About the Artists
Guest designers from Puerto Rico and Guatemala lead hands-on tutorials in each module.
Trama Antillana
Leila Mattina and Beatriz Lizardi co-founded Trama Antillana in 2018 to research sustainable textile production and facilitate access to raw materials that are vital to Puerto Rico’s artisan culture. Together they apply their expertise in agroecology and cultural history to offer educational workshops, producing natural dyes and fibers in collaboration with students, artists, and artisans.
Carmen Arteaga
Inspired by her aunts' sewing and embroidery skills, Arteaga learned the art of bobbin lace-making at a young age. After rediscovering her love for the craft later in life, she formed the Bolilleras de San Juan, a renowned lace-making group. Her contributions have expanded internationally through programs and classes, bringing Puerto Rican textile culture to a global audience.
Trama Textiles
Amparo de León de Rubio and Oralia Chopen run Trama Textiles, a women-led collective of Maya backstrap loom weavers across Guatemala. They work directly with 100 women from 17 weaving communities across 5 regions in the Western Highlands; Sololá, Huehuetenango, Sacatepéquez, Quetzaltenango and Quiché, advocating for fair wages and a reliable source of income for the indigenous artisans they represent.
Richie Wilde López
Richard Wilde López is a Queer, Puerto Rican hand weaver and embroidery artist from Philly. Former fiction writer exploring Latinidad, queerness, and belonging. Now, he celebrates joy within his identities through textile art, drawing on his dual NYC-island upbringing. His pieces resemble landscapes of unknown spaces, exploring the idea of "home" and domesticity. Rejecting gender norms, he uses weaving and embroidery as a rebellion against machismo culture.