasant, rich, and meaningful for all of us. Art brings people together and we learn more about ourselves as we interact and learn about others. Victor went back to Peru and got chairs for his studio so we could come visit him and he has become a good friend. Cilau and Agustine have become good friends and we cross paths occasionally. We'd love to go see Zoila and Zoila and tour their school, where Zoila Quizhpe is a teacher. I hope to stay in touch with all of them. I'm not sure who we will bring to KSU next April, but we will venture out to find other artists.
Kansas is known as the "breadbasket" of America....or at least it was when I was growing up on a Kansas farm. We are right in the middle of the United States. As I walked across campus with my Quechua women friends in their traditional clothing and with Cilau in his beautiful Huichol embroidered clothing, I found myself wondering if it might have been the first time Quechua women walked across KSU wearing their black and white hats from the Saraguro region....and I wondered if it might have been the first time a macho Huichol man walked across campus in his traditional and gorgeous floral embroidered clothing....I really don't know....but these artists inspire me more than I can express here. Their skill, talent, vision, creativity, and determination are amazing. But more so, their love of life and their ability to express such kindness and love to people they have only just met and most likely will never meet again is what touched me the most.
Indigenous art is very important. As globalization changes things for people in the nooks and crannies of the world, it's important that we preserve and protect the beautiful, colorful, highly skilled work known as folk art and the talent of these indigenous artists. Kansas State University art education program, in the College of Education, is making an effort to support these artists in their creative journeys. In the process, our own faculty and students are growing in their world lens and I am certain their future classrooms will be much more global because of this...and probably a lot more colorful!
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| A message Cilau wrote to me on the back of a piece of Huichol yarn painting I purchased. |
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| Cilau at Kansas State University in 2015 explaining his work to a multi-cultural course. |
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| Cilau and Agustin speaking to art education students. |
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| Augustine explaining how he carves wood and forms it into various shapes. |
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| Victor working on a retablo. |
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| Zoila and Zoila with myself, our interpreter from KSU, and art educator, Courtney Smith, at Courtney's school where we spoke to the 5th grade. |
