Shifra M. Goldman wrote this text about María Enríquez de Allen to honor her for her contribution to art in the areas of flower making, Santos carving, and crafts. She especially praises Enríquez de Allen for enriching the visual vocabulary of flower making, as part of the artistic and crafts production by women in domestic realms, noting its recovery as an art form by feminist artists in the United States during the 1970s–1980s. Goldman describes how Enríquez de Allen—who was born and raised in Mexico—draws on Mexican popular arts and cultural traditions associated with the pre-Columbian Day of the Dead ritual as sources of creativity. Goldman focuses on her techniques, including her experimentation with non-traditional materials, and contends that it was Enríquez de Allen’s development of new forms and styles that led her to revolutionize this art form. The essay includes a chronology of the artist’s life and a selected bibliography.

This essay by California-based art historian Shifra M. Goldman appeared in a pamphlet published by the National Women’s Caucus for Art to honor six women artists, including the Chicago-based artisan María Enríquez de Allen, on the occasion of their 1994 conference in New York. This text brings to light how feminist artists and critics in the United States came to recognize the importance of contributions artisans like Enríquez de Allen had made to the development of an aesthetic of handicrafts and traditional arts. Other honorees that year included Mary Adams, Beverly Pepper, Faith Ringgold, Rachel Rosenthal, and Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein. Born in Allende, Coahuila, on June 27, 1907, Enríquez de Allen moved to Chicago in 1963, where, in 1967, she joined the Halsted Urban Progress Center as an arts and crafts instructor for after-school and evening programs; later, she became known as an artist, educator, and community activist. Enríquez de Allen was a member of the Association of the Latino Brotherhood of Artists (ALBA), an organization active in the early 1970s and comprised of poets, artisans, artists, actors, and arts organizations including: Iko Alegria, Ricardo Alonzo, Francisco Blasco, Anna Castillo, Manuel Castillo, Mario Castillo, Paula Confresi, Rev. Ruben Cruz, Yolanda Galvan, Alex Garza, Jose Gonzalez, Douglas Kitto, Raymond Patlan, Delia Pena, Gamaliel Ramirez, Jose Roman, Hector Rosario, Gini Sorentini, and members of the Teatro Desengaño del Pueblo.