The Reboli Center is proud to announce our April Artisan of the month, Jewelry Designer, Cecilia Baca. Baca, known more commonly as Cece, is proudly from Albuquerque, NM, where she has spent the majority of her life thoroughly enjoying what many refer to as ‘‘the Land of Enchantment’’.
Baca shared with us that Albuquerque has been an inspiring place for her to develop her creative skills. Being so close to Santa Fe, a renowned center of Arts and Culture, the surrounding area has influenced Albuquerque to become quite a noteworthy hub of creativity in itself.
Growing up, Baca tells us how she was always an avid competitive runner and soccer player, partaking in the sport from childhood through to the impressive age of 57. While her love for movement and the outdoors still persists, over time Baca explains that she has become more focused on other physical activities such as cycling and swimming. These types of lower impact sports are much kinder on the joints, like the knees, which has become a greater priority Baca as she ages.
Though Baca’s love of sports had been the primary focus for the first half of her life, about 15 years ago she began to feel more comfortable identifying with the creative facets of her personality. Over time she has become more and more familiar with the artistic aspects of herself which have eventually led her down the path to jewelry design, with her forte being hand crafted, exceptionally unique earrings (pictured above).
“The earrings that I make and sell with the Reboli Center are somewhat labor intensive… These tiny beads are tough to work with at times…but well worth the time making… “At 72, I love doing what I have time for in the way of making jewelry” - Cece Baca
Baca explains that after a 53 year long career working in the Dental Field, she has officially retired and is left with more time to continue working on her hand crafted designs in between caring for (and enjoying time with) her 93 year old mother. Baca shares that she was inspired to make this particularly colorful, currently available collection after a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico to partake in the Day of the Dead celebration. Baca explains how inspired she was by the saturated artworks and vibrant fabrics and clothing styles and how that directly reflected into her latest round of one-of-a-kind earrings.
We are grateful to Cece Baca for sharing her artwork with us. Baca’s work will be available for public viewing and purchase through the month of April 2024 in our Gallery and Design Shop during regular business hours.