Art Scene and Seen: a Person Of Great Importance

By John Dodge Meyer &Meryl Truett

Evita Avery is too humble to accept the accolade “treasure,” so we’ll just settle for the title above because she truly is irreplaceable to San Miguel, the world of Mexican folk art and to Mexico itself.

Evita’s family roots are deep in the country of her upbringing, Mexico.

Her American great grandparents were given land by then President Porfirio Diaz in the early 1900’s. Growing up in Mexico her interest in traditional folk art was kindled by watching, first hand, her mother’s efforts to seek out and collect the work of Mexico’s most revered indigenous folk artists. She remembers being drawn to San Miguel at an early age and ended up attending the Instituto in the early 1970’s. Her Mexican history teacher Miguel Malo, one of the first to collect and preserve pre-Hispanic artifacts, greatly influenced her later decision to collect and offer to the public, the work of Mexico’s pre-eminent folk artists.

So after her 1970’s and 1980’s soul journeys at Boston College, “becoming a hippie,” studying Montessori in London, teaching Montessori and then working at the San Antonio Museum Association in Texas, Evita Avery finally gave in to her longing to return to Mexico and her deep connection to its folk art community. In 1988 she opened La Calaca Gallery in San Miguel. For these past 36 years she has diligently explored the states of Michoacán, Oaxaca and Puebla; seeking and finding the most authentic indigenous folk artists that Mexico had and has to offer. It was and continues to be a perfect fit.

Evita thoroughly enjoys traveling to the small out of the way pueblitos; meeting new artists and reconnecting with the established clients and their families.

When Evita first came to the Instituto in 1970, there was only one telephone location in San Miguel and the streetlights had to be turned on manually! Fast forward and today she freely admits that possibly 50% of her contact with artists is by internet and mobile phone. Even in the smallest and remotest areas, everyone has a mobile phone!

She still relishes the buying trips and personal contact, but modern technology certainly makes day to day conversation and visual research a comparative breeze. “Authenticity” can best be described as “of undisputed origin.” Evita Avery and the art she represents at La Calaca are the definition of authentic.

A careful tour of the gallery at Mesones 93, and a conversation with Evita will leave no doubt as to the importance of this work; Oaxacan textiles by Rodrigo Hernandez Garcia, natural dyed fabric by Rosa Liliana Bautista and grand masters of ceramics Gorky Gonzalez and Salvador Vazquez and so many more!

Meryl Truett is an artist and workshop instructor in SMA. You can view her work at www.meryltruett.com or check her out on Instagram @madeinsma.com

John Dodge Meyer is an artist and writer living in San Miguel, working on his memoir.