Soñé una Milpa: A Collaborative Project

A milpa is an intercropping system traditionally used by present day Mayan farmers in Mexico and Central America. Diversity is one of the most important elements used in this kind of crop-growing system. Corn can be grown with beans, squashes and other pumpkins. The project name implies dreaming of place where diversity is celebrated as well as dreaming of a place that was once considered home. 

Soñé una Milpa (I dreamed of a Milpa) is a collaborative art project that acknowledges and celebrates the important, though often hidden experience of Latina immigrant women.  During the summer of 2017, J. Leigh Garcia and I interviewed ten Latina immigrant women from the Madison, WI community. After being invited into these women's homes, Leigh and I were treated to corn-based meals from each woman’s home country while listening to the women share their stories. These meaningful conversations inspired a body of artwork informed by the women's narratives. 

BOSQUEJOS DE UNA MEMORIA

J. Leigh Garcia and Maria Amalia
Screen prints, abaca handmade paper, graphite, color pencil 
11” w x 14” h (unframed)
2017

Using hand-made paper and printmaking processes, Leigh and Maria responded to the women's memories. Their collaborative approach to making the work created a space for critical dialogue surrounding what it means to make art within a social practice. Leigh and Maria hope that Bosquejos de una Memoria (Traces of a Memory) will create interest in stories of immigration, thus inspiring respect for these women and their valuable life journeys. 

Manchas

In Spanish we often hear the phrase “vida manchada” (stained life) when referring to someone who has committed a crime. Filthy and unwanted, stains have negative associations.  I see similarities to the associations  placed on undocumented immigrants. Manchas (Stains) is an artist book made with embroidered cloth pages that carry evidence of marks made at the Soñé una Milpa party.  

In this work, the meaning of stains is transformed from something unwanted to a celebration of the valuable and resilient life journeys of Latina immigrants and their families. 

Like a simple tablecloth or napkin, relegated to the background during a meal, Latina women grow up in a “machista” culture feeling insignificant and devalued.  Dirty stains and labor intensive embroidery on a napkin question the value placed on objects, art, and on personal lived experiences.

50 Napkins embroidered by Maria Amalia and stained by participants at the Soñé una Milpa Party with huevos rancheros, salsa verde, fruit, blueberry pie, orange juice, and coffee; some have burn marks

16”x14.5” (individual napkin) 
2018

Photo credits: Aliza Rand

This project would not have been possible without the participation of ten resilient Latina immigrants who were willing to share their vulnerable stories. We are thankful to these women for opening their homes and their hearts to us: 

Rocio, Gaby, Ibeth, Teresa, Angélica, Lidia A., Lidia S., Carmen, Catalina and Alma.

We are deeply grateful for the guidance and mentorship provided by the faculty at the University of Wisconsin in Madison; having their encouragement and critical feedback made this project successful. We are indebted to the Professors in the School of Human Ecology: Mary Hark, Carolyn Kallenborn, and Marianne Fairbanks and to the Professors in the Art Department: Jim Escalante, Laurie Beth Clark, Faisal Abdu’Allah, Emily Arthur, Aristotle Georgiades,  John Hitchcock, and Fred Stonehouse.

It was an honor to be the recipients of the David & Edith Sinaiko Frank Fellowship for Women in the Arts, their generous support provided financial assistance for video documentation of the project and to host a celebratory event for the Latina women and their families. All the videos for this project were produced and edited by Aaron Granat, a Professional videographer for the Arts Institute. We appreciate all the time and dedication he invested in this project. 

We are grateful for the support of the STAR (Summer Time Academic Research) Award through the School of Human Ecology. We would not have been able to cover the costs of the materials needed to make the body of work inspired by the womens' narratives.  

Through the UW LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES Travel Research Award, we had the opportunity to visit Oaxaca, Mexico to learn new papermaking techniques and meet with a group of women who make work about their personal family experiences with immigration. Thank you for your support!

COMMUNITY FIBER ART

In a machista culture, were women don’t have a voice, art provided a way for our voices to be heard.

