User:Einnoc07/Santa Fe International Folk Art Market

Santa Fe International Folk Art Market

Purpose
Started in 2004, the annual Santa Fe International Folk Art Market is held during one weekend of July on Milner Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The largest folk art market in the world, the market’s mission is to foster economic and cultural sustainability for folk artists and folk art worldwide and to create intercultural exchange opportunities that unite the peoples of the world. The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market is one of three summer markets in Santa Fe; Santa Fe also hosts the Spanish Market and the Indian Market.

Market 2009
In July 2009, the sixth year of the Market, 126 artists (juried from 400 applications) represented 46 different countries. Of the artists, 38 were from cooperatives that represent nearly 16,000 artisans in their homelands—and 160,000 family members. An estimated 23,000 visitors attended, the highest attendance achieved during the six years of the Market and a 12.7% increase over last year’s attendance. Sales fell 3.7% from 2008 to $1.9 million, which averages to $15,000 per booth. Artists take home 90% of total sales from their booth.

Clinton Global Initiative
Former President Bill Clinton has commissioned three Folk Art Market artists to create the prizes that will be presented in September, 2009 to the winners of the Clinton Global Citizen Awards--which honor individuals and organizations for their philanthropic contributions to global welfare. The three artists were selected from hundreds of applicants; Serge Jolimeau and Michee Remy of Haiti and Toyin Folorunso of Nigeria all work with recycled metals.

History
Plans for the Market first took shape in 2003. The Market founders are businesswoman Judith Espinar (originator of the idea for the Market); Thomas Aageson, executive director of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and former executive director of Aid to Artisans; the current Market executive director, Charlene Cerny, who began her connection as a founding Market Chair after she retired as longtime director of the Museum of International Folk Art Museum; and Charmay Allred, a long-time community volunteer and philanthropist who serves on many boards and commissions. The State of New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, the Museum of International Folk Art, and the Museum of New Mexico Foundation have been primary strategic partners since the founding of the Market.

In its inaugural year, the market hosted sixty participating folk artists. In 2008, the number of artists grew to 125 artists from 41 different countries and in 2009, 150 artists from 47 nations. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) recognized the quality of the market’s goods by giving its Award of Excellence in 2007 to select products.

In 2008, 97% of the market artists were from developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Central Asia, and the Middle East, where they often face daunting political, social, and environmental challenges. Sale of their work supports improving economic conditions and the quality of life for many in their home countries. At the 2008 Market, artists’ sales totaled $2 million, an 18% increase from the previous year. The average sales per booth amounted to $16,300. Artists retain 90% of their sales.

The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market also supports an initiative to train cultural entrepreneurs in Africa through theW.K. Kellogg Intern Program. The program funds four arts professionals from Africa who are familiarized with every aspect of the Market’s operations, from budgeting and fundraising to site planning, public relations, marketing, and the artist selection process. The intent is for the program to prepare the interns to develop folk art markets in their home countries. The four arts professionals selected for this program are: Mahaliah Kowa, former Project Coordinator of the Harambe Afrika! Festival in Johannesburg; Chila Smith Lino, Marketing Director of the non-profit Nacional de Artesanato, promoting the crafts and cultural heritage of Mozambique; Nomvula Moshoai-Cook, Chairperson for the Mpumulanga Traditional Arts Festival in South Africa, to be launched in 2009; and Jane Parsons, Crafts Consultant for the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe.