About
Colcha embroidery is a textile practice that came to Colorado's San Luis Valley from Northern New Mexico in the 19th Century and has been shaped by revival movements into a pictorial art that often illustrates local architecture, landscapes, community traditions, personal narratives, and folklore.
Artists
In the 1980's, Sister Alice Lawler from the Sisters of Divine Providence in Center oversaw the production of a large embroidery of the Virgin of Guadalupe for the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Alamosa. Designed by a single nun, Sister Angelo Lobato, and stitched by a group of parishioners, the colcha embroidery of the Virgin of Guadalupe is thought to be the largest example of contemporary colcha embroidery in the San Luis Valley. 
Rita Lobato Crespin is Josephine Lobato's daughter. She learned to stitch from her mother through a Master-Apprentice grant from the Colorado Council on the Arts in 1993. She is a retired probation officer who lives in Canon City, and continues to work on colchas that document her family's genealogy. 
Inspired by Appalachian craft cooperatives, the Sisters of Divine Providence and local women established the Artes Del Valle co-op in 1973 as a way to train locals in traditional Hispanic crafts, such as colcha embroidery, weaving, and pottery. Sister Alice Lawler met Carmen Benavente Orrego-Salas during one of Carmen's workshops in Northern New Mexico and invited her to teach embroidery to the women of Center as a way for them to supplement their income. The Sisters operated out of Center's La Frontera building and established the San Juan Art Center at the nearby La Garita Church as a work and demonstration space. Colcha embroidery work in Center was focused on embroidering ornamentation of local flora and Hispanic motifs onto fabric that was then cut and sewn into skirts, vests, and handbags by a co-op seamstress. 
Participating Artes Del Valle artists included Betsy Baca, Melissa Carter, Lucille Espinoza, Lupita Espinoza, Fran Jaramillo, Ora Jaramillo, Luella LeBlanc, Lucy Lovato, Emilia Lucero, Emilianita Lujan, Lydia Martinez, Nora Martinez, Cleo Salas, Adeline Sanchez, Clorinda Sanchez, Elaine Sanchez, Sally Sanchez, Stella Sanchez, Margaret Sandoval, Jeanette Trujillo, Clara Valdez, Grace Vigil, Ursula Vigil, and Bertie Vargas. 
Carmen Benavente Orrego-Salas is a Chilean artist and teacher. She had a successful program supporting women in Ninhue, Chile to make pictorial embroidery, which led to her teaching work in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. 
Lydia Martinez was an Artes Del Valle artist from Center, Colorado. 
Mary Taylor participated in the San Luis Ladies Sewing Circle in the 1980's and 1990's. 
at The Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities, 2023 Kathryn Nelson is a photographer that documented artists and their surroundings in the San Luis Valley from 1978 to 1981 with a grant from the Colorado Arts and Humanities Council. She went on to make the slide show documentary Los Testamentos (1980) about the work of Eppie Archuleta and Tiva Trujillo. She then completed a documentary around Grover, Colorado called Grassland Women. 
Sandy Dolak is a fourth-generation Coloradoan, retired from a 40+ year career as a Nurse Practitioner. Beyond her professional life, her enduring passion has always been working with fiber, particularly wool. Living in the Four Corners region, she developed a deep appreciation for the rich history and significance of Churro sheep. She came to colcha embroidery through the San Luis stitching group. Through their guidance, she found a perfect creative niche that combines her love for fiber arts with the cultural heritage of the region. 
Aurora Martinez was born in Center, Colorado. She is retired from a career in public school teaching. She came to colcha embroidery through the San Luis stitching group in 2017, and grew up around the women in Center that participated in the Artes del Valle group that worked at the San Juan Arts Center in La Garita. Her mother-in-law is the artist Lydia Martinez. 
Colcha embroidery revival came to Saguache in 1976 under the tutelage of Carmen Benavente Orrego-Salas, who was hired by the Virginia Neal Blue Foundation, a Denver based non profit organization. Saguache is a small town at the northern end of the San Luis Valley. The colcha embroidery project brought together participating artists including Mary Baker, Cathy Baxter, Margaret 'Mugs' Batchelder, Mary Anne Gallegos, Patsy Garcia, Margie Gurule, Yvonne Halburian, Brenda Lovato, Sandra Lovato, Virginia 'Bena' Lovato, Mary Pacheco, Sadie Pacheco, Marcella Quintana, Nettie Quintana, Brenda Rowe Heckathorne, Francis Russell, Lupe Tafoya, Nyla Thompson Orvis, Evelyn Trujillo, Tiva Trujillo, and Delores Worley. 
