Support Handmade Heritage Arts made by asylum seekers at the U.S.-MX border & beyond
About the Artisans
Embroidering Hope
My mother taught me to embroider as a child, then I taught my daughter and my son too. When I’m creating my designs and stitching, I feel better.”
Asylum-seeker embroidering on the street in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
"I'm learning to weave here. It brings me calm.
It's like my grandmother told me -
There is wisdom in our hands, my fingers know what to do."
Shelter guest, Nogales
" After I get estabished here, I hope to help other women artisans in my home country."
Bordadora - Embroiderer, Mom with kids resettling in Tucson, AZ.
- The Call: Summer, 2019
A message came from a shelter in Nogales, Mexico, 60 miles south of Tucson, where families were waiting for months for an asylum interview. It was not a request for food, clothing, and blankets. It was instead an urgent plea from migrating women for crochet needles and yarn.
- Recovering Heirlooms in the Sand
From 2004, when we borderland residents began to find exquisite embroideries left behind in the desert south of Tucson ~ Heirlooms in the Sand ~ with smart feminine sensibilities in each stitch ~ we vowed to find a way to bring attention and respect to the makers. Now, in 2023, we have the opportunity to directly help vulnerable families and support handwork with the healing power of creativity, solidarity among the artisans, and respect for cultural and familial arts across borders.
Each original, hand-stitched work of Art is a vote for beauty, faith, and self-determinism in the middle of perilous migration and family displacement.
Artisans Beyond Borders waiting at the port of entry, offer us their handcraft, a piece of themselves for our homes. In friendship and respect, we support and welcome them.
All work offered here for donation goes directly to the artisans, supports trauma-informed arts and activities programming for adults and children at the border, and can also provide start-up funding for craftswomen and men now in the U.S.
Make your Gift-giving be a healing force this year.
For each donation to ArtisansBeyondBorders.org of $20.00 or more, you will receive in the mail one matching pair of original mug rug weavings in cotton or wool crafted by families stranded at the border waiting for asylum.
Free shipping included. When you donate, please email us your mailing address at Contact@ArtisansBeyondBorders.org. Thank you!
