San Marcos La Laguna · Lake Atitlán · Guatemala

An art school / community art center with its heart in pottery. Free for local children.

Espiral is a free art school and community art center for Maya children in San Marcos La Laguna. Pottery is at the heart, with painting, weaving, music and skill-sharing alongside. The studio side that earns funds the school side that gives. We're raising the first $15 to 20K to open the doors.

See the Ask How it works

01 · The Problem

In San Marcos La Laguna, formal schooling ends at Grade 8.

After that, the children of Lake Atitlán are on their own. Many already make and sell art in the streets (beadwork, drawings, weaving) to help their families. They have the instinct. They just don't have a room.

6th
Grade where most rural kids stop
~96%
Indigenous Maya population in Sololá
0
Free arts programs for kids in San Marcos
Daily
Visitors with disposable income, on the lake

02 · The Solution

Espiral: one space, two programs that fund each other.

A free art school and community art center for local children, with pottery at the heart. An on-site studio open to international visitors for paid workshops. Local Maya women employed as ceramics and cultural instructors. Every revenue dollar from the studio side goes back into keeping the school free.

The Studio (revenue)

Paid pottery workshops for visitors. Sale of student and resident-artist work. Artist residency program with housing exchanged for teaching kids three times a week. Benefit concert series during high season.

The School & Center (free)

Free ceramics, painting, weaving, music and visual art classes for children ages 6 to 16. Free English classes. A community art center that fills the gap where formal schooling stops, and a space where local Maya women teach traditional craft alongside resident artists from elsewhere.

03 · The Model

The studio earns. The school gives. The spiral closes.

Most arts nonprofits live grant-to-grant. Espiral doesn't. The studio side generates real revenue from a real customer base. Lake Atitlán hosts hundreds of thousands of international visitors a year. That revenue funds the free school in perpetuity, with grants and sponsors covering the gap during ramp.

Inputs
Workshops · Pottery sales · Residency fees · Benefit concerts
→
Engine
Espiral Studio + Kiln · San Marcos
→
Outputs
Free classes · Mayan women employed · Kids trained

04 · The Team

Two founders. More to come.

Madizon
Founder
Shim
Co-Founder

Full bios coming soon.

05 · Where We Are

Foundation laid. Doors not yet open.

✓
Host venue committed. Eden Atitlán, a lakefront eco-retreat in Barrio 3 of San Marcos, has approved kiln installation and studio use.
✓
Brand and digital presence built. Full visual identity, public vision site, sponsor deck, internal plan, and ops dashboard live and version-controlled.
✓
Outreach pipeline ready. Phased fundraising plan in motion. Fiscal sponsor candidates (Water4Life Global, Pionero Philanthropy) identified, grant targets shortlisted (Puffin, GlobalGiving, Windgate, Firelight).
✓
Roles clear. Madizon ↔ Shim split is documented. Mayan instructor outreach drafted in three languages. Artist residency framework in place.
○
Open need: first $15–20K for kiln, wheels, supplies, lease deposit, and three months of teacher salaries.

06 · The Ask

$15–20K

To open the doors. Then ~$1–2K per month to keep them open while the studio side ramps.

What it funds

One kiln ($6K, delivered and installed in Guatemala). Three pottery wheels ($3K total). Studio fit-out: shelving, tables, lighting, ventilation ($2K). Three months of instructor pay for two local Maya women ($3 to 4K). Art supplies for a full quarter of children's classes ($1.5K). Marketing, legal, and contingency ($1 to 2K).

07 · Donation Tiers

Every dollar documented. Every child has a name.

Recurring donors receive monthly updates with photographs and student stories. One-time gifts are recognized in our annual report and on the wall of the studio. Sololá department is ~96% Indigenous Maya, and San Marcos La Laguna has no free arts programs for children. Your gift fills that gap.

Supporter
$25
Art supplies for one child for a full month.
Friend
$100
One month of English classes for five kids who would otherwise stop learning at 6th grade.
Patron
$500
Full quarter of program supplies for the school.
Founder
$1,000
A major equipment sponsor. Funds a meaningful piece of the studio buildout.
Cornerstone
$3,000
A studio sponsor. Funds three months of instructor pay for two local Maya teachers.

08 · Named Giving

Your name on the equipment. Every child who fires a piece does it because of you.

$6,000
The Kiln
"The [Your Name] Kiln." Covers a medium electric kiln delivered and installed in Guatemala (equipment, vent, controller, customs, install). Listed on the website. Engraved on the equipment itself. Acknowledged in every grant application. Every piece every child ever fires in Espiral passes through it.
$1,500 · three available
A Pottery Wheel
"The [Your Name] Wheel." Covers a professional pottery wheel delivered to San Marcos. Named in plaque on the wheel itself. Featured on the website. Three wheels, three named gifts.
$2,500
A Classroom Quarter
Fund three months of free classes for ~30 children. Named on the quarterly student report distributed to all donors.

09 · Get In Touch

Sponsor the spiral.

Reply directly. Madizon & Shim read every message personally. We'll send the giving instructions, a 30-min call link, or whatever moves us forward together.

espiralpotteryatitlan@gmail.com