Join us this fall at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities for a special exhibition of colcha embroidery from the San Luis Valley. Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley will be on view from September 14 to November 12, 2023 with an opening reception on Thursday September 14, from 6-9pm. This exhibition will be on view in conjunction with Emilio Lobato: A Mi Manera and Latitude 37°: Art of Southern Colorado. Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley will bring together a large selection of artworks on loan from artists, families, and museums across Colorado. The exhibition is curated by Adrienne Garbini of The Range in Saguache, Colorado. On Thursday September 14 at 5pm in the Arvada Center Theatre Gallery there will be a talk with participating artists and families.
Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley will include works by living and deceased artists, celebrating the vibrant history of this art practice in communities across the Valley. Artists include Mary Baker, Maria Eufemia Barela, Sandy Dolak, Adrienne Garbini, Patsy Garcia, Peggy Garcia Williams, Margie Gurule, Josephine Lobato, Rita Lobato Crespin, Virginia
'Bena' Lovato, Brenda Lovato, Loretta Rose Lujan, Donna Madrid Hernandez, Connie Mamich Morrell, Aurora Martinez, Junita Martinez, Lydia Martinez, Irene Medina, Julia Mondragon, Mary Olivas, Daisy Ortega, Evanea Rae Pacheco, Marcella Pacheco, Marcella Quintana, Nettie Quintana, Virginia Rodriquez, Sostena Sandoval Clevens, Trent Segura, Mary Taylor, Tiva Trujillo, Tina Valdez, Judy Vigil, Mary Vigil de Rodriguez, and Delores Worley.
The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities first featured colcha embroidery at their 1982 exhibition Las Artistas del Valle de San Luis. Nine artworks from this exhibition will be on view in Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley. The City of Arvada purchased these colcha embroideries from the Virginia Neal Blue Foundation. The location and purchase of these colcha embroideries was unknown to the artists. It is not documented that the artists were compensated for these artworks. The City of Arvada and The Arvada Center hope to offer healing and restoration to this community through the return of these artworks to the artists and families of the artists that made them after the conclusion of Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley.
The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities is located at 6901 Wadsworth Blvd Arvada, CO 80003.
Partner organizations participating in the exhibition include Chicano Humanities and Arts Council, HEART of Saguache, History Colorado, The Range, Sangré de Cristo Heritage Center, and Sisters of Color United for Education. The Range is an art space located in Saguache in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. The Range has partnered with HEART of Saguache on the San Luis Valley Colcha Embroidery Project since 2018.
