What a wonderful success!
Churro Week 2023: Without a hitch! Thank you to all participants. We couldn’t have done it without your wonderful support. We had amazing classes, lectures, field trips, demonstrations and more. Scroll down below if you are interested in looking at the 2023 itinerary. Again, a big EVFAC thank you to all!
Churro Week 2023: March 12th-18th
Join EVFAC once again for our wonderful annual week long celebration of Churro! EVFAC is bringing you this fun filled, event packed week in March. Participants will be able to explore the deep local roots of this livestock and help raise awareness about the importance of the Navajo-Churro sheep.
We will be hosting a plethora of hands-on classes, lectures, field trips, and more!
Information and scheduling can be found below. Events will be continually scheduled and added. Please check periodically for the most up to date information.
Materials
Materials are not included in class or lab fees. Materials are available for sale at EVFAC. You will need Churro Fleece, Roving, or Yarn for the classes and labs. Emily Trujillo’s class will require blanket weight yarn. We encourage you to use materials that you have processed in the Churro Lab!
Los Luceros Day
Sunday, March 12th
Beginning at 10am
Sheep Sheering Churro week will kick off with the shearing of the sheep at Los Luceros March 12 starting at 10 a.m. We will be skirting the fleece, and weather permitting, washing a few fleeces. There will be demos, info, and a Churro marketplace in the Visitor Center. Please come join us for a day of Churro fleece and fleece processing.
Fiber Demonstrations EVFAC member artists will be demonstrating their unique artistic churro related skills in the Visitor Center at Los Luceros. If you are one of these talented artists, please feel free to click the link below to sign up to demonstrate!
Churro Marketplace Member artists who make churro based goods are welcome to vend at the Churro Marketplace! Tables are just $10, and free if you are willing to demonstrate at some point during the day. Please click the link below to sign up and reserve your vending spot!
EVFAC Churro Fiber Processing Labs
Monday, Tuesday, and/or Wednesday
1pm-4pm
Member: $50/day
Non-Member: $65/day
Limit: 10 Participants per day
Learn to process churro fiber. This lab will cover scouring fleece, picking, carding and spinning. Sign up for one, two, or three days of classes! A variety of talented local artists will be teaching during the three separate days of this lab.
Felt a Churro Bag & Learn to use EVFAC’s Thumper Felting Machine
with Dain Daller
Wednesday, March 15th: 10:30pm-1:30pm
Member: $65
Non-Member: $75
Under age 18: $40
Limit: 8 Participants
Learn to use EVFAC’s Thumper, a wet felting machine. In this class you will felt a churro bag using a batt that you purchase from the store. Bring clothes and shoes that can get a little wet. You will leave the class with your own beautiful, unique, handmade Churro felted handbag.
Tour to Museum Hill: Santa Fe
Wednesday, March 15th: 10:30am
$8
Limit: 12 people
Take a trip through the textile archives in the basement below the Museum of Indian Art on Museum Hill in Santa Fe. The curator will show us some of their extensive collection of Navajo Churro bankets.
Meet at 10:25 a.m. in the lobby of the Museum of Indian Art. Santa Fe
Navajo Horse Cinch Weaving
with Roy Kady
March 16 & 17: 9am – 5pm
Cost: $225.00
Class Limit: 12 participants
This introductory Beginning Navajo Horse Cinch weaving class will teach each student how to warp a sample horse cinch large enough to complete in the 2 day class session. The students will learn how to warp up a horse cinch, count and weave a small diamond twill patterns Roy will share the history of the horse traditions of his family that were revered for their Horsemanship.
Material that may be purchased at the Fiber Center:
• 1 sacking needle
• 1 2”(W), wide spaced weaving comb
• 1- 1”(W) X 8”(L) batten
• 3 contrasting colors of Navajo Churro wool yarns, blanket size.
Materials/Loom Rental/purchased directly from instructor:
• Horse Cinch Loom RentalL $35.00/Purchased $80.00
• D- Rings: $6.00 – $21.00
About Roy Kady: I passionately weave and create with natural fibers to center myself in the cosmos of the universe. My ancestors, grandparents, and my Shimá (Mother) shared with me stories about how weaving was gifted to us in the creation world by Spider Man, by taking the natural elements of the universe to construct the first loom and then teaching his counterpart Spider Woman about weaving a web of life.
I also raise a special breed of sheep that was also gifted to us in the underworld, they have long dual fibers that is very suitable for the fiber arts that I pursue, whether it be a utilitarian wearable/or an Art décor for the collector, it sings a song of beauty.
