Xuchialt Project
Summer 2011 Update
The National Ministry of Culture has recently accredited Xuchialt as an official "art school." This is exciting news! This accreditation will help Xuchialt with its dream of self-sustainability and growth by allowing it to offer more classes to more children in the future.
Every year artists come to León on Maundy Thursday to make beautiful “carpets” out of colored sawdust showing different cultural and religious symbols. On Good Friday, a religious procession takes place en route to the Sutiava church.Hundreds of people partaking in the procession walk over these temporary works of art, leaving nothing more than a trail of stomped sawdust behind them.The artwork is judged and this year Xuchialt's won first place nationally! All of Xuchialt's artists have had access to training for this amazing artwork thanks to PML's involvement in art projects in Sutiava for well over a decade.
History of Xuchialt
In 2006, youth graduates of a previous PML project, Xochilt Adiac, started the Taller Xuchialt (Xuchialt Artist Workshop). These leaders decided to teach dance and painting as a way to instill hope for a better future in the children of Sutiava, a neighborhood in León. The workshop began with sixty-three students and minimal material resources. Under the leadership of Marlon Moreno, the number of students has increased to one hundred and sixty-three, and the school has added guitar classes.
A combination of PML support and Xuchialt fundraisers sustains the Workshop. In 2010, the Xuchialt youth board and students hosted cultural nights and raffles to earn money for their studio. They also started a gallery to sell their art. On October 17, 2010, the Xuchialt artists held a chalk art contest. The goals of the contest were to give new teachers the opportunity to organize this promotional activity and to provide students with a forum to display with pride their work. The contest also spread the mission of the Workshop.
Next on the artists' agenda is to paint a large mural in front of the local public school. The theme is "Past, Present, and Future of Sutiava." In addition, the Xuchialt Workshop is pursuing both legal recognition as a non-profit organization in Nicaragua and certification from the Ministry of Culture.
(Thanks to Deysi Sanchez and Sarah Shelton in León for the above content.)
