Viki Grimm making a pinata

Fieldwork

Collecting

Research methods

Pinatas

Material culture

Decoration and ornament

Decorative arts

Special events

Craft

Latinos

Mexican Americans

Arts, Mexican

Ethnicity, Mexico

Art

Artisans

Forty-two color slides. Grimm demonstrating the step by step method for making a pinata -- in this case, a boat pinata. The images were taken in her home. For a complete explanation, find her interview in S 1714, box 4, tape 54. Grimm, born in Mexico City, learned to make pinatas from her family. She made two types: ones completely of papier-mache, and ones with clay pots covered in papier-mache. Pinatas were used during the posada celebrations, a Mexican Christmas tradition that was observed the nine days before the holiday to represent Mary and Joseph's trek to Bethlehem. In winter 1985, the Bureau contracted with two folklorists to conduct a folk arts survey of the St. Johns River basin in northeastern Florida. The St. Johns River is the largest and most used river in Florida, supporting much river commerce as well as a modest amount of commercial fishing. Folklorists Mary Anne McDonald and Kathleen Figgen conducted the survey from January through March 1985 under the direction of Folklife Coordinator Blanton Owen and Bureau Chief Ormond Loomis. Documentation compiled in the survey was used to prepare and present the 'St. Johns River Basin Folklife Area' at the 1985 Florida Folk Festival.

State Archives of Florida, Series S1577

1985-02-24

Florida Folklife Program

Still Image

S1577

v. 27

Color slides

S85-1538 - S85-1579

St. Johns River Survey

Figgen, Kathleen

Grimm, Viki (Victoria), 1935-

Latino

Mexican American

1129

/fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg