Artist Collaboration Project for a Cleaner Almaya

#porunalmayamaslimpio (for a cleaner Almaya)

San Miguel Almaya is a small village outside of Mexico City, MX where a collective of thirteen artist-activists live and work to improve the environmental conditions of their town through music, visual art, storytelling and education. With less than adequate resources available to serve the community's trash management needs, people of the village have created growing impromptu landfills (tiraderos) around the town-- including surrounding San Miguel’s beautiful lake. Runoff from this trash ends up in the lake, destroying the ecosystem and infecting the food and water supply of the village.

THE PROJECT:

This crowdfunding project will support the next chapter of Cantos de Almaya-- a division of Artisttree whose focus is on telling the cultural stories of this quiet town through various art content to promote social change.

They have already began providing no-cost school and community awareness workshops about cultural heritage, folklore, creative expression and care for their environment. Visual artsit, Adrian Casareal will work with young people to create a mermaid-shaped (La Sirena de Almaya) receptacle to be installed near San Miguel Almaya's lake, the legendary home of this mythological, prehispanic creature. La Sirena de Almaya is a force of strength for the community. Stemming from a pre-hispanic legend, la Sirena is a powerful serpent-woman protecting the village--especially the purity of the water. This sculpture will serve as a way for community members to be the true protectors of this precious resource.

Through creativity, artistic expression, music, and cooperation, community members will re-establish personal, familial, and indigenous connections to the land they live on, turning them into advocates for a new, cleaner Almaya.

YOUR SUPPORT WILL FUND: