This GoFundMe supports the launch of a new U.S.–based nonprofit dedicated to preserving, uplifting, and sustaining Maya textile traditions and the weaving communities of Guatemala—beginning with a direct partnership with 13 Batz Weaving Cooperative in Santiago Atitlán. 20% of all funds will go directly to 13 Batz.

This fund is rooted in my MFA thesis project, Weaving Dreams, an interdisciplinary performance and research journey that grew from my return to Guatemala to study Maya weaving as an embodied system of memory, identity, and cultural survival. Through months of ethnographic research, studio practice, and learning directly from weavers, I came to understand weaving not only as art, but as a living archive—a way communities transmit history, spirituality, and resilience across generations.

Yet today, many weaving cooperatives face economic instability, limited access to

global markets, and increasing pressure from mass-produced imitations that undervalue their labor and knowledge. This fund is a response to that reality.