Carmen Baron

Mexican Folk Costume Maker and Dancer

2025 NEA National Heritage Fellow
Tucson, Arizona

Bio

As a trained structural and architectural designer, Carmen Baron sees the lines, colors, and proportions needed to create intricately designed custom-made costumes for young Baile Folklórico dancers throughout the state of Arizona.

Carmen Baron was born in 1960 in the town of Atil, Sonora, Mexico, and raised nearby in Altar. Her house was made in a traditional rural Mexican style of adobe, the floor was dirt, there was no electricity, and water was drawn from a well. Sewing was a necessity, which Baron learned on her grandmother's pedal machine. Her mother taught her the basics for sewing as well as how to make dresses without patterns which later became a creative expression.

When she was 13, Baron’s father, a native of Los Angeles, moved the family back to the U.S. and Baron went on to study Architecture at the University of Arizona. While working professionally as a structural and architectural designer, Baron also studied Mexican folk dance (Baile Folklórico). She danced for seven years with Instituto de Folklore Mexicano in Tucson, while also volunteering as a seamstress for the group. 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 the company’s founding in 1997, Baron has taught Mexican folk dance and made nearly all the costumes for Danzacultura students. The students have been featured at festivals in and around Tucson, including De Anza Days and Presidio San Agustin.

Folklórico costumes represent social dances and songs from predominately nine different geographic regions of Mexico. They consist of embroidered jackets, circular skirts with multi-colored hand-sewn ribbon trim, and bold colors, each animating which Mexican region or dance is being performed. To make them by hand, with original patterns, requires skill and knowledge of the distinctive cultural expressions represented. Baron is committed to maintaining the art of hand-made folklórico costumes by documenting traditional methods and teaching younger generations, instilling a sense of discipline, confidence, and pride in their cultural heritage. Both in-person and virtually, she mentors students in the steps for making the Mexican folk costumes, from drawing patterns to cutting and stitching the garments. For each costume, she documents how to make the patterns, as well as how much and what type of fabric is needed.

Her 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, Baron received a Southwest Folklife Alliance Master-Apprentice Award to support her in 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.  
 

Work Sample