In 2010 I received a grant from the Congress of Honduras and FUNDEIHM (A Honduran Non-profit) to lead a community fiber art project with 52 Lenca indigenous women from Lempira. I invited the founder of the Chicago School of Weaving, Natalie Boyett, to co-lead workshops in natural dyeing, embroidery and production. Each of the women dyed fabric and received an embroidery kit. For many, it was the first time they received a job contract to produce embroidered flowers that would later be appliquéd on a large life-sized embroidered Lenca woman tapestry designed by Natalie. The women were paid a fair wage for their labor and were given free workshops and tools. When the tapestry, Mujer Lenca, was completed, the women, Natalie and I were invited by the President of the congress and his wife, Juan Orlando Hernandez and Ana García de Hernandez, to present the art piece to the National Congress of Honduras. All of the participants were given recognition for their outstanding job by Juan Orlando and Ana (currently the President and First Lady of Honduras). We felt honored and like one of the women said “we felt important”.

Images taken by LENUME (Sam Sanchez, Andy Patch and Zach Rockwood)

The metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly is a magical transformation that metaphorically represents our own evolution towards the mature human beings we each aspire to become.

This interactive artwork invited the SoHE (School of Human Ecology) community to reflect and write about our fears, misunderstandings, prejudices, and stereotypes—our isms. Using the transformative nature of the papermaking process, more than 60 participants each tore an empty page out of a hand-bound blank book. Then, they made notes on this page about the ways they would like to grow and change in their social interactions. Afterward, the sheet was ripped up and beaten into paper pulp. This paper pulp, carrying our (now hidden) collective hopes and dreams for personal transformation, was made into new sheets of paper by members of the SoHE community. Finally, the newly formed pages were printed with social justice quotes by famous activists.

Craft processes and materials contribute in powerful and meaningful ways to the content of artworks. The fine craft of handmade paper can be a powerful vehicle in support of the social values our community works towards embracing. I firmly believe that all social change must start with personal self-reflection, and hope this work will contribute in a quiet and personal way for those who participated. 

This project was made possible through the generous support of the EcoWell Idea to Action Fellowship at the School of Human Ecology.

COMICS + PAPERMAKING + PRINTMAKING

During the summer of 2018, Artist J. Leigh Garcia and I led a free art workshop for fourteen 5th-8th graders from the Madison, WI community. This workshop was funded in part by a grant from the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Art Board and Lighthouse Christian School.

Comics

Students were prompted to answer questions about their memories of home in a daily journal. The students’ written stories inspired drawings that celebrated their unique drawing style and story.

Papermaking

Making paper outside with a bike powered beater was a highlight! The students transformed a used cotton t-shirt into a beautiful pulp-painted sheet of paper. The sheets of paper were then pressed and ready for printmaking!

Printmaking

Using screen printing techniques, the students transferred their hand drawn images onto their handmade paper. The curated pages were later hand bound into an artist book containing their stories of home.

At the end of the workshop, an exhibition titled Within These Walls is Home featured the students’ stories of home through comics, papermaking and printmaking.

Titled Light of the World (Luz del Mundo),  this mural was made in collaboration with summer camp students from Lighthouse Christian School (LCS). Ranging in grades from 1st-7th grade, more than twenty students painted the mural. During the first weeks we talked about social justice issues and imagined a new world, a new neighborhood, a new school, and a new home. The students drew images and described them with brief sentences. One of the students, Marcio (we call him Marcito), drew a lighthouse on a beautiful wavy ocean full of patterns. Marcito’s drawing inspired my design which was laser cut and then painted by the students with their own patterns.

According to color theory, objects don’t have color, instead they reflect a light that appears to be a color. When I imagine a world without light, I see a world without color and a world without color is dull and lifeless.  All of the students were from different races, ethnicities, countries and backgrounds. Through color and pattern, this mural celebrates diversity and brings to light the students’ unique identity.

Community idea board

Maria Amalia Wood
Community Idea Board
Plexiglass, vynil, wood
74”h x 45”w x 30”d
2019

What Makes a Welcoming Neighborhood?

The Community Idea Board traveled around the Mifflandia Neighborhood (West Washington - West Mifflin Area) throughout the city of Madison’s planning process. This interactive board included colored plexi-glass squares that were used by participants to share their ideas for a future Mifflandia. The colors corresponded to different themes and encouraged people to draw, write and place their wishes in a tessellated grid of movement and color. The additive process allowed people
to have a collective conversation about what makes for a welcoming neighborhood.

