Weaving Stories Across Borders: Spanish Students Partner With Colombian Artists

Advanced Topics in Spanish students at The Lovett School participated in a cultural exchange with elderly textile artists in Sonsón, Colombia, connecting language study with lived history through art and storytelling. The project paired Lovett students with artists who had lived through decades of conflict in Colombia, using letters, audio recordings, and textile work to foster cross-cultural understanding.

The exchange grew out of the class’s Colombia unit, as students explored the lasting effects of conflict on local communities. “As we dug deeper into our Colombia unit, we learned about the resilience of people shaped by more than 50 years of conflict,” said Spanish teacher Eliana Pineda. “We felt it was important to create an opportunity for our students to connect directly with the community, learn from them, and honor their process.” With support from La Casa de Los Sueños, an organization focused on memory and conflict, the cultural exchange took shape.

During the exchange, Lovett students sent visual letters to the artists, introducing themselves and sharing aspects of their daily lives through writing and photographs. The artists responded with audio recordings that described their own lives and experiences during the Colombian conflict. Over Thanksgiving break, Pineda traveled to Colombia and visited the artists in Sonsón, where she collected small handmade gifts the artists had created for the students.

Textile art played a central role in the exchange, serving as both a storytelling tool and a form of healing for the artists. “For them, weaving created a shared space to talk and process what they had endured during years of conflict,” Pineda explained. One artist described how “the thread and needle became the best therapy to let go of the burden of what happened to us.” These conversations eventually became woven into both the artists’ work and their community.

Throughout November and December, Lovett students worked with a local textile artist to create textile blankets inspired by the lives, struggles, and values of the artists they were paired with. The completed blankets will be sent to Colombia and displayed in a local museum in Sonsón, honoring the artists and their stories.

Spanish teacher Olivia Rocamora reflected on the broader purpose of the project beyond language acquisition. “We hoped students experienced the power of knowing another language,” she said. “Even when it’s riddled with grammatical errors, practicing a language can show a community across the world that we see them, we value their lives, and we honor their stories. This was Lovett’s school mission in action—using skills beyond the classroom and strengthening a sense of global citizenship.”