Saintly showcase: San Felipe de Neri Santero Market features more than 25 artists

A beloved traditional folk art form in New Mexico will be on full display at the San Felipe de Neri Santero Market.

The event, which is celebrating its 20th year, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, at the San Felipe de Neri Parish, located at 2005 N. Plaza St. NW in Old Town.

“It’s just fantastic, it’s a wonderful event,” said Adrian Montoya, santero artist and Santero Market committee member. “(Eventgoers should) talk to the artists, ask them questions about their work. They will tell you stories and the meanings behind them, and their inspiration behind the art piece and kind of why they’re there.”

Saintly showcase: San Felipe de Neri Santero Market features more than 25 artists

The market will feature more than 25 santero artists.

“A santero is one who creates holy images,” Montoya said. “We have some people who do jewelry, who have some crosses, and then there’s a connection from the Spanish Colonial times with the filigree jewelry and the silversmithing, which ties into it today.”

The Santero Market is a juried show and artists will be coming from various parts of New Mexico including Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Grants.

“We technically try and look for artists that are traditional and contemporary,” Montoya said. “Some of the artists that we do have are Traditional Spanish Market artists and Contemporary Market artists. We look at those guys and then we give out applications for them. Sometimes we have some new people who are coming into the market for the first time and trying to showcase their work. So this is a good platform for them as a new artist.”

Montoya’s 14-year-old mentee, Selycia Abeyta, will be part of the market.

“Her parents came up to me during market one year and asked if I’d be interested in showing their daughter an additional art form,” he explained. “She already does weaving and she’s really good at it. So, they wanted to expand her knowledge into the art form, and they asked if I would be interested in helping her. So I took it.”

Montoya said mentoring youth carries on the tradition of santero art.

“There’s a few of us there, artists that are in the Santero Market, that are mentors,” he added. “So it’s myself, and then there’s Felipe Rivera, who teaches youth as well. So we’re just trying to pass on the tradition to them. And one of the other artists that’s going to be there, Margarito Mondragon, he was one of my mentors when I was growing up.”

Montoya said learning more about his religion led him to become a santero.

“Just trying to understand my faith a little bit more,” he said of what piqued his interest in santero art. “I was trying to figure out why there’s saints in the churches, their statues, and I wanted to know more about them and why. I grew up with the art form through my dad. He introduced me (to santero art) and we started doing it. I just fell in love with the art form and the story and the history of it.”