Fiber artist Mary Anne Wise first went to Guatemala hoping to collect local textiles and inspire her own practice. Just one visit wasn’t enough, and she visited several more times, eventually offering a class in rug hooking to local women artisans. Although the women didn’t have a rug-hooking tradition, they did have abundant material: tons of tee shirts from “donations” that are often shipped to the area, discarded, and burned. After the success of that first class, the idea of creating a cottage industry that would benefit women throughout Guatemala took hold. Called Multicolores, the project is now a nonprofit organization officially recognized in Guatemala.
The women join the program to support their families and improve their living conditions. And although many of them cannot read or write, all have something to say through the work of their hands. Mary Anne developed a curriculum of design principles that helped the women market their work in the international market. Although some are also weavers, not all of the women were producing textiles before joining the program. Drawing on family stories and cultural influences as well as their own imaginations, they design hooked rugs and other pieces that find their way to buyers around the world. Mary Anne and her coauthor, Cheryl Conway-Daly, told the story of Multicolores in a book, Rug Money.
In the United States, drawing on their love of fabric and experience in interior design, Mary Anne and a friend decided to start a home goods shop specializing in artisan cloth. Based in Wisconsin, Cultural Cloth offers the handwork of artisans not only from Multicolores but from 30 countries worldwide. Although they have sold the shop to new owners, Mary Anne continues to work there one day a week . . . and the inspiration for her own fiber art that initially led her to Guatemala has begun to rise again.
Multicolores website
The Art of Being exhibit website
Rug hooking tour with Multicolores
Rug Money: How a Group of Maya Women Changed Their Lives through Art and Innovation by Mary Anne Wise, Cheryl Conway-Daly, and Joe Coca
Cultural Cloth shop
Mary Anne Wise’s textile art website
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