Tucson, AZ—The Southwest Folklife Alliance (SFA) is thrilled to announce that Carmen Baron, a maker of Mexican folk costume, has been named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. The program recognizes recipients’ artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage.

 

For Baron, who was born in 1960 in the town of Atil, Sonora, Mexico, and raised nearby in Altar, sewing was a necessity growing up. On her grandmother's pedal machine, she learned from her mother to make dresses without patterns. At 13, Baron moved to the US, where her father was born, and later studied architecture at the University of Arizona. While working as a structural and architectural designer, she also studied Mexican folk dance. She danced for seven years with Instituto de Folklore Mexicano in Tucson and volunteered as the group’s seamstress. Following the death of her teacher and the end of Instituto de Folklore Mexicano, Baron formed her own dance group, Danzacultura Mexicana, to pass on her knowledge of the traditional dances to new generations. Since 1997, Baron has taught Mexican folk dance and made nearly all the costumes for Danzacultura students.

 

Baron’s costumes have been exhibited at the Presidio San Agustin Tortilla Festival in Tucson, the La Canoa Ranch in Green Valley, Arizona, and the Tucson Meet Yourself festival. In 2016, SFA awarded Baron its annual Master-Apprentice Artist Award to support her work sharing her knowledge of traditional folklórico costumes and sewing with her first apprentice. In 2017, the City of Tucson’s Parks & Recreation Department recognized Baron with the Commissioners Award for her thousands of volunteer hours at its El Rio Neighborhood Center. 

 

“Carmen Baron demonstrates the devotion, patience, skill, and eye for beauty that Mexican folklórico costumes require. From embroidered jackets to circular skirts decorated with colorful hand-sewn ribbon, these costumes animate different geographic regions in Mexico. Baron’s work allows these dances to flourish with bold vibrance. A true master of her craft, Baron has also spent countless, patient hours sharing her knowledge with young learners, demonstrating the essence of passing on cultural heritage,” said SFA Executive Director Maribel Alvarez.

 

This year the NEA awarded seven National Heritage Fellowships. Other awardees include a Haitian dancer and drummer in Queens, a Bon Odori folk dance teacher and choreographer in California, a silversmith and bit and spur maker Wyoming, a Creole musician in Texas, a traditional Lakota artist and educator in Nebraska, and the Ukrainan Bandurist Chorus of North America in Detroit, Michigan. See all 2025 fellows here.

 

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