Pro Arte Maya ~ Marilyn Anderson

The Arts and Crafts Education Pilot Project for Children in Guatemala

“A primary goal of Pro Arte Maya is to help give Maya children the opportunity learn about and practice their traditional arts and crafts that are a central part of their cultural heritage. We feel that the experience of working with their hands and with natural materials from their environment allows them to experience a connection with nature, and a reverence for the gifts of Mother Earth. These aspects of the Maya ethos can be learned through children working with traditional crafts.”

From: Some questions you may have about Mayan arts and crafts and the educational role of Pro Arte Maya…

Pro Arte Maya is a small pilot educational project in Guatemala City.

We are devoted to maintaining cultural, linguistic and biological diversity in the world, and believe that people everywhere have the right to to their own unique heritage.

The project promotes the appreciation and practice by Mayan and other Guatemalan children of their rich and varied arts and crafts tradition. We seek to encourage the continuation these traditions as living arts now and in the future. We have developed, printed and distribute a multilingual Spanish/Mayan coloring book, Artes y Artesanías Mayas de Guatemala (Maya Arts and Crafts in Guatemala).

The coloring book addresses issues such as tradition, creativity, self sufficiency, and ecology. By including captions in eight Mayan languages, we honor those languages and encourage their use. We began our work, in January, 2001 in the bilingual schools of the Consejo Maya Jun Apju Ixb’alamke, an innovative network of bilingual schools. Teachers use the coloring book and an accompanying guide in their classrooms.