{"id":3307,"date":"2016-07-09T21:59:17","date_gmt":"2016-07-09T21:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/?page_id=3307"},"modified":"2016-07-18T20:14:10","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T20:14:10","slug":"weaving-school","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/weaving-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Montecristi Panama Hat Weaving School"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-417 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/classcr1_72_71A9401w.jpg\" alt=\"classcr1_72_71A9401w\" width=\"752\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/classcr1_72_71A9401w.jpg 752w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/classcr1_72_71A9401w-600x134.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/classcr1_72_71A9401w-300x67.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><small><strong>Class of 2015<\/strong><br \/>\nSee all those laughing faces? The old man behind the camera (me) was dancing around ridiculously. Mission accomplished.<\/small><\/p>\n<p>Our little weaving school in the village of Pile celebrated\u00a0its fifth birthday in January 2016. It is the very-first-ever weaving school inthe village where the very finest hats have been woven for<br \/>\ngenerations.<\/p>\n<p>There are two teachers. So, two jobs were created in the\u00a0village. We graduated 49 new weavers in the first four years. We have 11\u00a0students this year. The school is well liked by the community and has received<br \/>\nvery favorable media attention in Ecuador, the US, and the EU. One of our\u00a0students, Katiusca Espinal, won an award for Best Teen Weaver in the village of\u00a0Pile (which means best teen weaver in the world). The school is featured in a\u00a0documentary airing in the EU on ARTE cable channel, in French and German. A\u00a0Mexican waiter in a Cuban restaurant in Honolulu told me he had watched the\u00a0documentary, with English subtitles, in Sri Lanka. That is probably the version\u00a0that is airing in Australia. What a wonderful world. Our little weaving school\u00a0in the tiny village of Pile has become an international media darling.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\t<div id=\"video\">\r\n\t\tWeaving School Video\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Students, teachers, a dog, cute kids,\u00a0catchy music \u2013 what\u2019 s not to love?<\/p>\n<div class=\"center\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"soul of straw\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rrl7TYY097Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"info-block\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Established:<\/strong> January 2011<\/li>\n<li><strong> Location:<\/strong>\u00a0Village of Pile, Montecriti Canton, Ecuador. The very finest Montecristi hats have been woven in Pile for more than a century.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mission:<\/strong> To help to keep alive\u00a0the art of hand weaving fine Montecristi hats, by teaching the next generation\u00a0to weave.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Funded by:<\/strong> The Monteristi Foundation, Inc., Brent Black Panama Hats,\u00a0and you Faculty: Fausto L\u00f3pez, Patricia L\u00f3pez<\/li>\n<li><strong>Students:<\/strong> The school is\u00a0completing its fifth year with 11 students, 10 have asked to return for a\u00a0second year of instruction. Graduates: During the first five years, 60 students\u00a0completed a full year of instruction, 58 continue to weave, the other 2 are in\u00a0university.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tuition:<\/strong> Tuition is free, but not all applicants are accepted.\u00a0Applicants are interviewed, aptitudes are evaluated, then teachers meet with\u00a0each family to confirm that they will be supportive of regular attendance, and\u00a0of the learning process.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Course of Study:<\/strong> Basic instruction is one year. A\u00a0student with no weaving experience will be able to weave a marketable hat with\u00a020 rows of weave per inch, after completing one year of instruction. Students\u00a0may return for a second year of instruction, with the approval of the faculty.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Student Hats: All hats are the property of the students who weave them. The\u00a0school neither buys nor sells hats.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1556 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/poster3.jpg\" alt=\"poster3\" width=\"560\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/poster3.jpg 560w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/poster3-300x212.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Class Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Classes are Monday through Friday, 2 to\u00a05, after the kids have finished regular school at noon. Tuition and supplies\u00a0are free. Prospective students, and their parents, are gently interviewed. We\u00a0welcome students who have the interest, the commitment, and the support of\u00a0their families to learn the legendary art of weaving straw into silk, to keep\u00a0the art alive for another generation. Or, maybe they just want free after\u00a0school care.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Faculty<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The survival and success of the school are due\u00a0to the hard work, patience, and skills of the teachers Fausto Lopez and\u00a0Patricia Lopez (Fausto\u2019 s sister-in-law), Gabriel Lucas who did most of the<br \/>\nwork to set up the school in 2011, and Andrea Santos who administered the\u00a0school for more than three years. Fausto is a calm, patient teacher. His own\u00a0hats are second only to Sim\u00f3n\u2019 s. Like Sim\u00f3n, he has literally woven hats fit\u00a0for a king. Yes, a real king bought a couple of Fausto\u2019 s hats. Fausto could\u00a0weave a hat for you, even if you are not a king. Rich? Close enough. Patricia\u00a0is an excellent teacher. I know from personal experience. She makes a clear,\u00a0logical, caring presentation of information. She showed me how to replace a\u00a0straw if one breaks while she\u2019 s weaving the side of the crown. Done poorly,\u00a0the repair is obvious in the consequent ripples in the rows of weave directly\u00a0below. Done well,the repair is invisible. Patricia is an excellent weaver, one\u00a0of the best. To wear one of Patricia\u2019 s astonishing hats, you do not\u00a0necessarily need to be wealthy. Enviably well off will do.