Image: Still from Artbound episode Artesanos/Artisans.
The highly skilled labor of artisans migrating from Mexico and Latin America are the backbone of high-end design and retail in Los Angeles, producing exquisite furniture, textiles, and design goods. But they represent a creative force that seems invisible to the city. Artbound uncovers their stories and their role in making Los Angeles and Southern California the creative capital of the world in a new documentary Artesanos, debuting May 17 at 9 p.m. on KCET. Check for rebroadcasts here.
The history of traditional crafts in Los Angeles goes back to before the city was founded, to the woven baskets and soapstone carvings of the Tongva, and to the lavish Mexica markets of Tenochtitlan described in The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Spanish conquistador Bernal Diaz. The craftspeople of the Los Angeles of today, while representing many immigrant communities from across the globe, still have strong representation from the population that holds the largest majority, Mexican immigrants. Today, Mexican artisans are not only families who carry on traditional crafts like embroidery within and for their own communities, but are also laborers who produce high-end goods for stores selling luxury home d cor, ranging from a perfectly hand-upholstered couch to a unique glass blown light fixture. They inhabit a part of the creative industry still invisible to many. These cultural practices represent survival that is both economic, but also social, and based in identity.
Xochitl Flores-Marcial, an assistant professor of history at Cal State Northridge, and the daughter of Oaxacan immigrants, says that many of the Mexican artisans in Los Angeles today emigrated as a result of the Mexican peso crisis of 1982. The inability to survive within their own home country pushed many people, often from rural areas, to places like Los Angeles, bringing with them their cultures and traditions. Those that are able to continue their craft and artisanal practice as a source of livelihood are few, perhaps based on the reality of having to survive in a system that is unfamiliar and not set up in their favor. Flores-Marcial says that in some cases craftspeople themselves don't even recognize that they have a special skill. They just think it's something they know or it's just like a job. They don't necessarily see it as an art. While this might be the case for some artisans who grew up in towns that specialized in a traditional form, say pottery or weaving, and then lose that practice once they move outside of their home, others manage to keep these traditions alive in their everyday. The reality is that many immigrant families are maintaining a traditional craft whether it be culinary, textile based, or some other form amongst their families and immediate communities, even if not for a market.
Image: Still from Artbound episode Artesanos/Artisans.
--
--
Quetzal Flores of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA), an organization that supports and promotes traditional artists, and himself a traditional artist, remarks that families practicing their culture in this way demonstrates that they consider it important, even if it's not visible or valued in the mainstream. The fact that they do it, tells you that they do value it. Flores mentions that the communities he has worked with, including indigenous Pur pecha communities in the eastern Coachella Valley, many of them now farmworkers, express a sense of pride and value in having learned a craft through tradition, one that was passed down by one family member to another, and eventually to them. There's this trajectory they demonstrate without asking. It's telling of who these people are and what they value -- the importance of lineage, of understanding your place as a piece to a larger whole.
Another characteristic Flores-Marcial observes within immigrant artisans in particular, is a kind of dedication that comes from being a person who has both been pushed to leave their home, but has also chosen hope and desire to improve their life. People who already have a sensibility for creating things with their hands, but then who also have the driving energy that comes from being migrants, and hoping to succeed in a place that is not their home, in a place that sometimes is not welcoming to them, sets them apart Flores-Marcial asserts. On the other hand, practicing a craft can also come with the challenges of entering into a dominant context that may or may not appreciate these forms or the people who are producing them. Flores of ACTA describes a kind of trauma that people carry with them from being shunned both in their home contexts and as immigrants in the U.S. There is harm that has been committed against these folks back home because they're indigenous but also here, coming here and being made fun of for wearing these clothes in the fields for example, or speaking their language in the fields. The decision to continue practicing tradition then also becomes a sign of resilience and a clear belief in preserving one's identity and sense of self.
Still from Artbound episode Artesanos/Artisans.
The connection between tradition, identity, indigenous cultures, and craft is an important one. For curator Bill Kelley Jr., it can also pose a challenge in how we perceive the craft objects and the communities who produce them. He says the objects are always expected to be frozen in the past and our concept of that indigenous person has to be frozen in the past. It limits our thinking on craft as a form, as well as what the artists can do with it. Its a hindrance for thinking about it, but it's also a hindrance for the producers, he shares. The solution is based in people letting go of an idea of a pure cultural form, and understanding how craft h
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
06/05/2026
Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...
06/05/2026
For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...
06/05/2026
ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing
Brie Clayton May 6, 2026
0 Comments
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a nove...
06/05/2026
Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Med...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI assiste...
06/05/2026
SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, is proud to launch a dramatic new approach to AI content creati...
06/05/2026
When the broadband and media industry gathers at ANGA COM in Cologne from May 19 to 21, Big Blue Marble will be at the forefront. The international broadcast an...
06/05/2026
Cinegy GmbH, a leading developer of software-defined television technology, is proud to exhibit at MPTS for the first time. Visitors to the stand will discover ...
06/05/2026
Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award Jeanty, a composer, percussionist, and turntablist, is the fourth Berklee recipient of the prestigious award ...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin for RF failure in live broadcast. As Chi...
06/05/2026
Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...
06/05/2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 6, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced its latest broadband innovations for ANGA COM 2026, highlighting its vision for a new e...
06/05/2026
Statement from Rupert Murdoch, Chairman Emeritus, Fox Corporation on Ted Turner&...
06/05/2026
Friday 8 May on RT One and RT Player
Meet the NSPCA team caring for and protecting animals in need in this six-part series
Fly on the wall, six-part series...
06/05/2026
The race to build the world's most powerful AI factories demands networking ...
06/05/2026
How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies Scripps Research team maps how chemical modifications to proteins affect drug bi...
05/05/2026
Experts from the world of academia, tech, business, politics and media convened for a Thomson Talks at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit in April. It's th...
05/05/2026
Three phones were hardwired for power and transmission to the truck; camera feat...
05/05/2026
The creative studio behind campaigns for the NBA, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, ...
05/05/2026
Nielsen has announced results from a co-viewing pilot program covering February&...
05/05/2026
viztrick AiDi, an on-device AI solution developed by Nippon TV, delivered global...
05/05/2026
ARRI has announced Omnibar, a battery-powered, IP65-rated multi-color LED linear...
05/05/2026
Imagine Communications has announced that France T l visions is the first broadc...
05/05/2026
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Bell Media today announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada beginni...
05/05/2026
SVG is proud to announce Warner Bros. Discovery's Techwood Studios in Atlant...
05/05/2026
With no operator required, AutoMic workflow automates talent identification on U...
05/05/2026
A crash in 2015 set the industry back, but this winter proved that drones are he...
05/05/2026
Another year, and more proof that Asia continues to shape some of the world's most exciting new sounds. This year's RADAR artists draw from deep local r...
05/05/2026
The Austin City Limits Music Fest 2026 lineup just dropped, and this year, Spoti...
05/05/2026
New drum machine book campaign incoming
Bjooks have announced that during Superbooth 2026, they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the product...
05/05/2026
Flagship all-in-one production bundle updated
The latest version of Native Instruments' flagship virtual instrument and plug-in bundle has just been ann...
05/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engine...
05/05/2026
L3Harris provides communications, electronic warfare, sensors and mission systems that enable Virginia-class submarine crews to operate with confidence in conte...
05/05/2026
The company grew by 7.6% in net revenue and 16.3% in EBITDA, achieving a 33% inc...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Image: Still from Artbound episode Artesanos/Artisans. 
