Students Recognized for Contributions to Weaving Exhibit

New College students Michelle Leahy, Nicholas Manting Brewer, Lucia Stavig, and Elizabeth Usherwood recently contributed to the exhibition Woven Threads Through Time:  Maya Women, Weavers, and Their Stories, currently on display at the Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Michelle, Lucia, and Liz contributed to the design and installation of the exhibit under the direction of exhibition curator Dr. Gabrielle Vail, who teaches anthropology at New College, and Nick produced a film entitled “The Story of a Weaver” about one of the Mayan women featured in the exhibition.  Woven Threads Through Time opened on Sunday, May 3, and attracted an audience of over 250 people.  It will be on display until August 31.

In addition to their work on the Woven Threads Through Time exhibition, Nick, Michelle, and two other students taking tutorials with Dr. Vail — Juliana Nalerio and Samantha Ortíz – also are helping raise funds for Foundations for Education, a non-profit organization based in Antigua, Guatemala, that provides scholarships to Mayan children to enable them to attend school.  The program also sponsors weaving and embroidery projects for women who were widowed during the Guatemalan Civil War, so that they can support their families.  The students’ goal is to raise $250 for the foundation.

For more information on the Woven Threads Through Time exhibition or Foundations for Education, please contact Dr. Gabrielle Vail at (941) 487-4380 or email [email protected].