Kate Turning

Chris Wyrik

Arturo Mendoza Elfeo

After a two-year hiatus, the Todos Santos Open Studio Tour is back with our 12th tour. This year we have over 50 artists including a Palapa School student. 

We are kicking off the weekend on Friday, February 3, 2023, 6 - 8pm with a Meet the Artist opening party at Doce Cuarenta in Todos Santos. During this event you will have a chance to meet many of the artists before the tour. Don't miss the special live auction to help raise money for The Palapa Society. There will be live music along with food and beverage pairings sure to tempt your tastebuds. 

Saturday and Sunday, February 4 & 5, 2023, is when our most talented artists in the area open their private studios and share their magic with you. Each artist is showcasing and selling art at their studios. In past years over 300 people visited artists´ studios in just two days. We anticipate this year to be at the same level. So, wear your comfortable shoes and don't forget to bring water. There will be water refill stations available at various locations and are marked on your map.

That leads us to the most exciting update for our tour. We are holding our first ever ZERO WASTE event. We are teaming up with Cero Basura BCS to create an event that aligns with cero basura principles to produce increasingly eco-friendly event that produces less waste than previous events. This means that there will be a LIMITED number of paper maps this year, and in 2024, only digital map will be made available to attendees.

Simply access via your cell phone. This map will show you locations of artists' studios, photos of some of their work, and bios about each of them. You can mark your favorite ones or preplan your route based on the artists you want to see.

For more information and details about participating artists, please visit our website.

Friday, February 3, 2023

Meet the Artist: Opening Party

Location: Doce Cuarenta

6 - 8 PM

Live Music, Silent Auction, and Food and Beverage Pairings.

Ticket Price: $600 MXN / $30 USD 

February 4 & 5, 2023

Ticket Price: $300 MXN / $15 USD for both tour days

Children under 17 are free

10 - 4 pm Tour the art studios of Todos Santos

Lee Mothes

Mark Bjorklund

Oliver Martinez

Our Season of Giving Campaign continues until January 15th. Thank you to donors who took a moment to donate.

This year, The Palapa Society has the challenge of covering its highest annual budget of $700,000 USD. Because of all the donors who have already contributed this year, we need just over $100,000 USD remaining to meet our goal.

We thank you and hope you will once again embrace the spirit of generosity. Please consider donating to our valuable programs that help leave no student behind. 

The Impact You Make When You Give:

• $10,000 - 4 middle school scholarships
• $5,500 - 1 middle and 1 high school scholarship
• $3,000 - 1 high school scholarship
• $2,500 - 1 middle school scholarship
• $1,000 - 3 laptops for The Palapa School
• $500 - 1 University scholarship

These are just suggestions. We gratefully welcome any gift big and small.

Your support is vital to our students and their families.

Since September 2022, The Palapa School has undertaken an intensive learning process to transform itself into a zero waste campus. Under the leadership of the school’s Co-Directors and CSU Zero Waste Coordinator, Antonio Diego, the school has made tremendous progress.

Tangible results include:

Creation and implementation of a waste separation strategy. The Palapa School now has designated bins for specific types of waste and information on proper separation techniques. A dedicated team of students drives this project.

The Palapa School is part of the waste separation program run by the municipality, which includes regular pickup of recyclables. All kitchen and garden waste are now composted on the school grounds.

The Zero Waste program at the school has been hands-on and dynamic. Students have been an integral part of the waste analysis and waste strategy development for the school and have created and implemented the school zero waste information campaign. In addition, Palapa students have gone outside the classroom to visit and help clean up illegal dump sites around town and lend a hand at Punto Verde where they prepared three tons of cardboard for transport. Supporting themes in the classroom have included “The Myth of Recycling,” learning how to create eco-bricks, understanding the history of compost in Mexico, and learning about sustainable industries.

Saturday, January 21 from 12-2 p.m., the Children’s Library will present a sea turtle conservation-themed art project and book reading.

This art and literary activity is based on the book Chelonia; Return of a Sea Turtle, by Navarro, Snodgrass, and Nichols. This beautifully illustrated book is about a young girl and her fisherman grandfather who rescue, rehabilitate, and eventually release an injured loggerhead sea turtle. Our team of educators will bring it to life in English and Spanish. The accompanying art project is for ages 5-10, although everyone is welcome.

by Jacki Gillespie, Director 

Children’s English has completed another year, and we couldn’t be more proud of the teachers and volunteers who have gone above and beyond to help the program succeed. The love and commitment shown to the students demonstrates just how much they care. 

This month we hope to add a few more volunteers to support the teachers and students. With that, we also hope to add a few more students as well. We will return to class on Monday, January 9, 2023, and await more exciting things to happen this year. 

By Kate Lewis, Director

Adult English took a holiday break and will began a new term January 3, 2023. Registrations will be Monday, January 2nd from 6 - 8 p.m. With several new and returning volunteer teachers and assistants, along with our existing teachers, we can now offer classes more specifically aimed at the needs and wants of our students. If you know anyone who would benefit from improving their English skills, please encourage them to enroll in a three-month course with us.

