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Saturday, Nov 7, 2009
Escaped feathers dance across the land surrounding the American Plume and Fancy Feather building. The company arrived in Marfa 13 years ago, when Trento, who currently runs the 83-year-old family business from Pennsylvania, discovered that Marfa's arid climate made it a perfect place to dry turkey feathers.
Times are both good and bad for the company. Despite an uptick in business following a 9/11 slump, explains Strain, Trento's son-in-law, American Plume is feeling the heat from Chinese competition. But thanks to Chinati's helping popularize Marfa as a destination, the land beneath the factory has appreciated in value, an irony the art foundation probably doesn't appreciate. In response to rising land prices, Strain and Trento plan to develop the property to boost their bottom line. On the drafting board are plans to subsidize the land into retail stores, 10-acre ranchettes, and a U.S. Border Patrol station.
Trento promises to build up to 20 affordable homes, priced from $40,000 to $60,000 -- far cheaper than the antique adobes in town. "The artists and the Chinati people have driven up the costs, scaring the town's residents," he says. "I want to make it so the kids that grew up in town and want to stay in Marfa have got a place to go. Marfa doesn't have much except for the scenery, its history and the open spaces." The inexpensive homes will be tract housing, but, he is quick to add, built in a handsome ranch style. "Not like the trailer I lived in when I first came to Marfa," he says.
Many residents welcome Trento's plan, even newcomers like AmeriCorps volunteer Emily Mahoney, who moved to Marfa last year to help develop regional social services. Finding a place to live proved difficult. "I'm pretty low-income and nothing in town was manageable as far as houses go," she says. "Marfa is becoming an increasingly difficult town in which to survive, especially if you have a family."
"I hope Trento sticks to it and achieves what he wants to do," says Presidio County tax appraiser Irma Salgado. "If not for us, then for our kids. They go to school, graduate, go to college and don't come back. One reason they don't stay is because there are no places like Wal-Mart here." Live 160 miles from a big supermarket or drugstore and Wal-Mart isn't viewed as the Beast of Bentonville. Instead it's seen as a symbol of prosperity, job opportunities and, above all, convenience. "Out here, Wal-Mart stands for everything you can't usually get in Marfa," Mahoney says.
American Plume employs 13 local women, mostly Mexican-American, to create its boas. They are proud of their work. Posters and newspaper articles hang in the factory's hallways. Their boas have graced Big Bird as well as coiled around Sandra Bullock in "Miss Congeniality 2."
Sarah Villa, general manager for American Plume, supervises the artisans, who put the finishing touches on work produced in a sister factory located 58 miles south in the border town of Ojinaga, Mexico. Villa watches as Bertha Gradeja carefully steams, combs and fluffs blue ostrich plumes, readying them for a headdress that'll dazzle them in Vegas. Above them, hundreds of brightly colored boas dangle from the rafters.
"We're making art here, too," Villa says. "These ladies are very talented. They've been here since we've been here," she says of her crew. "They're dedicated and hardworking and more like a family." She shakes her head over the Chinati Foundation's refusal to welcome more development. "I'm a lifelong resident of Marfa. All I want for Marfa is for it to thrive. We welcomed Chinati when they arrived. I don't understand why Chinati doesn't want Marfa to grow."
