The New Mexico Women’s Foundation (NMWF) was established in 1988 to maintain and administer a fund for the benefit of women and girls in New Mexico. They believe that programs and organizations that encourage and develop women’s creativity, and lead them to establish cottage industries, will generate much-needed income and positive social change for thousands of New Mexico’s women and girls.

The Rag Rug Festivals are one example of how NMWF works towards creating economic sustainability opportunity for women in New Mexico. The Festival provides a marketplace for its grantee organizations and individual women artisans to exhibit and sell their work. Examples of the kind of art exhibited include: furniture manufacturing or restoration; catering; crafting fiber arts; pottery; metal art; jewelry; and many other crafts or services. In rural and urban areas, these festivals give women access to markets and customers from around the country. About 100 women artisans represented in 30 booths of beautiful offerings at Rag Rug Festival Santa Fe in 2005 earned income of over $41,000; in 2006 income rose to over $50,000. It costs $50 for a woman to have a booth in the festival compared to as much as $500 at other festivals or typical 50% commission rates from sales in retail stores.