These mosaics were created for Friends of Duboce Park, a neighborhood organization, in San Francisco, CA. I held public mosaic workshops in the neighborhood to create the mosaics around the labyrinth and on the table labyrinth base. In addition, I create the signage for the site, and the way finder mosaics, on the lamppost, below.
Mayan Nawales Project
These photos document my project with 20 young people in the village of San Pedro La Laguna, here in Guatemala where I live. Working with the local municipal museum and the director of youth programs for the city, I organized this project to teach mosaic techniques to young artists, to preserve and reinvigorate an important part of the traditional culture, the Tzolkin, the Mayan sacred calendar. There are 20 days in the Tzolkin, each on represented by a "Nawal", the guardian and spirit of the day. Each student created a design based on the glyph, or picture symbol, for one of the 20 nawales. The completed project was presented to local authorities in the town museum.
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This project grew out of my experiences creating the Nawales in my own mosaic stepping stones. I've made several sets of them now, each time learning more about the twenty sacred days, their energies, and the philosophy behind the calendar. Its a beautiful way to express the sacredness of each step in life, a beautiful metaphor for taking the time to honor whats important in life, and a perfect accompaniment to a garden path.
The cost of producing a project like this is $2500, including all of the materials, instruction on Mayan Nawales, and mosaic classes for 20 students. It includes a traditional fire ceremony with local spiritual guide, inauguration party and name stone. I am currently seeking donors who would like to sponsor a project like this in other villages of Guatemala. Its my goal to not only share the techniques of mosaic, but to preserve and renovate the traditional Mayan art and culture by utilizing mosaic as a way to give new life to the ancient culture.