Irvin and Lisa Trujillo

Weavers in Chimayo, New Mexico

Irvin Trujillo.

Irvin and Lisa Trujillo run Centinela Traditional Arts, a weaving studio and shop in Chimayo, New Mexico. Irvin's family has been weaving for generations in this area.

Describe your life and work.

Lisa: "We are weavers and we work in the Rio Grande weaving tradition which is about 400 years old. The Spanish brought the knowledge of how to make looms and sheep with them when they settled here. It's continued to be a central weaving community. We try to push the boundaries of the style while trying to stay respectful of the tradition. We also represent other weavers here.

"My sister in law raises sheep here and we've taken some of the raw wool to the mill in Mora and had it spun into yarn. And that is really special stuff."

How did you get started weaving?

Lisa: "I married into the tradition and I feel a great respect for it. For my husband, his father and grandparents did it."

Irvin: "I started weaving when I was ten. My father told me I am a seventh-generation weaver from this family. I've studied the influence of weaving in this area from the Spanish in the 16th century to the Mexican in the 1800s to the Colonial influence and the coming of the railroads.

"My father subsidized his income with weaving in the winter. If he wasn't out working on the farm, he was in this room weaving. It's a hard life weaving."

Who is a typical visitor or customer of your studio?

Lisa: "Mostly we deal with tourists and we get a lot of compliments."

Irvin: "It's just part of life to see a German or Japanese or South American walk in here to look at our weavings."

Lisa: "Sometimes we get local student field trips in here and we get to show these children part of their heritage. One of the special roles that we play is to remind people that things get made by hand and to help make the connection back to human involvement coming from the land. There are a lot of historical influences with weaving, and that's one thing that we are always trying to teach: how it all hooks in with the history of New Mexico."

What role did weaving have in the history of this region?

Lisa: "Historically the Rio Grande blankets were trade items and were traded down into Mexico for a long, long time and later with the settlers. They were just valuable, useful things. Everybody needs blankets. It was a big part of what New Mexico was producing at the time. Now they go out mostly as tourist items, which has probably been true for about 100 years. Our stuff goes far and wide, but I never feel like it's leaving. I'd like to go the places that the weavings go."

Irvin: "Weaving has survived since the 1700s. It survived the changes from the Spanish government to the Mexican government to the United States government and we're still here doing it. This is something that is still alive and living. People are here supporting their families on this tradition. Each generation revives it and passes it on to the next. There is no telling where it will go."

Are you involved in community activities?

Lisa: "Since we've been living here, we've gone through a lot of challenges of finding positive activities for the youth in this area. We now have the Chimayo Youth Corp and the Boys and Girls Club to provide services in the community to try to keep the kids out of trouble. We try to help the kids by teaching weaving at the Boys and Girls Club and having apprentices here at the shop. It's great to be able to share the tradition and to be able to strengthen the community. Hopefully, they'll like weaving and continue with it."

Irvin: "One of the things that we are trying to do is to preserve the history of the industry from dying of the wool to making and working the looms."

What are some of the challenges facing the community here?

Lisa: "It would be nice if we had more jobs to offer. But first and foremost, we need better education here. That's the biggest key to economic development in this area. We need to offer our kids something. It would be good if we had more contact with the people from Santa Fe and Los Alamos. I don't think they have a good idea of the richness of traditions in this area."

What aspects of living in this area are most appealing to you?

Lisa: "For us, it's really about the tradition. People say the light is very exciting, the spectacular scenery. People who like those kinds of aesthetics will like it here. One of the things I really liked about joining my husband's family here was that they were still out in the field hoeing. There is a comfort of working with the land and the processes of making things that's just part of the culture of the area."