{"id":43408,"date":"2021-12-06T14:57:48","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T21:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexican-weaver-joins-university-wool-heritage-project\/"},"modified":"2021-12-06T21:57:48","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T21:57:48","slug":"new-mexican-weaver-joins-university-wool-heritage-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexican-weaver-joins-university-wool-heritage-project\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mexican weaver joins university wool heritage project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Richard
Richard Trujillo grabs indigo wool to work on a table runner at his weaving shop Nov. 22 in Chimayo, N.M. Trujillo is from a long line of prominent master weavers in the area. He\u2019s partnering with New Mexico State University for a new Wool Heritage Project, which aims to highlight the history and importance of the wool industry in New Mexico. (Luis S\u00e1nchez Saturno\/The New Mexican via AP)<\/span>Luis S\u00e1nchez Saturno<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CHIMAY\u00d3, N.M. (AP) \u2013 A New Mexico State University initiative aims to help secure the future of a pair of centuries-old practices in the state: herding sheep and weaving their wool into designs, both spectacular and utilitarian.<\/p>\n

The Wool Heritage Project\u2019s inaugural effort involves producing a 13-pound wool rug, designed by New Mexico State fashion student Savannah Willingham and brought to life by one of northern New Mexico\u2019s generational weavers: Richard Trujillo with Trujillo\u2019s Weaving Shop in Chimay\u00f3.<\/p>\n

The goal of the initiative is to bring attention to two industries, weaving and sheep farming, which advocates say have dwindled in recent years.<\/p>\n

The shop where Trujillo completed the rug is packed with handmade wooden two-harness looms, including one built by Trujillo\u2019s grandfather more than 100 years ago. Others were bought from families who no longer take part in the weaving tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of visitors we get have never seen anything like this,\u201d he said of the setup. \u201cThey\u2019re just amazed at the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trujillo is a seventh-generation Spanish weaver in the village along the High Road to Taos, where in previous centuries families like his would raise sheep and spin their wool into yarn, trading woven textiles for other goods to make a living.<\/p>\n

His late father, John Trujillo, opened the shop in the 1950s.<\/p>\n

Trujillo himself started learning to weave around the same time most children head to preschool, and while some younger family members are showing interest in the art, \u201cit\u2019s getting harder and harder to find people who are willing to take it up,\u201d he said while taking a break from weaving a colorful table runner on commission.<\/p>\n

There are a few weaving shops in Chimay\u00f3, where the tradition is still prominent compared with neighboring villages, including Ortega\u2019s Weaving Shop and Centinela Traditional Arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all pretty much cousins,\u201d Trujillo said of the people running neighboring shops.<\/p>\n

The wool used to make the colorful vests and cloths available at Trujillo\u2019s Weaving Shop is harvested and produced from all over, he said. The final products are shipped worldwide, Trujillo said, adding there\u2019s notably high demand for woven vests from a shop in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\"Richard
Richard Trujillo works on a table runner at his weaving shop Nov. 22 in Chimayo, N.M. Trujillo is from a long line of prominent master weavers in the area. He's partnering with New Mexico State University for a new Wool Heritage Project, which aims to highlight the history and importance of the wool industry in New Mexico. (Luis S\u00e1nchez Saturno\/The New Mexican via AP)<\/span>Luis S\u00e1nchez Saturno<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trujillo is an alumnus of New Mexico State\u2019s geography program, and the rug he brought to life features the crimson and white shades of the university\u2019s logo.<\/p>\n

The wool comes from a flock of about 100 New Mexico-bred debouillet and rambouillet sheep of the West Sheep Unit on New Mexico State University\u2019s campus, where students raise them as part of the animal sciences program.<\/p>\n

Trujillo said the wool was especially soft and fine.<\/p>\n

\u201cFine wool sheep have a long history here in New Mexico because they\u2019re able to withstand the harsh desert environment,\u201d said university animal sciences professor Jennifer Hernandez Gifford, who has helped lead the Wool Heritage Project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really on campus haven\u2019t, until this project, really done much with linking back into the fiber arts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Usually, Hernandez Gifford noted, the sheep are shorn annually as part of their upkeep.<\/p>\n

