The International Folk Art Market of 2025 is like going around the world in a weekend without ever leaving the Santa Fe Railyard. “This year is our 21st birthday, so we’re expecting to have a lot of fun,” says Executive Director Stacey Edgar.
International Folk Art Market, July 10-13, 2025
With 142 traditional folk artists representing 57 different countries, Edgar is thrilled about the variety of artists and mediums: textiles in apparel and for the home, handwoven rugs, jewelry, ceramics, woodwork, 2-D art, sculpture, glasswork, handmade paper, leather work, baskets, and metalwork. Among 40 new artists, the market is welcoming Austria and Bhutan for the first time.
“We have such a strong group of artists who are really the culture-bearers for their communities, keeping traditions alive and even reviving cultural traditions,” Edgar says, all of whom exemplify the market’s core values: women’s empowerment, innovation in folk art, sustainability, traditional heritage — and, of course, artistic excellence.
How the Market Comes to Be
The market’s Selection and Artist Placement Committees shape its personality. The Selection Committee reviews over 700 applications each year, whittling them down to those of the highest quality that best represent their traditions. “By my definition, folk art is rooted in a cultural tradition, in a place, and in a community: it’s historically made by the folk, for the folk,” says Selection Committee Chair Cristin McKnight Sethi. Her committee recommends around 300 exceptional applications to the Artist Placement Committee, which further edits them into a market of around 150 artists with variety, scope and appeal. Suzanne Sugg, who chairs the Artist Placement Committee and sits on the Board of Directors, is particularly excited about one of the market’s new artists: Juana Gomez Ramirez from Chiapas, Mexico, who creates beautiful ceramic jaguar sculptures. “You’ll be mesmerized because they really look like they are in motion,” Sugg says.
Both Sugg and Sethi have strong academic and practical backgrounds in art, especially textiles. Sugg studied fashion design, textile, and merchandising and worked in the American wool industry, and, in addition to being an avid art and textile collector herself, designed handbags using antique textiles, leather, recycled mink coats and Tibetan lamb’s wool pelts. “Working with textiles, weaving yardage, needlepoint and knitting yarns, fibers, metals, and clay from my multiple collections and traveling the world has trained my eye in colors, textures, and designs which are very important to looking at traditional folk art from around the world,” she explains.
How to Explore the Best International Folk Art Market
Sethi is a curator, educator and writer with more than two decades of experience working with textiles and craft-based media. In addition to her work with the Folk Art Market, she serves on the editorial board of The Textile Museum Journal and is the Director of Education at Textile Center, a national center for fiber art based in Minneapolis, MN. Sethi advises Folk Art Market visitors to give themselves a full day — if not the whole weekend — to revel in the experience of the beautiful handmade art. “The pleasure of the market is taking it slowly, stopping to look at the things that catch your eye, to touch the fabric, to turn over a ceramic pot to see what the foot looks like,” she says. “Give yourself time to enjoy the pleasure of looking.”
In addition to the art, the market offers on-stage live music and dance, roving buskers, artist demonstrations, and hands-on workshops. Even in the days leading up to the market, there’s lots to see. On Wednesday evening, July 9, the IFAM Community Celebration Parade kicks off the market, bringing every country up on stage to celebrate their artists, followed by a concert of global musicians at the Railyard Water Tower.
Special Features of 2025’s International Folk Art Market
Once the market is in full swing, the fun doesn’t stop. On Friday afternoon, July 11, there will be a lecture with two experts in textiles and biodiversity from National Geographic, discussing how what we wear brings us closer to nature — or pushes us farther away. On Saturday evening, July 12 the market is partnering with AMP Productions to host a Saturday Night Market and concert.
Sunday is IFAM’s community day, made possible by a partnership with New Mexico True. You’ll still need a ticket, but attendance is free. “It’s really our family day,” Edgar says, with a children’s passport program where kids can collect stickers from each of the countries, giving them an opportunity to talk to the artists and ask questions. “We want to make sure that the market’s accessible so that anybody who wants to attend, can,” Edgar says.
Story by Annabella Farmer
Photos by Gabriella Marks
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