Maya women winding bobbins for floor loom weavers.

In this globalized world, what is the place of weaving and other traditional arts in the lives of Maya peoples and other Guatemalans? How does globalization affect craft production? How does the political / economical situation affect craft workers? What happened to weaving during the armed conflict of the 1980s?

Marilyn Anderson will give her view on these and other issues as well show slide images of her work to interpret the remarkable traditions of the artists and craftsmen/women of Guatemala.

Marilyn Anderson is an artist, photographer and author. She originally comes from Oregon and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She then spent time in Mexico and Guatemala, subsequently receiving her BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology and MFA from the Visual Studies Workshop/ SUNY Buffalo. For 16 years, she worked as a visual arts mentor, at SUNY Empire State College, in Rochester, NY.

Since the 70s, she has produced publications, including Backstrap Weaving, (co-authored with Barbara Tabor), Guatemalan Textiles Today and Granddaughters of Corn (co-authored with Jonathan Garlock.) Over the years, she has received a number of grants and fellowships and has had many exhibits of her photographs. At this time, she continues her photography, produces block prints, paintings and publications as she works on further projects about Maya arts traditions. She also co-directs the Pro Arte Maya education project for children in Guatemala.

Free to the public.