Handmade Palestine visits Paducah, Kentucky!
Author: rayela
Brazil 18years + Chicago 20yrs + Paducah since 2005 These have shaped my path and interests. I spent many years as an active artist (ceramics and textiles) but have focused on promoting the creative community online since 2010. My current projects are Artizan Made and this site, Creative PlaceMakers.
I landed on Handmade Palestine’s Instagram page in December of 2025. Morgan Cooper, Founder, shares what life is like in Palestine and she caught my attention. She covers the crafts made by the communities she works with, along with the challenges of being an American there, married to a Palestinian and raising two young children.
I contacted her, introducing myself, in the hopes that she would join as a Creative PlaceMakers member, which she did! Visit her member page. After a couple more back and forths, Morgan shared that she would be coming to Nashville in June. What? That’s only two hours away! I invited her to come and stay with me at the Green Roof International House, where I live, and she accepted! We had such an immediate connection and I am so excited to meet her!
Morgan Cooper in Paducah! June 15, 2026!
Meet Morgan in person on June 15th from 3-9PM.
She will have her two children with her and will bring crafts to sell!
Hello, Paducah!!
Co-Host
This meet and greet is co-hosted by Marshall Giovanni Dillon, a Paducah creative who is excited to meet Morgan and to learn more about Palestine! Marshall gave a short bio of his interests:
“I’m a creative. I like making things. Music. Photography. I love films. I like to learn. I try to stay informed with current events and enjoy reading non fiction mostly. I’m interested more lately in finding community and being more aware and intentional in meeting each other’s needs and having third spaces to connect and get away from our screens.”
Hopefully, we will see a lot more of Marshall as we build our PlaceMaker’s base! Marshall will give Morgan and the kids a Paducah tour on Tuesday before they leave! How exciting! They will, of course, make a stop at the Quilt Museum!
Meet and Greet
We will have an informal gathering at Green Roof from 3-6pm. There will be some finger food and Morgan will have her Handmade Palestine products displayed, for sale. I am hoping that she brings some of the embroidery! I have loved Palestinian embroidery for decades!
At around 6pm, Morgan will give an informal talk about life in Palestine. This is a great opportunity to learn from someone who has spent more than 20 years living in this reality. What is happening in Palestine, Israel and surrounding countries is heartbreaking. We must educate ourselves, learn about the history that keeps us all mired in an ideology of war and try to envision a way forward for peace.
Morgan
I am learning so much from Morgan’s videos! I hope that you will explore her account and watch, too. She often visits the artisans and historical places and tells the stories behind the techniques and rich symbolism that is everywhere in Palestine. Morgan is eloquent and incredibly knowledgeable.
View this post on Instagram
The bigger picture behind Handmade Palestine:
View this post on Instagram
Anglican Church in Palestine: This is something I had no clue about and it fascinates me!
View this post on Instagram
She shows a lot of cultural hot spots, places or people that need to be explored! Here is one on an old Palestinian embroidered dress that she wanted to have assessed:
View this post on Instagram
Nabulsi Tile Factory:
View this post on Instagram
Do come and meet Morgan if you are local! If you can’t make it, connect with her on her social media pages or message her through her website.
She has a schedule here of where she will be in the US this summer and can possibly schedule more places if you would like to host her.
Her links are on her member page, here on Creative PlaceMakers. You can also leave comments for her below.
Join us! Membership is only $25/year! It’s easy!
Create an account, log back in and fill out this form.
Amiga Fund
I also run Artizan Made, a collective of online shops that sell handmade home decor and eco fashion products made by studio artists and fair trade groups. I promote our members through our website and on our social media sites. Members pay a nominal monthly fee of $12.50/month to help cover server costs, my time and other expenses, but the initial setup is time consuming for me and I need to charge for it. The Amiga Fund helps people who are struggling financially cover the first year of membership fees and the set up, $280.
Our community has funded three Ukrainians and an Israeli artist in this way. We now have Handmade Palestine and another Ukrainian, the Wonderland of Wool, as applicants. Supporting handmade efforts located in distressed parts of the world creates wonderful bonds, informs us about each other, and helps keep these skills alive.
Handmade Palestine’s products are gorgeous and meaningful! I would really love to have them represented on our site and help spread their stories. We import 50 member products into our market, creating an exciting destination for people who want to support the handmade community. Instead of selling these products, we link back over to the member’s site so that the shopper can see all that they have in stock. Handmade Palestine would bring in gorgeous textiles, olive wood, ceramics and much more into the mix. If you can support this effort through the Amiga Fund, please contact me.
Visit Handmade Palestine and shop!
Click to see Morgan’s application for the Amiga Fund
I wrote a separate post on what my journey has been in learning about Palestine. It is complex, but people like Morgan are helping to preserve the Palestinian people’s history, their land and their love for community. Hop over here to read what I had to say.
Let’s all work for peace!
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