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_423\" style=\"width: 290px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-423\" class=\"wp-image-423 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/grandopening_72_0391w.jpg\" alt=\"grandopening_72_0391w\" width=\"280\" height=\"187\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-423\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grand Opening: February 2011<\/p><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-448 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school13_class_72_0190w.jpg\" alt=\"school13_class_72_0190w\" width=\"432\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school13_class_72_0190w.jpg 432w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school13_class_72_0190w-300x174.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Graduates<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The school is wonderful. It\u2019 s working. The\u00a0next generation is learning to weave the finest of the finest Montecristi hats.\u00a0Your tax deductible dollars at work.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Year 1: 5 Graduates<\/li>\n<li>Year 2: 15 Graduates<\/li>\n<li>Year 3: 18 Graduates<\/li>\n<li>Year 4: 11 Graduates<\/li>\n<li>Year 5: 11 Students &#8211; Class of 2015<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>49 graduates. 47 still weaving. 11 more about to complete their first year.\u00a0Wow.<\/p>\n<p>As my apprentice Calvin put it, \u201c47! 47 new weavers in Pile? Pile is TINY.\u00a0What\u2019 d you do \u2013 double the number of weavers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019 t seem likely. Must\u00a0be more people in that village than it looks like.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, 47 new weavers in\u00a0the village where the very best hats are woven is significant. At the risk of\u00a0repeating myself \u2013 wow.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine how much we could do if everyone who reads this\u00a0page were to lavish obscenely large donations on us.<\/p>\n<p>Are you imagining that?\u00a0Well, go on \u2013 imagine it. Perhaps you could imagine it more clearly if you were\u00a0to take out a credit card and hold it in your hands, looking occasionally at\u00a0the number, visualizing typing that number on my secure website.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-444 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school11_posterclass_72w.jpg\" alt=\"school11_posterclass_72w\" width=\"720\" height=\"509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school11_posterclass_72w.jpg 720w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school11_posterclass_72w-600x424.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school11_posterclass_72w-300x212.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Name That School<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For the first two years and ten\u00a0months, our school had no name.<\/p>\n<p>It had become more and more obvious, day by\u00a0day, that the school needed a name. We couldn\u2019 t keep calling it \u201cHey, you\u201d\u00a0forever.<\/p>\n<p>Many names were suggested by the students, teachers, parents, and even\u00a0an old gringo ex-ad writer (who speaks Spanish so poorly it\u2019 s embarrassing).\u00a0The students voted. A clear winner. A landslide victory. Oddly, the election\u00a0did not receive much coverage on CNN or FOX, so perhaps you missed it.<\/p>\n<p>Andrea\u00a0reported the election results by email: \u201cThe students loved \u2018 Alma de Paja\u00a0Toquilla\u2019 .\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alma de Paja Toquilla. Soul of Straw. The old ex-ad guy\u2019 s still\u00a0got game.<\/p>\n<p>Andrea made a logo and put it on polo shirts for the students and\u00a0teachers. CNN and FOX did not do follow-up stories on the polo shirts. I remain\u00a0baffled. I\u2019 ve seen much less interesting stories on both networks.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3323 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/signW-1.jpg\" alt=\"Print\" width=\"720\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/signW-1.jpg 720w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/signW-1-600x200.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/signW-1-300x100.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Paja means straw. Toquilla is the plant the straw is made\u00a0from. So &#8211; Paja Toquilla. The line below the school name &#8211; La paja toquilla es\u00a0el alma del Ecucador &#8211; means Toquilla straw is the soul of Ecuador. True. That\u00a0is the line the students voted to be their motto.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-449 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/shirtart_bluW.jpg\" alt=\"shirtart_bluW\" width=\"317\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/shirtart_bluW.jpg 317w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/shirtart_bluW-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 317px) 100vw, 317px\" \/><br \/>\nWhen the school shirts this year, we used a new line. Shorter. \u201cSomos super finos.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The finest hats are called super\u00a0finos. Seems to me that the finest people could also be called super finos.\u00a0\u201cSomos super finos\u201d means \u201cWe are super fine.\u201d I hope all of our students will\u00a0be super fine \u2013 in their weaving, and in their living.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fix-img-alignment\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-409 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_0043w.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_0043w\" width=\"390\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_0043w.jpg 390w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_0043w-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 390px) 100vw, 390px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-446 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school13_4girls_72w.jpg\" alt=\"school13_4girls_72w\" width=\"317\" height=\"259\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school13_4girls_72w.jpg 317w, https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/school13_4girls_72w-300x245.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 317px) 100vw, 317px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Class of 2015 See all those laughing faces? The old man behind the camera (me) was dancing around ridiculously. Mission accomplished. Our little weaving school in the village of Pile celebrated\u00a0its fifth birthday in January 2016. It is the very-first-ever weaving school inthe village where the very finest hats have been woven for generations. There [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":1115,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3307","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3307"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4222,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3307\/revisions\/4222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.brentblack.com\/cart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}