The rumors are true, BBB is in Ecuador right now acquiring the very greatest hats woven by the very greatest weavers. (Learn more about how he is able to get all of the very best hats.) As a kid, I always imagined my dad as the Indiana Jones of hats, traveling to exotic locales...
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Montecristi Foundation
The Montecristi Foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to saving the art of weaving, improving the lives of people who make Panama hats, and providing education opportunities for future weavers.
Thank you for reading about the programs, activities, and intentions of The Montecristi Foundation, Inc. We are sincerely trying to do the best we know how, and can pay for, to support the art and the artists of Montecristi. We welcome your input and we’re grateful for your help.
Brent Black and the Quest for the Finest Panama Hats
Simon Espinal: State of the Artist
How’s Simón doing? Better. Both artistically and financially. No, I don’t have any photos of Simón with his new SUV in front of his new McMansion. But he is most definitely a success story. Before we began to work together, he could not earn enough from weaving to support his family. He worked on...
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Another Day of Eye Exams in Pile
Thanks to the Montecristi Foundation, Inc., an eye doctor visited Pile last Saturday. The doctor conducted exams for weavers, their families, and many others in the village, and new glasses will be delivered in a few weeks. Here are some photos from Gabriel and Andrea. Eye doctor, carrying her equipment into the village. The...
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Weaving School in Pile
One of the most exciting new projects undertaken by the Montecristi Foundation, Inc. is the weaving school in Pile which opened this January. Remember: the number one goal of my dad, the single obsession that started all of this, was to preserve this incredible art form. When I was a little kid, our house...
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Update on “Got Glasses”
Remember the boy whose story appeared on BBB’s website and that we reposted here? He’s doing well with his new glasses! Here’s a photo of him from Christmas: His mother reports that his eyes are improving, and as his eyes change the Foundation continues to provide him with new lenses. The many weavers who...
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Safety Masks for Weavers
The Montecristi Foundation, Inc. ( MCF ) has provided free safety masks to the weavers of Pile. This is the first time in history that the weavers have had any way to protect themselves from the potentially hazardous sulfur fumes that are an essential part of the process. Sulfur powder is critically important to...
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Medical Care
When we first began to provide free medical care to the village of Pile nearly a decade ago, ours was the only medical care available in the village. The government of Ecuador had not yet “discovered” Pile. We started with a couple of experimental medical days, funded by The Panama Hat Co. of the...
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Eye Glasses
The Foundation brought an optometrist to Pile, provided free eye exams, and free eyeglasses. I was there when the optometrist came, and I was shocked to discover that most of the weavers literally couldn’t see what they were doing. I had high hopes that a dramatic increase in fineness and evenness of weave would...
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Got Glasses?
While we were eating and buying hats woven by her daughter-in-law, the woman’s five-year-old son was in perpetual motion, running in and out of the house, all around the room, under the table, happily squabbling with his sister and brother at every opportunity. Typical five year old, right? Except for his eyes. As I...
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Public Health Cooperative
In addition to the physician assigned to Pile, there is a midwife, a nurse who can give injections and IVs, and a layperson elected by the civic cooperative to be responsible for health-related issues and projects (translation: paperwork). We are bringing these people together for the first time, to get to know each other...
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