AMBOS CERAMICS

AMBOS Ceramics provides trauma informed ceramics to LGBTQ+ asylum seekers in Tijuana

With the Trump administration's “Remain in Mexico” program continuing under the Biden administration, migrants awaiting asylum hearings have been inadvertently stuck at Mexican borders for years. Compounded by the pandemic, the migrant community is now facing multiple challenges in our border towns, with LGBTQ+ migrants being the most vulnerable.

The AMBOS ceramics studio started during the pandemic, intended to serve as a temporary program to provide a therapeutic outlet for the residents of Jardin de Las Mariposas, an LGBTQ+ Center and Rehabilitation Shelter for migrants and other refugees in Tijuana, Mexico. As the pandemic continued, the program became an invaluable outlet for residents. During 2020 all of the ceramics classes were held virtually, with Los Angeles based artist-educators Gerardo Monterrubio and Patricia Yossen leading instruction.

The AMBOS ceramics program began in-person instruction in January 2021. Weekly live instruction at the Jardin de las Mariposas in Tijuana has been led by accomplished queer ceramic artist Juan Villavicencio and assisted by a therapist from Centro 32/Families Belong Together Mexico. The works produced by participants in the AMBOS ceramics program at Jardin began, and continue to be provided through repurposing upcycled clay and other materials from ceramics studios from across Southern California that we transport to Mexico every other month. Thanks to a small grant from the Future Crafts Fund, AMBOS obtained funding to provide a year of instruction and partnered with Tijuana’s Lustre Studio for the firing and glazing of works created at Jardin. The remaining program costs have been provided through crowdsourced mutual aid fundraising.

AMBOS Ceramics at Jardin de las Mariposas has been crucial to the mental health and wellbeing of migrants, many of whom fled their home countries because of gender-based violence and persecution.

In 2022, at the request of our community partners, we expanded the program to include a second LGBTQ+ shelter, Casa Arcoiris in Tijuana, Mexico, providing more opportunities for healing in our border LGBTQ+ migrant community.