Mary Baker participated in the colcha embroidery revival in Saguache in the 1970's. 
Adrienne Garbini is an artist, writer, and curator living in Saguache, Colorado. She is the Programs Manager for HEART of Saguache and an organizer of The Range art space, and coordinates the San Luis Valley Colcha Embroidery Project. 
Patsy Garcia is an artist who organized the colcha embroidery revival in Saguache in the 1970's. She had a long career in mental health and organized the Saguache Headstart program, while serving on the Saguache Neighborhood Community Council. 
Peggy Garcia Williams is a Saguache artist who learned as a child from her mother Patsy in the 1970's. She works in early childhood education and is a Town of Saguache Trustee, a Town of Saguache Historic Preservation Commissioner, and a member of the HEART of Saguache Resident Team. 
Virginia 'Bena' Lovato participated in the colcha embroidery revival in Saguache in the 1970's. 
Loretta Rose Lujan was born in Saguache and lives in Colorado Springs, learning colcha embroidery from her sister Patsy Garcia. 
Trent Segura is a researcher, writer, and artist based out of Denver and Saguache, Colorado. He is a member of the contemporary art collective M12 Studio and is the communications and marketing director for HEART of Saguache, where he helps to coordinate the San Luis Valley Colcha Embroidery Project. Trent learned colcha embroidery from Costura de Saguache artist Delores Worley. 
Evelyn Trujillo participated in the colcha embroidery revival in Saguache in the 1970's. 
Tiva Trujillo participated in the colcha embroidery revival in Saguache in the 1970's. 
Delores Worley participated in the colcha embroidery revival in Saguache in the 1970's and recorded the history of the artists in Saguache in her book Así es la Colcha. 
The Town of San Luis is often described as the oldest town in Colorado. San Luis is part of the only recognized land grant community in Southern Colorado and is home to the largest agricultural commons in the country. There have been sewing groups meeting regularly in the community on and off for the last 47 years. The collection of Sangre de Cristo Heritage Center in San Luis has works by Sally Chavez, Janice Cisneros, Pacifica La Combe, Esther Esquibel de Romero, Elsie Gallegos, Lita Lobato, Mary Martinez, Daisy Ortega, Joyce Romero, Sostena Sandoval Cleven, Julia Valdez, Tina Valdez, Mary 'Tiola' Vialpando, and Mary Vigil de Rodriguez. Evangeline Salazar's Sangre de Cristo Health Center hangs in the office of the Town clinic. The current San Luis colcha group started in 2017 through the organizational efforts of Marcella Pacheco, with instruction provided by New Mexican practitioners. 
Maria Eufemia Barela is a San Luis area artist and teacher who lives in the village of San Francisco. 
Josephine is a San Luis artist living in Westminister. She is a storyteller, a great-great grandmother, a teacher, a historian, and a retired museum curator and director. In 2019 she was awarded the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She is the recipient of a Colorado Heritage Award and a Colorado Council on the Arts Master-Apprentice Fellowship. 
Connie Mamich Morrell is an artist and nun living in the San Luis area. She keeps llamas, and is a spinner and a weaver. 
Donna Madrid Hernandez is a San Luis artist that began her colcha embroidery work in 2007 through a workshop with Josephine Lobato. She is a native of the town of San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado. She teaches colcha embroidery to all ages and coordinates a monthly stitching group in San Luis. 
Mary Olivas participated in the San Luis Ladies Sewing Circle in the 1980's and 1990's. 
Daisy Ortega was a member of the first group of San Luis artists organized by the Virginia Neal Blue Foundation in the 1970's. 
Sostena Sandoval Cleven was a member of the first group of San Luis artists organized by the Virginia Neal Blue Foundation in the 1970's. 
Tina Valdez was a member of the first group of San Luis artists organized by the Virginia Neal Blue Foundation in the 1970's. 
Judy Vigil is a Pueblo based artist from San Luis. She participated in the colcha embroidery revival in the 1970's through the Virginia Neal Blue Program. Her artwork was featured in the 2023 Colcha Embroidery SLV show at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, which led to the return of her artwork from the City of Arvada. She is influenced in work by her strong faith and her mother Beatrice Vigil Vialpando. 
Mary Vigil de Rodriguez is a San Luis artist who participated in the colcha embroidery revival in the 1970's. 
Cumbres & Toltec Train Trip, 2024 
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