Bright colors
Cold, blustery Saturday did not inhibit crowds at la Fiesta de Colores

The orange flames from the burning Lummis man illuminates the crowd assembled to watch Saturday evening at Kearns Park in Milan, NM. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Jeff Jones

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

MILAN — It was a cold, blustery morning Saturday with a few drops of rain, which may have kept some people from attending La Fiesta de Colores, but the turnout was just as good as in past years with several hundred people passing through the rows of artists at St. Teresa’s Community Center.

La Fiesta celebrates Hispanic culture and traditional art by inviting 40 artists from around New Mexico to attend the art show portion, with various forms of art including: Santos, retablos, tin punching, wood carving, sculpture, painting and jewelry.

Sally Saavedra, of Albuquerque, has attended the fiesta for the past seven years: “The art here is beautiful,” she said. “I like the tin punching,” she said, gesturing toward a wall of decorative tin crosses. “This show reminds me of Taos, I like to go to the galleries there.”

Saavedra brought her three sons, Michael, David and Matthew, whom is a budding artist, she said.

“No matter what the weather is, we always come to the La Fiesta,” Saavedra said.

Three-day event

The Friday-through-Sunday event included hundreds of school-aged children participating with culturally oriented art and essays; special dance groups, such as the Aztec dancers from Albuquerque; a procession to honor the Hispanic culture; a classic car show; the burning of the Lummis El Malpais Man; a special Mariachi Mass and this year, for the first time: Kite flying competition Saturday morning and free form kite flying Saturday afternoon at Kearns Field in Milan.

Charlie Carrillo, a well-known artist from Santa Fe, brought some of his most recent work, not many of the usual traditional Hispanic art he usually does.

“I have saints in cars,” he said laughing as he pointed to a red and a yellow classic car with saints behind the wheel hanging on his display.

“This show is not about making money,” he said, “At least not for me.”

Carrillo said the La Fiesta is an opportunity to see old friends, to learn more about the Hispanic culture and for camaraderie.

Debbie Carrillo, Charlie’s wife, is a potter who specializes in micaceous clay pots.

“These bowls can be cooked in and served in,” she said.
The bowls are made from micaceous clay and are porous. To make the pots sealed so no liquids can seep through, she said she cooks potatoes in them until the potatoes are “like nothing.” The starch from the potatoes forms a permanent seal.

Dwight Kastandieck, a local wood carver, had shown his work for the third year in a row.

“More people should come to this art show, they don’t know what they are missing,” he said.

Pauline and Ana Anaya, sisters from Albuquerque, who are artists themselves, heard of this year’s La Fiesta and came to see the sight.

“We are into fine arts,” Pauline Anaya said. “We wanted to come see the retablos.”

Ray Baca, an artist from Albuquerque, brought some of his work in encrusted straw in the form of small, medium and larger crosses.

The crosses were all black, well varnished and had straw inlaid in various designs on the front.

“I wanted to learn more about my self, my art and the saints,” he said, as reasons for coming.

This was his fourth year being and attending, having started his art work six years ago, he said.

“My art work reflects my religion, the religion of New Mexico, Catholicism,” he said.

Kite flying

An overcast windy morning created some problems for kite fliers and as they arrived at Kearns Field that afternoon, the winds had not died down and continued to make kite flying difficult.

An 8 by 6-foot kite, built by Robert Gallegos, head of the Double 6 Art Gallery in Grants, and sponsored of the kite flying contest, called Big Bertha broke as he was trying to fly it at 5:20 p.m., Saturday afternoon. Attempts to repair it with duct tape failed and he eventually had to put it back into his van.

Others met the same fate but one kite that flew strong and well, was made by Richard Gonzales, his wife Kendra and their son Santiago, 7, of Albuquerque.

“We’re here just for fun,” Richard Gonzales said.

Two of the winners from the morning contest were Tracy and Debbie Duplichan of Grants. Their kite won the most artistic kite award.

The kite that won the longest flying award, made by Cynthia Gail, was on hand. Her kite broke as she took it out of her car that morning, but was salvaged with a successful emergency repair.

Just two hours prior to the time the fire was to be lit for the burning of the Lummis The El Malpais Man at dusk Saturday, the winds were gusting heavily and the Milan Volunteer Fire Department, which control setting the fire or not, said it didn’t look good for the event to take place.

Gallegos was optimistic though, saying the winds would die down when the sun set.

The fire was lit and the wooden structure that loomed 30 feet in the air, painted as a pirate, caught fire with flames reaching several feet above its head and burned for about 40 minutes, Gallegos said.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.