Pastora Gutierrez represents 14 women of La Vida Nueva weaving collective from internationally acclaimed Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico. Gutierrez displays their rugs at The Ink People Center for the Arts (411 12 St. Eureka, CA) on Saturday, September 20, noon - 7 p.m., with presentations about the work at 1, 3, and 5 p.m. Also on display in The Ink People galleries will be the annual “Si, Se Puede! A Celebration of Latin Culture.”

She is a young Zapotec woman who learned the craft of spinning, weaving, designing and dyeing with natural materials from her older family members. The skills have been passed down through the generations of her ancestors. The collective is dedicated to preserving the traditional techniques and methods of creating these beautiful, one-of-a-kind rugs.

Gutierrez is currently touring the West Coast giving presentations about her Zapotec culture and the challenges these women face such as gathering the natural materials for the dyes, taking the raw wool to the river to wash, spinning the wool, producing or creating the design, weaving the rug, and finding a market to sell the rug in today's world. Superimposed on all of this is the challenge of building and maintaining a collective of women weavers in the face of the resistance generated by a very male oriented indigenous society and culture.

Pastora Gutierrez is a very warm and personable individual who is remarkably proud and open about her roots, her lifestyle, and her Zapotec culture. She will be interested in learning from you and building cultural bridges wherever she goes. Attending one of her presentations affords a rare opportunity to glance into a life and culture very different from our own but with so much to offer us. She will be accompanied by a translator, Juanita Rodriguez of Oregon, who is organizing this tour. You can contact Juanita at vidanueva@comcast.net. You can also read more about this project at http://home.comcast.net/~vidanueva.