This summer at Opal House in Guatemala, our youngest artists—1st and 2nd graders—stepped into a vibrant world of color, creativity, and transformation during the I AM ART Textiles Workshop.
The workshop was led by college student Elena Baggett, who has spent the summer in Guatemala pouring her heart into both creativity and community. She was joined by the caring and capable hands of Katie Eller, Alicia Cosby, and Anita Noriega, who helped guide each child’s vision from concept to creation.
The Joy of Making
The week began in pure exploration.
The children experimented with fabric using a range of tactile techniques:
- Coloring and dyeing with bold pigments
- Cyanotype printing using sunlight and natural materials
Each piece was uniquely beautiful—a reflection of the imagination, joy, and spirit of the young artists who made them.
The classroom came alive with wonder as colors bled and blended, and tiny hands folded, brushed, and pressed new ideas into being.
The Tension of Letting Go
Then came Conflict Day, and everything changed.
Each child was asked to do something unexpected:
Choose their favorite piece of fabric—and cut it.
Gasps filled the room.
Some clutched their artwork to their chests.
Others tried to hide it under the table.
The idea of cutting something they had made and loved felt wrong.
It felt like a loss.
And yet—they trusted the process.
They cut.
Restoration Through Stitching
What was torn wasn’t wasted. It became something new.
With patience, encouragement, and guidance from the team, the children transformed their broken fabric into handmade stuffed animals—stitched together with love, filled with softness, and formed from pieces that once seemed ruined.
What looked broken was actually becoming.
A Living Metaphor of Hope
This workshop was more than craft—it was a living metaphor:
Even when something precious is broken, it can be restored into something beautiful.
Like the fabric in their hands, our lives carry stories of creation, loss, and transformation. And through it all, the children were gently reminded:
I AM ART.
Not just when life is beautiful and whole,
but especially when it has been broken—and lovingly remade.
Soft, Stitched Reminders of Healing
Each finished stuffed animal became more than a toy—it became a tangible symbol of healing and growth.
A reminder that:
- Broken things still have value.
- Transformation is possible.
- Their lives are works of art in progress.
Their finished stuffed animals now stand as soft, stitched reminders that healing is possible and that their lives are works of art in progress.
