Exhibit: Guatemalan Artesania

During September, National Hispanic Heritage Month, visit the library lobby to view a unique collection of traditional Guatemalan artwork on loan from Jiff Cornwell! The collection includes small hand-carved wooden sculptures called “hondas”(slingshots!), paintings, textiles, and beaded creatures.  

You are invited to join Jiff Cornwell for a discussion about her collection on Sunday September 14, from 2-4 PM. Guatemala has a strong history in textiles, but little is known about the smaller wooden works of art, Hondas, graciously on loan to us.  Jiff will share information about this wonderful and rapidly changing country and its creative people.
 

National Hispanic Heritage Month was enacted into law on August 17, 1988, with the approval of Public Law 100-402. September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The items on display in the lobby are part of a larger collection owned by longtime Portsmouth resident Jiff Cornwell.

Jiff is a longtime Portsmouth resident with many ties to the community, most specifically the Arts community. She lived and worked in Guatemala for 10 years and has always planned to share the many pieces of traditional art and textiles she purchased as a way to support the local artisans. She hopes that the collection will one day reside in Guatemala as a permanent collection in one of their museums.

In addition to now sharing her collection, knowledge, and love for Guatemala with our library community, Jiff has guided several local residents and their families (with adopted Guatemalan children) in their travels to Guatemala, created the Piscataqua Landscape Company's H2B temporary worker program 20 years ago (They now have 65 Guatemalans working within this program), and has worked at Portsmouth Fabric Company,  involved with purchasing and importing select Guatemalan textiles for the shop, and much more!  She hopes to have a future opportunity to travel to some of the more remote communities where the hondas (slingshots) are still being made. These small, personal works of art, sculptures of saints, animals, and people, all have tales to tell.

Registration is not required to view the exhibit or attend the Guatemalan Art discussion on September 14. Join us!