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Tramando

Taller Puertorriqueño
Carmen Arteaga demonstrates the intricate bobbin lace-making technique called mundillo, or “little world.” Guatemalan and Puerto Rican designers are leading textile workshops for Taller Puertorriqueño’s Tramando. Photo by Xavier Garcia, courtesy of Taller Puertorriqueño.
Carmen Arteaga demonstrates the intricate bobbin lace-making technique called mundillo, or “little world.” Guatemalan and Puerto Rican designers are leading textile workshops for Taller Puertorriqueño’s Tramando. Photo by Xavier Garcia, courtesy of Taller Puertorriqueño.
A loom weaving workshop hosted by textile collectives Trama Antillana and Trama Textiles in Aibonito, Puerto Rico.
A loom weaving workshop hosted by textile collectives Trama Antillana and Trama Textiles in Aibonito, Puerto Rico. Photo by Leonardo Laboy.
A screenprinting workshop hosted by Taller Puertorriqueño.
A screenprinting workshop hosted by Taller Puertorriqueño. Photo by Jean Ruiz.

Textile workshops led by designers from Guatemala and Puerto Rico instruct teen and adult Fairhill and Kensington residents on weaving methods, natural dye techniques, and lace traditions, culminating in a collaborative fabric sculpture and a photography exhibition documenting the project. In four twelve-week modules, community residents (from age 14 and up) receive hands-on training to design, fabricate, and market their own textile work, exploring how collective artmaking can support cultural preservation for diasporic communities. Workshop subjects include natural dye and fiber techniques with the Trama Antillana collective, Guatemalan weaving methods with Trama Textiles, the mundillo lace tradition with Carmen Arteaga, and professional development like marketing and budget management with Taller Puertorriqueño and Philadelphia Federal Credit Union.  

Visit the project website.

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.

Recipient
Taller Puertorriqueño

Taller Puertorriqueño

Taller Puertorriqueño is a community-based cultural organization dedicated to preserving, developing, and promoting Puerto Rican arts and culture, along with other Latino cultural expressions and common roots, aiming to build connections among the local community, the broader region, and the Puerto Rican and Latino diasporas. It presents exhibitions and events on-site as well as educational outreach and other community programs around the city.

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