by Kimi Eisele AUTHOR'S NOTE: In 2018, SFA awarded a Master-Apprentice Artist Award to Stella Tucker, a Tohono O’odham elder and teacher, in honor of her work upholding the tradition of the baidaj, or annual saguaro fruit harvest. The award provided support for Stella’s work passing along the tradition to her daughter, Tanisha Tucker. Stella’s …
Archives for January 2019
Confianza en la Frontera: A Cultural Glimpse at the Nogales Produce Industry
Text by Nicholas Hartmann, Photos by Alex Jimenez In 2015-16, SFA Folklorist-in-Residence Nicholas Hartmann carried out an ethnographic study of the Nogales Produce Industry. The research was supported by the Archie Green Fellowship of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. A monograph of his research is now available online. …
Thinking Like a Folklorist: A Photo Is Not Reality
Story and photographs by Steven Meckler When I was in middle school, I had a dream in which I was walking around framing things I saw with a little black frame in my mind’s eye. The next day I asked my parents to buy me a camera. Little did I know this would be the beginning of my life’s work. A friend taught me how to process film and make …
Embodying the Spirit of Tucson Meet Yourself
Former Tucson Meet Yourself board member, Ralph Colwell died of cancer on December 12, 2018 at the age of 81. We remember him for his service to the organization and for helping to carry the festival into its current phase. "Ralph was very positive, generous person and a joy to work with," said Jim Griffith, folklorist and founder of …
New Ethnography of the Nogales Produce Industry
SFA is please to announce the publication of "Confianza en la Frontera: A Cultural Glimpse at the Nogales Produce Industry," by Nicholas Hartmann. The study looks at the produce industry in Nogales, Arizona, where generations of families have passed on knowledge and practices about transporting, storing, and marketing Mexican-grown vegetables in …