For more information, email adultenglish@palapasociety.org

Longtime Palapa supporters Kearsley Higgins and Todd Vaziri just doubled their annual donation by adding The Palapa Society to Todd’s employer’s non-profit, gift-matching program at The Walt Disney Company.

If you work for a corporation in the United States that matches employees’ donations to non-profit organizations, simply add The International Community Foundation, our 501(c)3 non-profit partner registered in the US under EIN: 33-0457858, and note the donation is for The Palapa Society of Todos Santos, A.C.

For more information please contact Jamie Sechrist jamie@palapasociety.org.

12th Annual Todos Santos Open Studio Tour

February 3 -5, 2023

February 3, 2023

Meet the Artists: Opening Party

Doce Cuarenta

4 - 6 pm

Ticket Price: $600 MXN

February 4 & 5

Tour the Artist Studios

10 am - 4 pm

Ticket Price: $300 MXN

Stay Tuned for More Updates on the Below Events!

March 5, 2023

Historic Home Tour of Todos Santos - Cancelled for 2023

April 1, 2023

1st Annual Masquerade Party

Fundraiser for The Palapa Society

April 29, 2023

Donor Appreciation Party

The BEP would like to extend a special thanks to Diane Gendron for the incredible book donations in English, Spanish, and French. Many of the great books from her collection are already on the shelves.

Thank you to Jon, Malu, and Mailin Thompson and Dina Bleeker for donating a huge bag of school supplies to the Puente al Inglés program. We appreciate the extra effort especially when flying during the holidays. 

Thank you to Courtney Grange and Paul Hangaar for dropping off a donation of school and art supplies at Galería Todos Santos, and to Michael Cope for accepting them on The Palapa’s behalf during the holidays.

Thank you to Palmer and Annabelle Letzerich and their daughters, who not only donated to our annual Season of Giving fundraiser, but also donated a large bag of school supplies, plus a full Pickleball set. Now Palapa School students can participate in the sport that’s been sweeping our community. If you have extra Pickleball paddles and balls you’d like to donate, please email us at Secretary@PalapaSociety.org

Patricia & Eric Adams

David Anderson

Jenelle Aubade-Caracas

Jose Blanco

Gail & Scott Bosch

Pam & Paul Bumann

Gina Cerda

Marsha Dahlquist

Napoleon Dominguez

Emanuela Gardner

Joy Gipson

Archie Gomez

Miguel Guerrero

Oliver Martinez Hernandez

Claudia Kopkowski

Jackie & Donald McJunkin

Annebet Muceus

Kim Norsby

Karen Shiller

Jana Soper

Jill Valliere

Ardis Young

Anonymous x2

Karen & Scot Barker

Shelly & David Burke

Margaretta & Austin Caesar

Susan & Ken Churchill

Chip Conley

Elizabeth Day

Kathy & Robert Dannenhold

Laurie Dawe

John Denning

Kate Ecker

Leo Flasch

Dave Fleming

John Fornal

Terry Galpin-Plattner

Marc Hankin

Shirley & Peter Hill

Barbara & James Holman

Sally & Jeffery Horn

Blair Jenkins

Valerie Jones

Tracy & Chris Lecroy

Aynsley, Palmer, Annabelle & Caroline Letzerich

Jeff & Erica McIlroy

Laurie & Mark Miller

Janelle & Tony Palma

Sharon Parrague

Carolyn Porter

David Puckett

Marsha Karr Rabinovitch

Leigh & Jack Russo

Mr. Paul Santucci

Paula Schoonmaker

Douglas Seymour

Julie Swaggart

Buzz Tarlow

Cathryn Williams & Greg Broughton

Susan and Chuck Wilson

Sarah Zona

Eleanor Andrews

Anonymous

Suzanne & Rick Arnold

Gail & Scott Bosch

Marjolein Brugman

Pam & Paul Bumann

Vickie Butler

Ryan Casey

Kathy Cate

Karin & Judd Cuenin

Julie & Michael Dandurand

Elizabeth Farner

Ken Ford

John & Sharon Foster

Kristen & Rick Friedman

Jane Gehring

Virginia Gollery

Lisa Goodman

Karen & Charley Haley

Jane Hall

Margot & Dick Hampleman

Charles Herren

Cindy & David Higgins

Marimar Higgins

Lee & Anthony Irons

Marilyn Jacques

Bonnie & AJ Johnston

Janna Kinkade

Wendie Kruthers

Lynn & Brian Kuske

Marshall Laird

Teresa Laird

Karen McDaniels

Connie & Andy Mical

Cheryl V. Myers

Nancy & Dennis Naigle

Cathy & Dr. William Nation

Sofia & Stephen Nicholas

Jay Masaschi

Diana Pandell & Chris Miller

Jill Mollenhauer & Robert Bland

Sharon Morris

Patricia O'Connell

Maria Olaisen & Mike Block

Deborah Parrish

Janet & Bryan Raydon

Kristin Rust

Tori Sepulveda & Oscar Rosales

Erin Sands

Sydney & Greg Schweitzer

Nancy Simpson

Angelica Velez Mendez

Stephanie Vetter

Lisa Welsch

Kathy Warnert

Robert Bruce Westbrook