It is an honor that my show “HECHO A MANO” will take place in the Art Gallery at Niagara County Community College, Sanborn, NY. Several new woodcuts will be added to my previous list of prints. Photos and drawings different from previous exhibits will also be added.
Since 2008, I have had five exhibits here in Western New York––in spaces as diverse as university and college galleries to my local credit union and an activist center “the Anti-War Store”. Mounting shows allow me to share what I have learned about the artists and artisans who carry on their traditions. It is also a way I can acknowledge both those in Guatemala and in the US to who have helped me to continue my work over many years and evaluate progress towards the goals for my what I call my “Pro Arte Maya” education project.
Some of my goals are:
- to create empathy and appreciation for traditional artists/artisans and to recognize the skills and the beauty of their work.
- to remind viewers about the relationship of arts and crafts to ecology, sustainability, customs and traditions.
- to stimulate thinking about issues such as “monoculture and globalization ” and the value of traditional cultures.
- tto encourage consideration and support of Fair Trade craft production in our globalized world.
Along side my current exhibits, since 2000,I have pursued an educational effort for children in Guatemala which mainly consists of the Maya languages/Spanish coloring book “Artes y Artesanías Mayas de Guatemala”. Working with Maya educators/ colleagues there enables its production and distribution.
But, I am happy to bring my work to NCCC in Sanborn, NY, near the Buffalo/Lockport/ Niagara Falls area, a place of history and a population of people who include descendants of the indigenous nations of Western New York and those who have come from many areas of the world––but all of whom give a wonderful vibrancy to this area.