Editing Alebrije (section)

=== San Martin Tilcajete ===
[[File:AlebrijeShopStatue.JPG|thumb|Large alebrije outside a shop in San Martin Tilcajete]]
Of the three major carving towns, San Martin Tilcajete has experienced the most success.<ref name="chibnik" /> This success is mostly due to carver Isidro Cruz, who learned to carve when he was thirteen during a long illness in the late 1940s. His work was sold locally and eventually noticed by Tonatiúh Gutierrez, the director of expositions for the Mexican National Tourist Council, later a government agency in charge of promoting crafts. He encouraged Cruz to carve masks and later appointed him in charge of a state craft buying center. Cruz worked at this for four years, learning much about craft selling and getting others from Tilcajete connected to the market. Unlike other carvers, Cruz was open about his techniques and by the late 1970s, about ten men were carving and selling in Tilcajete. Cruz not only taught his methods to others, he was able to purchase many of his neighbors' works.<ref name="chibnik" /><ref name="mniches" /> Cruz's efforts stimulated new styles of carving, such as alebrijes, and their sale in the city of Oaxaca.<ref name="mniches" /> By the 1980s, there were four families devoted to carving full-time, with the rest splitting their time between crafts and agriculture.<ref name="serrano" /> Through the 1960s and to the 1980s, embroidered shirts, blouses and dresses were still a well-received craft from Tilcajete,<ref name="jacobo" /> but by the end of the 1980s, most families were involved in carving alebrijes.<ref name="serrano" />

Today, the carving of alebrijes is the economic base of Tilcajete.<ref name="mmartinez" /> Every Friday on the main square is the "[[tianguis]] del alebrije" or weekly market selling wooden figures. The event allows visitors to purchase items from local craftsmen directly. There are usually also vendors selling other local products such as ice cream as well.<ref name="feriahome">{{cite web|url=http://www.feriadelalebrije.org.mx/ |title=Bienvenidos a la Tierra del Alebrije/Welcome to the Land of the Alebrijes |publisher=Committee Comunitario de Artesanos |location=San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca |language=es |access-date=April 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525112949/http://www.feriadelalebrije.org.mx/ |archive-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Annually, the municipality holds its Feria del Alebrije (Alebrije Festival), which features alebrije sales and exhibitions, music, dance and theatre. There are also offerings of local and regional cuisine. More than 100 vendors attend, selling alebrijes, textiles, local dishes, artwork and locally made alcoholic beverages.<ref name="feriaferia">{{cite web|url=http://www.feriadelalebrije.org.mx/feria.html |title=LA FERIA DEL ALEBRIJE |publisher=Committee Comunitario de Artesanos |location=San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca |language=es |access-date=April 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526171611/http://www.feriadelalebrije.org.mx/feria.html |archive-date=26 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="segunda">{{cite news|title=Segunda Feria del Alebrije en Oaxaca |url=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8669697 |newspaper=Milenio |location=Mexico City |date=November 11, 2007 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |language=es |trans-title=Second Feria de Alebrije in Oaxaca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112153751/http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8669697 |archive-date=January 12, 2010 }}</ref>  It is sponsored by the Master Craftsmen Group of Tilcajete (Grupo de Maestros Talladoes de Tilcajete), which includes Hedilberto Olivera, Emilia Calvo, Roberta Ángeles, Juventino Melchor, Martin Melchor, Margarito Melchor Fuentes, Margarito Melchor Santiago, José Olivera Pérez, Jesús Melchor García, {{Not a typo|Inocente}} Vásquez, María Jiménez, Cira Ojeda, Jacobo and María Ángeles, Justo Xuana, Victor Xuana, Rene Xuana, Abad Xuana, Flor and Ana Xuana, Rogelio Alonso, who works in papier-mâché, and Doris Arellano, who is a painter.<ref name="shinnaa" />

Some of the better known artisans in Tilcajete include Delfino Gutierrez, sisters Ana and Marta Bricia Hernandez, the family of Efrain and Silvia Fuentes, Coindo Melchor, Margarito Melchor and Maria Jimenez. Delfino Gutierrez specializes in free-form elephants, frogs, turtles, armadillos and more<ref name="moon">{{cite web|url=http://www.moon.com/destinations/oaxaca/oaxaca-valley/south-crafts-route/crafts-villages/san-martin-tilcajete |title=San Martín Tilcajete |publisher=Moon Handbooks |access-date=April 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312225603/http://www.moon.com/destinations/oaxaca/oaxaca-valley/south-crafts-route/crafts-villages/san-martin-tilcajete |archive-date=12 March 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which are sold in stores in Chicago, California, New York and [[Israel]].<ref name="chretien">{{cite news |title= Oaxaca: El estado y su artesania |first= Chretien  |last=Schatorie |newspaper=Reforma |location=Mexico City |date=November 1, 1998 |page=4 |language=es |trans-title=Oaxaca:The estate and its crafts }}</ref> The Hernandez sisters sell primarily from their home and known for their painting style. The Fuentes family gained fame from Efrain's carving talents. He was featured in an exhibit in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe, NM]] when he was only 13 and his work has been featured in at least one book.<ref name="mmartinez" /> Margarito Melchor specializes in cats, and Coindo Melchor carves elaborate ox teams with bulls, driver, and a cart filled with animals and crops as well as creatures that have been described as "bird headed women." Maria Jimenez and her brothers specialize in saints and angels as well as some animals. Maria is the best known painter in the Oaxacan community. She says that she has about thirty designs that she has developed for carvings, many of which are related to when she made embroidered dresses.<ref name="mniches" />

The most successful artisan is Jacobo Angeles, whose work have been prominently displayed at [[The Smithsonian]] and the [[National Museum of Mexican Art]] in Chicago.<ref name="jacobo" /> It can also be found in numerous museums, art colleges and galleries in the world. Jacobo learned to carve from his father when he was twelve, and later was mentored by elders in his and other communities. While alebrijes designs have been innovative and incorporating modern elements, the Angeles family's designs focus on representations of Zapotec culture. This can be seen in the painted designs, based on influences such as the [[frieze]]s of [[Mitla]], and other ancient symbols as well as the continued use in aniline paints made from natural ingredients such as the bark of the copal tree, baking soda, lime juice, pomegranate seeds, zinc, indigo, huitlacoche and cochineal. Each year, Jacobo travels the United States to promote Oaxacan folk art in general to educational institution as well as a speaker at art institutions.<ref name="jacobo" />