Resiliencia

Today’s political climate demonizes and dehumanizes undocumented immigrants, specifically those from Latin American countries. This past summer, my collaborative art partner, J. Leigh Garcia, and I began a new project, Resiliencia (Resilience), which transforms prejudices and/or negative associations about immigrants into art. Using a traditional Mexican papermaking technique called Amate paper, we invite members of our communities to participate in our collaborative art piece. As we pound kozo fiber with a rock and embed either printed or handwritten prejudices into the fiber, we engage in a therapeutic, positive and productive process. Our goal is to make a 30ft wall of amate/pounded paper that reflects on the invisible walls that divide us. Leigh and I will continue to hold “pounding” events in Wisconsin and Ohio. When the piece is completed, we hope to project onto the wall images and video of how immigrants make America great.

Pounding at the Overture Center

Madison, WI
June 2019

Pounding with Latinx Seniors
at the Madison Senior Center

Madison, WI
October 2019

Pounding at a women’s brunch
Lighthouse Church

Madison, WI
October 2019

Weaving Home and Community

A community art project in partnership
with the Madison Public Library - Hawthorne Branch

The act of making is the intersection of effort, perseverance, failure, creative problem solving, and something coming into being. Informed by our ideas of home and community, Middle Schoolers from Girls Inc. of Greater Madison wove recycled metal hangers using fabric donated by the Madison community.

We met six times, once a week, for one hour. The girls looked forward to starting each workshop with cookies and juice provided by the Youth Services Librarian and project coordinator, Tracy Moore. After a quick snack, we gathered around a table and talked about what Home meant to us. The girls wrote or drew their answers on blank sheets of paper.

After 10 minutes of drawing and writing prompts, the girls engaged in making. On the first day, they sorted and organized all the used fabric by color.

During the second workshop, the girls prepared their looms using metal hangers and wire for the warp “thread”. They also cut the fabric into thin strips, making their weft “thread”.

The girls learned how to weave during the following workshops. Using the recycled fabric strips, they created their own woven homes.

On the last day, as we celebrated their artwork, we sat and talked about our favorite memories of home.

To conclude this project, I made an artist book using the left over recycled fabric. I beat the cotton remnants into a pulp and with it made handmade paper embedded with the thread that frayed from the fabric strips. After scanning all of the girls’ writing and drawing prompts, I printed them over the handmade paper sheets. This artist book documents the heart and soul of this project and reminds us that our stories of home, when shared, can build a beautiful community.

Photos by Jim Escalante

Viajes del Horizonte

Handmade paper (cotton, abaca), disperse pigments, thread
5ft x 5ft
2022
Pinney Library Art Collection

This community art piece was created during my art residency at Pinney Library. During the summer of 2021, the doors at Pinney finally opened after being closed due to COVID. As we navigated how to make a piece that required social interaction, in the midst of a pandemic, we created socially distanced spaces where children made paper by hand and expressed their creativity through pulp painting. Noa and Itzayana, my residency art interns and also Latinas, collaborated with me on this socially engaged art experience informed by life journeys, sunsets, and the migration of monarch butterflies. After I assembled the piece, I invited 10 Latina immigrants to help embroider parts of it while sharing our life stories. They stitched their own journeys creating a textured surface where all paths of life were welcomed.

Anyone, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and legal status can experience the same sunset and dream of a better future. 

Read more about the Residency here.

The goal of this inaugural residency was to explore the opportunities within the new Pinney Studio, reconnect with community members and co-create a public art piece that was installed at the Pinney Library in 2023. This unique residency was supported by a designated gift from the Friends of Pinney Library. Programming and internal support was provided by the Madison Public Library and Bubbler staff.

bordando memorias

Bordando Memorias (Embroidering Memories) was a community art project led by Maria Amalia during her 2022-2023 art residency at Synergy Ventures Foundation. As a Latina immigrant, Maria Amalia is especially interested in making space for the exploration of others’ immigration journeys throughout her community art projects.

The art of embroidery has been used in Latin America for centuries. Embroidery has given women a platform to create surface designs for pleasure, business, therapy, and even protest. Inspired by Wisconsin’s native and invasive plants, Maria Amalia invited Latina immigrants to embroider flowers native to their countries and to Wisconsin as they shared memories of home.

The project culminated in an exhibition at Goodman South Madison Public Library featuring the embroidered self-portraits of some of the participants.

