Weaving-inspired painting by Luis Emilio Romero

(PARAMUS, NJ) -- Gallery Bergen, the visual arts presentation space of Bergen Community College, in collaboration with the Guatemalan solidarity organization, Grupo Cajolá in North America, presents Telas de Solidaridad/Threads of Solidarity: Connections to Guatemala. The exhibit is on display from December 11th through February 5, 2026.

Works of various media by artists Juan Carlos Vail Lucas (Quetzaltenango, Guatemala), Nivia Hernandez (US), Melida Rodas (US), and Luis Emilio Romero (US) will be on view. Many of the works will also be for sale to benefit Grupo Cajolá's community work in Cajolá, Guatemala in the Mayan Mam-speaking region of the country.

An opening reception is set for Thursday, December 11 at 6:00pm at Gallery Bergen on the college's main campus in Paramus.

The opening celebration will feature performances by Guatemalan violinist Sergio Reyes and a poetry reading by exhibition artist Melida Rodas. Ms. Rodas is the official Poet Laureate of Jersey City. Regional food will be provided by the students of BCC's Culinary Arts Program.

Grupo Cajolá in Cajolá, Guatemala is a community led organization founded in 2006 by immigrants from Cajolá who had lived in Morristown, NJ. Some of them returned to Cajolá with the dream to develop the community so that people weren’t forced to migrate in order to live a dignified life. They believed that education is the key to development, and that they needed to start projects that could offer opportunities to earn a living. Importantly they were committed to basing all the work on their Maya Mam culture.

The US-based nonprofit Grupo Cajolá in North America was founded in 2021 to support the work of the group in Cajolá, Guatemala, primarily by raising the funds for the group’s initiatives. Although they are two separate organizations, they collaborate on their mutual mission to promote the well-being of the people of Cajolá who live in Cajolá or in the diaspora, creating educational and financial opportunities in Cajolá so that fewer community members need to migrate to sustain their families.

Gallery Bergen is located at Bergen Community College (400 Paramus Road) in Paramus, New Jersey - just 10 miles west of Manhattan. The gallery regularly presents major contemporary artists in all media.