New Mexico

          RAG RUG FESTIVAL & DESIGN COLLECTIVE

A Women’s Cottage Industries Event

Coming to the Farmington Museum

  In times like these when financial dire straits seem to obscure the horizon, the work women do takes on a special importance both at home and in the community.

 The Rag Rug Festival & Design Collective, which will be held in Farmington at the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park from 10am to 4pm Saturday, November 7th, and again on Sunday, November 8th, addresses these issues. Admission and parking are free.

 The two-day festival is presented by the New Mexico Women’s Foundation (NMWF), which has been actively involved in promoting women’s cottage industries throughout New Mexico for the past seven years.

  “Cottage Industries help women put food on the table,” said Festival Producer Frieda Arth. “Participating in one of NMWF’s three Festivals, which are held also in Las Cruces and Santa Fe, has opened up a world of possibility, giving women a chance to showcase the work they create by hand. It also helps advance the quality of life for these women, their family and their communities.”

  “We’re looking at the kind of work women have done through history, and whether they are working with traditional forms of weaving and using designs created on looms rich with cultural history, or fabricating and bringing their own ideas into fruition, there’s a sense of camaraderie that’s pervasive throughout these events that helps make them successful.”

 Some of the women have formed weaving groups, such as Torreon Community Store, a non-profit organization that promotes successful self-reliant community development in the Torreon/Star Lake Chapter of the Navajo Nation; the Ramah Navajo Weavers Association from Pine Hill, and Loose Ends, a fiber arts group from Albuquerque made up of a recently arrived Bhutanese family.

 Meanwhile, other women who craft jewelry, art, rag rugs, original books, hand dyed yarns, knitted fashions, and tote bags made out of recycled rice bags and flour bags, also will have their work on display and for sale.

 The Farmington Museum is located at Gateway Park, 3041 East Main Street in Farmington NM.

 New Mexico Women’s Foundation supports organizations and programs that create economic opportunities for New Mexico’s women and girls.

 Additional information may be obtained by getting in touch with Frieda Arth, 505-983-6155, or by emailing frieda@nmwf.org. Website: www.nmwf.org

Images courtesy of New Mexico Women’s Foundation