Featured Artist

Serape/Sarape Weaving Project Weavers

José Padrón (2011)

Jose Francisco Baez Padrón, also known as “Don Paco,” was born in Saltillo, Coahuila in 1953. He studied at the Escuela Normal Regional, where he graduated as maestro (teacher). As a child he would help his father make serapes after returning home from elementary school. When he finished Escuela Normal he worked with the governor’s state office in a specialized school as an instructor in weaving workshop or studio. Married with three children, he has presented many demonstrations in different parts and areas of Mexico and the United States.

Alejandrina Contreras (2009)

Weaver Alejandrina Contreras works with students at Sanchez Elementary.

Born in the city of Saltillo, Mexico, Alejandrina Contreras studied at Bishop University in Quebeck, Canada and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in art with a specialization in music. She has worked at the Instituto Municipal de Cultura de Saltillo in the Casa de la Cultura de Saltillo. She currently works in the new Serape Museum of Saltillo as the cultural supervisor in charge of the serape workshops.

Herminia Trejo (2007-08)

Herminia María Velazquez Trejo was born in Saltillo, Mexico. As a child, she exhibited an affinity for weaving. Her father was a merchant and the many things he sold included wool, thread, and looms that were used for making beautiful serapes. Her aunt, who owned her own loom, taught her to weave. Ever since, Ms. Trejo remains fascinated and interested in weaving. She teaches the art of clay modeling at the University of Coahuila and runs a school of arts and crafts for children in Saltillo. She has presented several weaving workshops and demonstrations in Mexico and the United States.

Janette Fuller de Pamanes (2004-06)

Weaver Janette Pamanes prepares the loom for a weaving demonstration.

Janette Fuller de Pamanes was born in New York City in 1937. She has lived in Mexico for the last 38 years in various parts of the country. She is also an artist and formed a painting group for women in Los Mochis Sinaloa and served as president of the group for one year. In 1999, she and her husband moved to Saltillo Coahuila and soon after that, she took her first serape weaving class at school of traditional art. The master weaver, “Don Goyo,” taught her the first stitches necessary to create a traditional serape from Saltillo. One year later, the small school closed and Pamanes and a colleague attempted to establish a serape workshop. With a salon and six borrowed looms, the workshop attracted a few students who registered and became apprentice weavers. In the summer of 2001, however, the workshop also ended but professor Rafael Luna opted to continue training Pamanes in serape weaving, including weaving the difficult central diamond image found on traditional serapes. Pamanes now conducts serape weaving classes as a volunteer. This is her first year conducting the serape weaving demonstration for Saltillo on Cinco.