The Ortega Story:

In the early 1700's, a young man named Gabriel Ortega was among a group of settlers who came to the Northern Rio Grande Valley to settle in what is now Chimayo, New Mexico. One of the skills needed to survive was weaving, with which they made clothes, blankets, rugs and even mattresses.

In the early 1900's, Nicacio and his wife Virginia, who was also from a weaving family, opened a general store in Chimayo. Nicacio had a loom in his store and sold his weavings along with those of his sons, relatives and friends. The demand kept growing as more people discovered Santa Fe and New Mexico.

After World War II, Nicacio's sons, Jose Ramon and David, along with their wives Bernie and Jeanine joined their father's business. It continued to grow. The Ortega's hired other families to help keep up with the demand. They started to make coats, vests, purses and other apparel out of their weavings. The general store was a thing of the past and the present day Ortega's Weaving Shop came into being.

Nicacio passed away in 1964 and Jose Ramon in 1972. David and Jeanine kept up the tradition and in the mid-1970's were joined by their sons Andrew and Robert. In addition, David's brother Merardo opened a shop in Old Town Albuquerque to sell the families weavings.

In the mid-1980's, Andrew and his wife Evita opened Galeria Ortega in the old home of Jose Ramon. They wanted to feature the other arts and crafts of the people of New Mexico. Galeria Ortega is a somewhat modern version of Nicacio's general store, complete with Andrew's looms and the weavings of Andrew, his father David and Andrew's children Katherine and Paul the eighth generation of Ortega weavers. The showroom features beautiful Indian jewelry and pottery from nearby pueblos, along side displays of world-renowned Ortega blankets, coats, rugs, vests, purses and cushions, all hand-woven in fine wool in the "tradition of Gabriel Ortega."Vintage Custom Made Ortega Hand Woven Southwestern Style Red Wool Jacket from Chimayo, New Mexico. This beautiful woman's jacket has NEVER BEEN WORN and has been kept in a closet covered by a garment bag since the mid 1980s.