Intensive Natural Dye Weekend with Textile Artist Porfirio Gutiérrez
Schedule
Sat, 24 Jan, 2026 at 10:00 am to Sun, 25 Jan, 2026 at 04:00 pm
UTC-08:00Location
2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, CA, United States, California 93105 | Santa Barbara, CA
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Join us for an unforgettable two-day weekend workshop featuring 11 hours of hands-on instruction in the traditional use of cochineal insect dye. Learn directly from the renowned Zapotec-American multidisciplinary textile artist Porfirio Gutiérrez as you practice techniques for mordanting wool, grinding cochineal, preparing the dye vat, and dying a wool scarf to take home.One of the oldest pigments used in Mexico, cochineal’s red color was symbolically associated with the gods, sun, blood, and rituals. Used as medicine, as well as to decorate buildings, murals, codices, and the human body, it was culturally, symbolically, and economically valuable. For Gutiérrez, cochineal and its color are still sacred and precious. A direct descendant of the civilization that helped domesticate and develop this globally influential pigment, he teaches the deeper cultural context beyond the surface of cochineal’s vivid red.
For ages 16 and up; teens 16–17 must be accompanied by someone 18+. This workshop will be held outdoors, January 24–25, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM, and participants should wear layers, sun protection, and comfortable clothing that might get dirty or colored. Bring a notebook, lunch, and water bottle. Instructor is bilingual and ready to support Spanish-speaking participants by request.
Advance registration required. Sign up online while space lasts: https://tickets.sbnature.org/events/019a9ad1-1f10-26d6-84b6-83f5c4dd3128
General admission: $300
Members: $280
Not a Member yet? Join us today at sbnature.org/membership
Whet your appetite for this workshop during a talk and special sale of the artist’s functional work on Friday, January 9: sbnature.org/visit/calendar/8944/ancestral-materials-modernism-fiber-artist-porfirio-gutierrez Both events are brought to you with support from the Christel Bejenke fund. For more information about either event, contact [email protected].
More About the Artist
An internationally known and exhibited artist based in Ventura, CA, Porfirio Gutiérrez has taught materials and color at Harvard University, and serves as Fellowships Advisory for the Smithsonian. His work is in the collection of LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the Tucson Museum of Art. A selection of his dye materials was also documented and added to Harvard Art Museums’ Forbes Pigment Collection, the world-renowned archive of artist materials. In 2015, he received the Smithsonian Institution’s Artist in Leadership fellow, in 2021 he received the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Art Prize, and in 2023 he was the finalist for Frieze Art Prize. His work has been covered by ARTnews, The New York Times, PBS, the BBC, Vogue, and Artforum.
Process photo by Liz Fish
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Where is it happening?
2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, CA, United States, California 93105Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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