Eppie Archuleta

Epifania "Eppie" Archuleta (January 6, 1922 – April 11, 2014) was an American award-winning master weaver and longtime textile artisan at the annual Spanish Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While the more traditional Chimayo and Rio Grande tapestries used diamonds and stripes in their designs, Archuleta specialized in more contemporary woven designs. Examples of her work, including a tapestry depicting a wounded soldier during the Vietnam War, are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Archuleta was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1985.

Biography

Eppie Archuleta was born to Agueda Salazar Martinez and Eusebio Martinez, in Santa Cruz, New Mexico, on January 6, 1922. Archuleta, who was raised in Española and Medanales, New Mexico, was the fifth generation of master weavers in her family. In October 1940, she married her husband, Francisco Archuleta. The couple moved to the San Luis Valley of New Mexico in 1951, where he husband worked as a farmer and rancher. Eppie Archuleta had ten children, eight of whom lived to adulthood, while simultaneously perfecting her weaving skills. The Archuletas later moved to a ranch in Capulin, Colorado, where she built a small home next to a wool mill. She also resided in La Jara, Colorado.