page_title: Feria Maestros del Arte
section_title: The event
hierarchical_section_title: Feria Maestros del Arte / The event
caption_attribution_description: English: Roberto D. Mejia working on popotillo at the 2015 Feria de los Maestros del Arte in Chapala
context_page_description: Feria Maestros del Arte is a non profit organization and annual three-day event held to support Mexican handcrafts and folk art in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico. Unlike other fairs of this type, invited participants are not charged booth fees or percentages, and are even afforded transport and accommodations with area families. The Feria has grown from thirteen artisan participants to over eighty, and the organization is legally recognized in Mexico and the United States.
context_section_description: The Feria is held every year at the Chapala Yacht Club in Chapala, Jalisco. This town in noted for its position on Lake Chapala as well as being home to many American and Canadian retirees who live or winter here.
  It is a three-day event held every November, with the main attraction being stalls of merchandise brought by Mexican artisans for sale. As of 2015, there are over 80 participating artisans, from various Mexican states, especially Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacán and Jalisco. However, there have been representatives from as far north as Chihuahua and south to Yucatán. The wares vary from many kinds of pottery such as bruñido (burnished), petallillo, pineapple forms from Michoacan, recreations of pre Hispanic pieces, amate paper, alpaca cutlery, alebrijes from Oaxaca, wicker furniture, dolls, Catrina figures and numerous textiles, especially from Oaxaca and Chiapas. To date, the event has been popular mostly with foreign buyers, both living in and visiting Mexico, but it does attract a number of Mexican buyers as well. Many of the buyers are folk art collectors.
  The artisans who participated are invited by the organization and change each year. These artisans are vetted by representatives of the Feria, with visits to workshops to see what is done, the quality and the make sure the wares are made by the artisans themselves. Some are already well known in Mexican folk art circles, such as those featured in works such as the Grand Masters of Mexican Folk Art, but others are completely unknown. Some are families who have done the craft for generations. As the purpose is to support the artisans, participants are not charged booth fees or a percentage of sales. Transportation of artisans is paid for by the Feria as well, with the same being housed by volunteer families in their homes. These families are mostly expats living in and near Chapala, and they not only provide beds, but also food and social outlets. The organization states that it helps to create inter-cultural bonds, and for many of the artisans, their first contact with the world outside their home. Some of the artisans are illiterate and many never have been out of their hometowns.
  The Feria also incorporates musical events, dance performances, food and beverage tastings and had had talks by folk art experts such as Marta Turok, Susana Valadez and Marc Navarro. There have also been exhibitions of the making of objects and fashion shows to highlight the importance of traditional garments.
caption: Roberto D. Mejia demonstrating popotillo art at the Feria
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3200", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Ver.1.00", "Image DateTime": "2015:11:14 09:54:21", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2266", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "41370", "Image SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "Image XPComment": "[32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/20", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "360", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:11:14 09:54:21", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:11:14 09:54:21", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "55", "EXIF SubSecTime": "50", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "50", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "50", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "6016", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "41332", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "82", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4156"}