My designs are inspired by my natural surroundings; whether it is color/colors for my palate, or stories that I have heard from the past/present. I hand process most of the natural fibers that I create with, and I grow several fibers to include in my Art as well, also I gather plants to vegetal dye my fibers to create one of a kind art pieces. Thus my creations represent my heritage; traditions and the ever evolving Art of Navajo Weaving that is consider one of the last primitive Arts that are still created on an upright loom.
Rio Grande Weaving, A Spanish tradition
with Emily Trujillo
March 16th, 17th, & 18th: 10am-5pm
Members: $305
Non-Members: $350
Students (ages 10-18): $200
Limit: 5 participants
Learn to weave in the Rio Grande tradition. In this three day course Emily will teach both the art of shuttle work and tapestry. Emily will also touch on the history and origins of Rio Grande Weaving. Learn about styles and the basics of weaving on a Spanish floor loom. No previous skills are required. Ages 10 and up.
Students will be using traditional walking looms (you will be standing for the majority of the class, at these looms).
Emily Trujillo is an 8th generation Chimayo weaver. She has been weaving on a Spanish floor loom in the Rio Grande style since she was a child. Emily is the daughter of master weavers Irvin and Lisa Trujillo. She exhibits and sells her work at the renowned Centinela Traditional Arts in Chimayo, New Mexico. If you haven’t seen the amazing work of Emily and her family at their weaving shop and gallery, we highly recommend a visit. Centinela is located just a few miles from Española, in Chimayo, the weaving capital of our nation. Emily is a new favorite, energetic teacher at EVFAC. Her students have been leaving this class with prize winning beginner pieces, and we owe that to her masterful teaching skills. We are very excited to have her as part of our education team.
This class will only run with a minimum of three participants. Students will be notified if the class does not fill.
Rio Grande Weaving class refund policy: Students will receive a full refund if cancelled 7 days or more prior to the class start date. There will be no refund with a cancellation less than 7 days prior to the class start date.
Naturally Green: A Special St. Patty’s day Indigo & Yellow dye day
with Dain Daller & Amanda Speer
Friday, March 17th: 10:30am-4:30pm
Member: $85
Non Member: $100
Youth (under 18): $50
Class Limit: 10 participants
Learn the basics of wool yarn dying while we dye our wool green! This class will explore the use of multiple natural dye sources, including indigo, and local plants. Dain & Amanda will guide you through the basics and prepare you for a lifetime of dying wool on your own! Students will be able to dye their own skeins, or purchase skeins in the shop. You will leave this class with yarns naturally dyed Green, Blue, Yellow, and Orange!
About Amanda & Dain: Amanda Speer and Dain Daller are professional Weavers and dyers. Amanda and Dain learned to weave at EVFAC over a decade ago, and have been doing it ever since. After a few amazing classes at EVFAC in weaving, natural and synthetic dyeing, they continued to self teach and elevate their craft to what it is today. Their primary focus is on finer textiles with intricate Ikat dyed warps, and pattern development. .
Group Tour of Hisoric Textiles at The Albuquerque Museum
Friday, March 17th, 10:30am-1:30am
Limit 15, Please sign up below.
(A second tour will be added if needed.)
Free. Car pooling will be available.
For the Hispanic settlers of 19th century New Mexico, weaving was an important part of everyday life. The Albuquerque Museum features notable examples of Hispanic weavings including jergas, colchas and frazadas. Although originally made to serve a utilitarian function, these works reveal the artistic vision and attention to detail that characterizes fine craftsmanship. The museum houses some of the oldest of these textiles. Curator Andrew Connors will lead us on a visual feast of their impressive collection.
This is a free event, but space is limited. Please reserve your spot by filling out the registration below.
Colibri: Colcha Embroidery
with Annette Gutierrez
Saturday March 18th: 12:30-3:30
Members: $65
Non-Members: $75
Youth (Ages 13+): $40
Limit: 10 Participants
$10 Materials fee, paid directly to instructor upon arrival.
Students will learn all the basics of Colcha Embroidery. A hands-on demonstration is provided to all students, emphasizing the merging of color and dimension. Students will also learn the history of this stitching technique that was adopted by the colonial Spanish settlers in the 17-18th century in New Mexico and Southern Colorado.
Annette Gutierrez Turk is an award winning fiber artist concentrating on weaving and colcha embroidery, who has exhibited her work from Santa Fe to China. She is an active member of the Sandia Mountains Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America, as well as teaching locally and nationally. Her delicate embroidered pieces have graced many a gallery. She is also a wool spinner and dyer using natural pigments and a member of the Las Aranas Spinners and Weavers Guild. She is based in Albuquerque NM