But this year, she saved the wool and sent it to a mill in Buffalo, Wyoming, where it was processed into yarn in order to launch this project in cooperation with the university\u2019s fashion merchandising and design program.<\/p>\n

Using the remaining yarn, the university has made available 80 blanket replicas of the original rug, which is on display at New Mexico State.<\/p>\n

The blankets, at 4 pounds each, cost $500. Hernandez Gifford was worried the price might be a deterrent, but 30 have already sold.<\/p>\n

Hernandez Gifford predicts that when the sheep are shorn again, another product will be made available for purchase, with proceeds going toward the cost of processing more items.<\/p>\n

Hernandez Gifford said that while New Mexico ranks 16th among states for sheep production, the wool mills and the sheep farms that were once more widely prominent have faded in part since the end of a federal wool subsidy during the 20th century.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of sheep in the state has really dwindled,\u201d she said. \u201cSo that\u2019s really is why we have to (mill) out of state. There\u2019s no availability anywhere closer \u2026 and they do such a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheep didn\u2019t start calling New Mexico home until Spanish colonizers brought the particularly resilient Iberian Churra breed with them to the Southwest in the 1500s. Those are likely the sheep Trujillo\u2019s family first used for wool for their textiles.<\/p>\n

Before that, different groups of Pueblo people practiced weaving baskets and other goods from animal hair, plant fibers and eventually cotton.<\/p>\n

\"Richard
Richard Trujillo works on a table runner at his weaving shop Nov. 22 in Chimayo, N.M. Trujillo is from a long line of prominent master weavers in the area. He's partnering with New Mexico State University for a new Wool Heritage Project, which aims to highlight the history and importance of the wool industry in New Mexico. (Luis S\u00e1nchez Saturno\/The New Mexican via AP)<\/span>Luis S\u00e1nchez Saturno<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Navajo people living in what is now Arizona and New Mexico acquired sheep from the Spanish, and the resulting livestock called Navajo Churro have since become an integral part of life for their meat and wool.<\/p>\n

In the Navajo weaving tradition, fabrics are developed on a frame loom, rather than the standing looms Trujillo\u2019s family uses. But Trujillo said both traditions render geometric designs.<\/p>\n

The U.S. government called for stock reductions of the sheep on Navajo land, citing concerns about erosion caused by grazing, which has contributed to the Navajo Churro landing on the endangered species list, according to weaving company Tierra Wools co-founder Molly Manzanares.<\/p>\n

She favors the sheep for their low-grease wool and natural color variations, which save resources on cleaning and dying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not as domesticated as, say, rambouillet or another kind of sheep,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re very self-sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manzanares\u2019 company holds a flock of hundreds of Navajo Churro near Chama.<\/p>\n

Part of the decline in sheep farming, Manzanares said, comes because raising sheep was traditionally a communal effort. Neighboring sheep farmers would work together to protect flocks from predators, mainly coyotes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re hard,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been raising Navajo Churro for all these years and trying to bring them back, and finally we\u2019re getting in the groove. The drought \u2026 has made a big impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the art of weaving in New Mexico plays a larger part in national fashion conversations, said fashion merchandising assistant professor Kelly Coffeen.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of weavers in the northern part of the state, you don\u2019t hear a lot about what they do,\u201d Coffeen said. \u201cSome of them work for some of the big designers in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThat whole industry is looking for authenticity and looking for ways to be unique. \u2026 We have to be aware of that and embrace that for what it is in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Trujillo grabs indigo wool to work on a table runner at his weaving shop Nov. 22 in Chimayo, N.M. Trujillo is from a long line of prominent master weavers in the area. He\u2019s partnering with New Mexico State University for a new Wool Heritage Project, which aims to highlight the history and importance of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43408"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}