VirtuArte.com

For many Americans, the end of October is a time reserved for costumes, tricks and treats.  In Mexico, however, this time is spent preparing for Dia de los Muertos, observed on the 1st and 2nd of November.  Dia de los Muertos is a time for celebrating the lives of deceased friends and family members.  It might sound bleak to Americans, but it's a holiday celebrated with much joy.  Time is spent remembering good times.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival ended yesterday and if you live in Washington, DC I hope you had the opportunity to attend.  As stated in our previous Blog post the Festival is an international exposition of living cultural heritage that was started in 1967.  This year's Festival highlighted Colombia's bio-cultural diversity, the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corp and the powerful influence of rhythm and blues music in American popular culture.

An annual rite of summer in Washington, DC is the Smithsonian Folklife Festival held outdoors on the Mall.  The Festival is an international exposition of living cultural heritage annually produced by the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.  It begins next Thursday, 30 June through the 4th of July and continues on Thursday, 7 July through 11 July.

Tomorrow is Earth Day!!  This year's theme is A Billion Acts of Green.  Have you made your Act of Green pledge yet?  To mark this day we decided to do two things:

• Feature artists whose Act of Green is to work with artisans in Brazil to create eco-friendly, fashion forward products; and
• Offer one winner the opportunity to select a gift from one of our three featured artists. (Read further to learn how to enter.)

The last artist to be featured this month is Patricia Amsellem.

In honor of Earth Day we are continuing to feature artists who are working with artisans to create eco-friendly, fashion forward products.  This post features Escama Studio, a collaborative design studio based in California and Brazil.

As stated in our previous blog post, during the month of April and in honor of Earth Day we will be featuring three artists who work with artisans to create eco-friendly products from recycled and/or natural materials.

One of the reasons I started VirtuArte was to introduce unique, high quality arts and crafts not widely seen and/or available outside of the locations they are made in to an international clientele. As most of you know I love looking for such items to add to the VirtuArte collection. Over the past year jewelry made from tagua nuts has caught my eye.