Traditional Artist Spotlight: Maria de Jesus Gonzales Laguna

Maria de Jesus Gonzales Laguna was born in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1969. Gonzales Laguna became interested in Mexican Folklore through her adolescent experiences of rural and city lifeways. In 1992 Gonzales Laguna received a Fine Arts degree from the Casa de la Cultra de Celaya, got married, and moved to the United States.

Gonzales Laguna’s passion for Mexican Folklore has been teaching her family and others who have either moved away from Mexico or  are of Mexican heritage. Gonzales Laguna provides the geographic, historical, and cultural context of each region in Mexico while teaching traditional clothing techniques, music, and dance styles. She and her students perform for individuals for Latino communities and also invite people from other cultural backgrounds to learn and participate in traditional Mexican arts.

Please visit this link to see a video with examples of traditional Mexican dance narrated in both English and Spanish.

Southern Oregon Folklife Survey: Douglas Manger

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded the Oregon Folklife Network funding to conduct folklife field surveys and documentation of traditions in the southern Oregon counties. Folklorists LuAnne Kozma and Douglas Manger will be conducting the fieldwork. Kozma will be in Lake and Klamath counties starting at the end of October/ beginning of November (back in the spring!) while Manger will be in Harney and Malheur counties in April but will be begin contacting individuals in November. Read on for more information about Douglas Manger.

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Southern Oregon Folklife Survey: LuAnne Kozma

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded the Oregon Folklife Network funding to conduct folklife field surveys and documentation of traditions in the southern Oregon counties. Folklorists LuAnne Kozma and Douglas Manger will be conducting the fieldwork. Kozma will be in Lake and Klamath counties starting at the end of October/ beginning of November (back in the spring!) while Manger will be in Harney and Malheur counties in April but will be begin contacting individuals in November. Read on for more information about LuAnne Kozma.

Continue reading

Southern Oregon Folklife Survey

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded the Oregon Folklife Network funding to conduct folklife field surveys and documentation of traditions in the southern Oregon counties. Folklorists LuAnne Kozma and Douglas Manger will be conducting the fieldwork. Kozma will be in Lake and Klamath counties starting at the end of October/ beginning of November (back in the spring!) while Manger will be in Harney and Malheur counties in April but will be begin contacting individuals in November.
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