2018 Newsletter and upcoming events

Highlights of the last year: We are celebrating the best year to date. In 2017,we purchased $12,775 of art and crafts assisting over 20 artists and craftspeople to live better lives, put their children through school and expand their businesses. (the average annual living wage for a standard family is about $4,500) Two of the artists we work with recently opened their own galleries. We also donated $894 to local programs in San Pedro and here in the US. This year we are on track to achieve even more and have raised funds through GoFundMe so that a young women we work with in an after school art program will be able to pay educational expenses to full fill her dream to become a nurse.

Upcoming events:

We will be taking part in the Vermont International Festival and the Cultural Survival Bazaars again this Christmas season. These are great places to get unique hand crafted indigenous crafts and art from around the world that you won’t be able to find anywhere else.

Please check their websites for more info. http://vermontinternationalfestival.com/ https://bazaar.culturalsurvival.org/ . Here is a full list of our upcoming events.

Open House sale of art and crafts: Pelham, MA

We will be hosting an open house of the art and craft we sell and share our experiences living on Lake Atitlan and working with the artists. We will also discuss some of our new ideas for expanding our business and inviting people to visit the artists and cultural resources on the lake.

Saturday, November 24, from 10-5

11 Arnold Road, Pelham, MA 01002

call 413-461-6135 for more info.

Vermont International Festival-Lenox Junction, VT

Friday, November 30, 5pm-8pm; Saturday/Sunday, December 1- 2, 10am-5pm.

Champlain Valley Exposition, Rt 15, Essex Junction, VT

Gallery in the Woods – Brattleboro, VT

Exhibit of art by prominent and visionary Mayan artists from Lake Atitlan, Guatemala and yarn paintings of the Huichol indians of Mexico.

Opening: Friday, December 7 from 5:15-7:30 (exhibit: December 7, 2018 – spring 2019)

Gallery in the Woods, 145 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT

Cultural Survival Bazaar - Cambridge

Saturday/Sunday, December 15-16 (10:00am – 6:00pm)

Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138

Cultural Survival Bazaar-Boston

Friday-Sunday, December 21-23 (Saturday:10:00am-10:00pm. Sunday:10:00am- 8:00p)

Prudential Center, 800 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02199

If you can’t attend these events, feel free to contact us about the art and crafts we are selling or to learn more about our project. (see contact info below)

Our vision is to connect people across borders and cultures and to increase awareness of the economic, political, environmental and social issues impacting indigenous peoples. The project also helps support the artists and local programs of the communities we work with. You may find more information on our website which has biographies of the artists, examples of the art and crafts and information about the lake, the villages and the after school art program we help to support. We invite you to view the site and encourage you to add any comments, questions or insights. 

We wish to thank you again for your interest in and support of our project and please feel free to share this with anyone you think may be interested.

Imre and Lorna

Contact info: ikepes@aol.com lornitak@aol.com