Although the project ended in 2023, the participants decided to continue the embroidery group and it’s now called Unidas por Hilos (United by Threads). Visit their project page for more information on how you can get involved!

Photo credit: BokehTum Photography, Mayela C. Torrez, and Maria Amalia

This project was supported in part by the Madison Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, Dane Arts, the Madison Public Library, UW-Madison Division of the Arts’ Artivism Student Action Program, and Synergy Ventures Foundation.

To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

About

Unidas por Hilos (United by Threads) is a community of Latina immigrants who come together on a monthly basis to embroider while also building a supportive community. Our group provides a safe and inclusive space where we can connect with each other and share our experiences as Latina immigrants living in Madison, Wisconsin.  Through our embroidery, we not only showcase our cultural heritage but also share our stories, struggles, and triumphs. Our monthly meetings are a time to relax, create, and socialize. Our group is a testament to the power of community and the resilience of immigrant communities. We may come from different countries and backgrounds, but we are united by our love of art making and our shared experiences as immigrants. Through our group, we hope to create a supportive and welcoming space for all Latina immigrants who seek to connect with their cultural heritage, Spanish language, and build meaningful relationships with other women.

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Unidas por Hilos es una comunidad de inmigrantes Latinas que se reúnen mensualmente para bordar y al mismo tiempo construir una comunidad de apoyo. Nuestro grupo brinda un espacio seguro e inclusivo donde podemos conectarnos entre nosotras y compartir nuestras experiencias como inmigrantes latinas que viven en Madison, Wisconsin. A través de nuestro bordado, no sólo mostramos nuestra herencia cultural sino que también compartimos nuestras historias, luchas y triunfos. Nuestras reuniones mensuales son un momento para relajarse, crear y socializar. Nuestro grupo es un testimonio del poder de la comunidad y la resiliencia de las comunidades de inmigrantes. Puede que vengamos de diferentes países y orígenes, pero nos une nuestro amor por el arte y nuestras experiencias compartidas como inmigrantes. A través de nuestro grupo, esperamos crear un espacio de apoyo y bienvenida para todas las inmigrantes Latinas que buscan conectarse con su herencia cultural, su idioma en español y construir relaciones significativas con otras mujeres.

¡Únete a nuestros grupos!

Unidas por hilos reuniones / meetings

Ubicado en el lado oeste de Madison, las reuniones serán en Meadowridge Library (5726 Raymond Rd, Madison, WI 53711).

Nos reuniremos el segundo sábado de cada mes durante los meses de Noviembre-Mayo de 2-4pm. Debido a los cupos limitados el evento es solo para adultos.

Inscripción es necesaria para cada reunión.

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Located on the west side of Madison, the meetings will be held at the Meadowridge Library (5726 Raymond Rd, Madison, WI 53711).

We will meet on the second Saturday of each month during the months of November-May from 2-4pm. Due to limited space, this event is only open to adults.

Registration is required for each meeting.

inscríbete / register

Este año, las reuniones se centrarán en compartir platos tradicionales de nuestros países. En cada encuentro, una de las integrantes del grupo nos enseñará a preparar un plato distinto, compartiendo tanto la receta como las memorias asociadas a esa comida. Aunque habrá oportunidades para bordar, el objetivo principal es compartir comida e historias con otras personas de la comunidad de Madison. Será un evento público, gratuito y abierto a todos. El próximo año, Unidas por Hilos bordarán las recetas y crearán un libro de recetas y memorias bordadas en tela.

Por favor inscribirse para cada evento, tenemos una capacidad máxima de 15 personas. Inscríbete a las reuniones que asistirás este año (2024-2025), los segundos sábados de cada mes (Noviembre-Mayo) de 2pm-4pm.

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This year, the gatherings will focus on sharing traditional dishes from our home countries. In each meeting, one of the group members will teach us how to prepare a different dish, sharing both the recipe and the memories associated with that food. While there will be opportunities to embroider, the main goal is to share food and stories with other members of the Madison community. The event will be public, free, and open to everyone. Next year, Unidas por Hilos will embroider the recipes and create a recipe and memory book embroidered on fabric.

Please register for each meeting, we have a maximum capacity of 15 people. Register for the events you will attend this year (2024-2025), the second saturday of each month (November-May) at 2pm-4pm.