The Palace of Iturbide is a large palatial residence located in the historic center of Mexico City at Madero Street #17. It was built by the Count of San Mateo Valparaíso as a wedding gift for his daughter. It gained the name “Palace of Iturbide” because Agustín de Iturbide lived there and accepted the crown of the First Mexican Empire at the palace after independence from Spain. Today, the restored building houses the Fomento Cultural Banamex; it has been renamed the Palacio de Cultura Banamex.
The Soteno family of Metepec is one of the main families of ceramic artisans specializing in sculptures called Trees of Life which have made the town found in the State of Mexico one of Mexico’s main ceramic centers. The Tree of Life is a complicated colorful sculpture which was developed from the creation of candlesticks. The family’s prominence began with Modesta Fernández Mata, the mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of the Soteno potters today, who began experimenting making more decorative items along with utilitarian ones. The generations after her have learned the craft and improved on it starting as children working with parents and grandparents. The two most notable members of the family are Tiburcio and Oscar, second and third generation respectively, who have won various awards and have their works in collections worldwide.
Alberto Bautista Gómez is a Mexican potter from Amatenango del Valle, Chiapas. It is a Tzeltal community with a long tradition of pottery making, many learning the craft as children. His grandmother taught him to work with clay when he was fifteen, first making cookware and flowerpots. He then moved on to more decorative items, such as figures of birds, women and children, which became imitated by others in the community. He then began to create lamps in the form of giant tigers and tiger heads, painted in natural colors, which became prized for their artistic quality and have since evolved into sculptures in their own right. Other innovations of his have been to create large vases called “cántaros” with raised designs, and the addition of colored sand and crushed stone to create darker colors and different textures. He works with his wife, Simona López Pérez, obtaining his materials locally and creating most of his works by hand, occasionally using some crude molds.
Elena Felipe and Bernadina Rivera are Purepecha Mexican potters from Huancito, Michoacán known for making towers of stacked storage containers. The two are native speakers of the indigenous language and are sisters-in-law, with Elena married to Bernadina’s brother. Both learned pottery as children and are passing the tradition onto the next generation.
The Aguilar family of Ocotlán de Morelos are from a rural town in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. This town produced only utilitarian items until Isaura Alcantara Diaz began creating decorative figures with her husband Jesus Aguila Revilla. The couple taught their five daughters who continued innovating their own styles and then teaching the two generations after them. Two of the sisters, Guilliermina and Irene have been named “grand masters” by the Fomento Cultural Banamex, for their figures and sets of figures related to the life and traditions of Oaxaca, as well as Mexican icons such as Frida Kahlo and the Virgin of Guadalupe. The younger generations have made their own adaptations with some attaining their own recognition such as Lorenzo Demetrio García Aguilar and Jose Francisco Garcia Vazquez.
Zenón Martínez García was a Mexican potter from Tlaquepaque, Jalisco recognized for his figurines.
Margarita Cruz Sipuach is a Mexican potter from Guachochi, Chihuahua. She learned pottery from her mother, Filomena Sipuachi. Today, she creates various kinds of utilitarian and ceremonial wares, but her specialty is a type of pot called “tesgüineras.” In 2001, she was named a “grand master” by the Fomento Cultural Banamex.
Jesús Carranza Cortés is a Mexican potter from Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, noted for miniatures he creates in his small workshop there. These pieces are of people such as street vendors, farm workers in traditional attire, lovers, mariachis and more. Most are created in scenes that depict Mexico’s past.
Pedro Ruiz Martínez and Odilia Pineda are husband and wife Mexican potters, who work in Capula, Michoacán. This town is noted for its ceramics distinguished by having its designs painted on with small dots in a technique called “punteaje.”
Miguel Chan and Roger Juárez are Mexican potters, partners in producing Mayan culture-inspired pottery in Ticul, in the state of Yucatán. Ticul, along with Mama and Maxcanú are traditional pottery centers for the state, where pieces are made using a k´abal, a rudimentary form of pottery wheel. The pieces are decorated using implements that they make themselves from branches, leather, gourds and feathers.
Felipa Tzeek Naal is a Mexican artisan specializing in traditional Maya palm frond weaving. Her work is well-known regionally and has been recognized by the Fomento Cultural Banamex, who named her a "grand master".
Andrés Uc Dzul (1910–2004) was a Mexican artisan specializing in the creation of palm hats, especially Panama hats. His work was in great demand in the first half of the 20th century, and he was later recognized as a “grand master”.
Rosalinda Cauich Ramirez is a Mexican artisan specializing in basket weaving. Her work has been recognized with various awards.
Ángel Gil is a Mexican artisan who specialized in creating items from ixtle fiber. He has been named a “grand master” of Mexican handcrafts by the Fomento Cultural Banamex.
María Quiñones Carrillo is a Mexican basket maker, who has been named a “grand master” of Mexican handcrafts by the Fomento Cultural Banamex.
The Aguirre family is a Mexican artisan family specializing in inlaid wood items. Two of the family members, Silvano and Francisco, have been named "grand masters" of Mexican folk art by the Fomento Cultural Banamex.
Manuel Jiménez Ramírez was a Mexican carver, sculptor and painter credited as the originator of the Oaxacan version of “alebrijes,” animal creatures carved in wood and painted in strong contrasting colors with intricate designs. He was a charismatic and philosophical person, who believed he was the reincarnation of an artist. He began making animal figures of clay when he was a child but changed to wood carving later, creating human figures, nativity scenes, masks and more as well as the alebrijes. He work can be found in public and private collections in various parts of the world, especially in the United States.
Pablo Dolores Regino is a Mexican laquer artisan from Temalacatzingo, Guerrero.
The Plácido Otilia family is a Mexican family which specializes in the making of traditional musical instruments for the Huapango music of the La Huasteca region.(grandes) The family lives in Texquitote, Matlapa, San Luis Potosí and headed by patriarch Eustacio Plácido Otilia, an ethnic Nahua.
