BY DANIEL GIBSON
“The market will introduce awards for the first time in 2025,” notes Stacey Edgar, IFAM’s executive director. “The new Folk Art Innovation Awards are being sponsored by JoAnn and Bob Balzer, and will be presented in five categories—design, materials, process, color, and originality—with an overall winner to be designated Innovator of the Year.” The awards will be presented at a private welcoming reception for the artists and later displayed in their booths.
The market will be held, for the third year, within the Railyard grounds, which has proven to be a great success. With its nooks and crannies, winding pathways, and intimacy, it feels like a global bazaar. Here you will find the riches of the world spread before you, from incredibly fine and dazzling textiles to glassware, huge copper kettles, works of straw, jewelry, beadwork, sculpture, household goods, rugs, basketry, pottery, and more—far more. Around every corner awaits some discovery.
More than 140 artists from some 57 nations will participate this year, including 40 first-timers, such as Joseph Koo, an Aboriginal indigo textile artist from Australia; Nisha Subramaniam of Himachal Pradesh, India, who creates shawls and stoles from Himalayan wool; and Ololo Diseño Mexicano, an artisan of figures, toys, and sculptures of kraft paper, crepe paper, and acrylic paint.
This is perhaps the greatest aspect of the event: the chance to meet, greet, and get to know people from across the face of Earth. The event is a wonderful celebration of the commonalities and ties that bind humanity together.
IFAM is now also more than a one-and-done event. It has begun hosting pop-up shows and workshops for select artists in Santa Fe in December and March, and operates the Passport to Folk Art Trips.
These outings, arranged and led by IFAM with local guides and experts onsite to locales around the world, are open to only 8 to 20 guests and typically sell out. “The trips are a very important piece of what we do because it is the very best opportunity for IFAM supporters to understand the lives and livelihoods of the artists at IFAM,” says Edgar. “Seeing artists’ homes, workshops, and communities and learning their methods build deep connections and understanding for our travelers. Folk art is the art of the people; it is born in community and there is no better way to see its role in local culture than to immerse yourself in that culture.” For details on the 2025 event and IFAM in general, visit the website at folkartmarket.org.
From ANNUAL 2025 VOLUME 26
