Quilting Stories, Narrating Stories Through Their Eyes is aproject engaged in distilling the essence of the immigrant experience as seen through the eyes of children and the prism of textile art.

Using the personal narratives of children of immigration, this project aimed to revitalize and increase the visibility of traditional Haitian Drapo Vodou (ceremonial hand sequined and beaded flags unique to Haiti). The project was fully funded through the WaveMaker Grants, an Andy Warhol Foundation regional re-granting program administered by Miami-based nonprofit Locust Projects for 2019...More

WaveMaker Grants at Locust Projects is made possible by support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and is part of the Warhol Foundation's Regional Regranting Program.

Collaboration between artists Aurora Molina, Alina Rodriguez, the Little Haiti Cultural Center (LHCC), Pascale Theard from Pascale Theard Creations in Port-au-Prince, commissioned Haitian and In-kind donors: Ocean Bank Educational Materials (OBEM), the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCANomi) in North Miami, and Peace, Love Art Yoga, Little Haiti Cultural Center

Art in Education

Alina Rodriguez-Rojo

Textiles-Traditions

Quilting Stories Narrating Through Their Eyes

Year: 2019

About the project-Drapo Sevis-Haiti

About the project-Backstrap Weaving-Guatemala

The Retra-Tablos exhibition not only aims to reclaim history, memory, culture and bring value to ancient textile arts- it wants to place (los niños de inmigración) the children of

immigration front and center and give them a voice.

Retra-Tablos gathers a group of portraits by seventeen artists, ages 6 to 12. The phrase Retra-Tablos is a play of words between “retrato” (portrait) and “retablo” (alterpiece). Every image narrates an immigrant child’s story embedded in their Mayan ancestry, legend, folklore, and his/her assimilation as recent migrant, or as a child of immigrant parents.
By combining Mayan deities, symbols, Catholic iconography, and American pop culture, the works relate to the aesthetics of the Catholic “retablos” tradition. A retablo is a framed votive painting that forms part of the Catholic altar. Its iconography was often adopted by the peoples colonized by Spaniards and turned into bright, vibrant folk art of their own...more

Retra-Tablos was funded by The Ellies, Miami’s visual arts awards, presented by Oolite Arts and the Coral Gables Museum. Recipients Aurora Molina and Alina Rodriguez, 2018 Creator Awards

Collaboration between artists Aurora Molina, Alina Rodriguez, Guatemalan-Maya Center, from Trama Textiles, Guatemala, Americans for Immigrant Justice, La Chance Music , Coral Gables Museum, Ocean Bank Educational Materials, Pollo Campero Restaurant

Art in Education

Retra‐Tablos

Reclaiming culture, Ancient Textile Art

& Children of Immigration (Los Niños de Inmigración)

Year: 2018

Art in Education

About the project-Drapo Sevis-Haiti

About the project-Backstrap Weaving-Guatemala

Art in Education

Press WLRN

Press Soundcloud WLRN

2022 Travel to Peru

Andean Textiles (FAMA artists)

sponsored by the Ellies Teacher Travel Grants, Oolite Arts