Whether you live near Santa Fe, New Mexico and are looking for an amazing activity or you are a Hispanic art enthusiast, you will want to spend as much time as possible enjoying the Santa Fe, NM Traditional Spanish Market.
We at PakMail Santa Fe love art markets like Traditional Spanish Market and it’s not just because we are Santa Fe’s preferred art shipper.
This annual event is the largest market of its kind in the United States, filling the Santa Fe Plaza with the work of over 250 artists from New Mexico. The event also features an immersive atmosphere offering traditional dancing, music, food, and demonstrations of regional handiwork.
The event’s roots go back to 1926. At that time, the Spanish Colonial Arts Society started to host the market to feature work of Hispanic artists from the area. The event continued until the mid-1930s when it became a part of the Santa Fe Indian Market. In 1972, the Traditional Spanish Market became a separate entity once again.
Although the market began as a small gathering, it now routinely draws around 70,000 people. While many visitors live nearby, a large number of guests come from all over the nation as well as internationally.
Beyond the beauty and expression of the art, a strong spiritual component runs deep within the market and its participants. There is a strong religious element attached to the culture.
Often artists include references to the church, saints, or other religious icons in their artwork. To acknowledge the spiritual connection of the artists and the community, the Spanish Market hosts a procession around the Santa Fe Plaza as well as a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi where artists and their art receive a blessing.
The majority of artists participating in the market offer some of their creations for sale. The variety of artistic items you can purchase is immense. There are numerous categories of art featuring many unique and beautiful items available for purchase. These include:
- FURNITURE- usually made of pine with tension joints instead of nails
- POTTERY- decorative items handcrafted from mica clay
- METALWORK- including items made of tin and iron as well as precious metals like gold and silver
- TEXTILES- pieces made from handspun yarn
- BASKETRY- one of a kind hand-woven pieces
- BONEWORK- wearable art and decorative pieces carved from bone
- SANTOS- artistic items with images of religious figures
There is something for everyone at the Traditional Spanish Market. Be sure to make plans to visit this cultural showplace for an up-close look at historical Spanish Colonial Artistry along with modern Hispanic works from world-renowned artists
And when you need to ship art home from the market, give PakMail a call or simply fill out our quote form.