Starting this week, I will be showcasing pieces by artists and artisans represented in the Schools of Sacred Art section in a series taking us to the end of the year. The works to be presented are in a variety of mediums from paintings on handmade paper, ceramics, leather and glass to embroidered cloth, wood carvings, and embossed metal sculptures. They might be single items made in time-honored ways, original copies of widely-used prototypes, or reproductions intended for mass circulation, depicting religious themes and celebrating sacred art-making. My first featured work, The Artisans, is a colored wood block print by Jose Miguel da Silva, depicting eight varieties of crafts and folk art to be found in his home region of Northeastern Brazil. He is the adopted son of Jose Francisco Borges, the patriarch of a family of woodblock printmakers, represented by the figure in the lower left who is pulling an image from a carved block, similar to this new addition to the Brazilian Cordel Woodcuts page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. (John Kohan)