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Hispanic Folk Arts & the Environment Foreword
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Hispanic Folk Arts and the Environment: A New Mexican Perspective has been developed to stimulate an appreciation and understanding of Hispanic folk traditions among teachers and students in the Southwest and beyond. In New Mexico, a state that is home to the country's oldest Hispanic population, there has been a conspicuous lack of educational materials that reflect and interpret the rich cultural heritage of this historic people. Given the sustained importance of the folk arts to the spiritual and material well being of Hispanic communities and the renewed interest in the Hispanic folk arts of New Mexico by the public in general, a school curriculum worthy of its subject could not be more timely. Such a curriculum seems a natural outgrowth of the Museum of International Folk Art's activities, since the museum has the good fortune to house the most extensive and significant collection of Spanish Colonial and later Hispanic folk art in the United States. Coupled with these treasures is an institutional commitment to accessibility and education, an effort that has now been formalized into a far-reaching Education Initiative that will, by the end of five years, transform the visitor experience at the museum into one that is highly interactive and "hands-on." At the onset of this process, the museum Educators' Task Force, comprised of public school teachers, administrators from the State Department of Education, representatives from local cultural organizations and museum educators from the Museum of New Mexico, identified a need to develop a curriculum that encouraged interdisciplinary learning, integrating the study of folk art with other subjects, such as language arts, social studies, mathematics and science. In the process of building the curriculum, it became apparent that the Río Grande and its unique and vital environment provided a perfect context in which to study the folk practices of the Hispanic people of New Mexico, whose home this has been since 1598. Consequently, the subject of this curriculum unit is the Río Grande, its surrounding valleys, and the Hispanic peoples therein whose foodways, shelter and clothing are such resourceful cultural transformations of its natural riches. The New Mexico State Department of Education has endorsed the development of this curriculum and hopes that it will promote intercultural understanding among all children, as well as self-knowledge and self-esteem among the sizeable Hispanic school-age population of this state, country and continent. A generous grant from the Ahmanson Foundation provided the seed funds to support this project, for which we would like to especially thank Lloyd E. Cotsen. It is through the efforts of talented museum educator and photographer Alejandro López that the curriculum took shape. Dr. Joyce Ice, Assistant Director, and Laura Temple Sullivan, Director of Education, offered able supervision and Robin Farwell Gavin, Curator of Spanish Colonial Collections, provided careful editing. The Educators' Task Force worked to ensure that the curriculum is appropriate and relevant for teachers and students alike. To all of them we express our sincere appreciation. Charlene Cerny, Director, Museum of International Folk Art
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