It was a simple trip to Michael’s that set the whole thing in motion. While browsing through the crafts store, Crystal O’Brien, director of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council, spotted The Crafty Chica Collection, a tome by Kathy Cano Murillo, whose “Crafty Chica” empire includes a website and blog, along with a series of Latino-centric craft books and craft kits focusing on recycled materials. O’Brien was so enamored of Murillo’s projects that she contacted the Chica herself and asked if she’d give the okay to CHAC offering classes based on them. The result was an emphatic yes, and from 2 to 4 p.m. today, CHAC will hold its debut Crafty Chica Workshop. “We’re so excited that she gave us her permission,” O’Brien says, noting that Murillo’s sensibilities match CHAC’s perfectly. “We’ve been trying to do adult classes for a long time, so this is like the first step. You always have to take a first step.”
The initial project will be creating a casita, a little house-shaped shrine that you can hang on a wall. For a $25 fee, CHAC will provide materials, instruction and refreshments. Future workshops, scheduled for the fourth Saturday of every month and all drawing from the Crafty Chica Collection book, include stamped folk-art boxes and Mexicali mini-lights for decorating summer porches. Registration is required; visit www.chacweb.org or call 303-571-0440.
Sat., March 27, 2-4 p.m., 2010
