About Casa Ceiba
Casa Ceiba (also known as Yax Chee' Jay in Tz'utujil) is a healing-centered cultural incubator and residency located in a private home in Santiago Atitlán. Rooted in Maya cosmology, collective care, and reciprocal exchange, Casa Ceiba offers a space where Indigenous, Black, Central American, and diasporic artists, creatives, cultural practitioners, and organizers of the Global Majority can slow down, listen deeply, and create in relationship with land, ancestors, and community.
This residency is intentionally small-scale and relational. Every stay is co-designed with you—your intentions, your creative or organizing practice, and the experiences you feel called to cultivate. Your time here is meant to nourish your spirit, reconnect you with Maya ancestral knowledge, and strengthen solidarity across geographies. Casa Ceiba centers 2Spirit, Indigiqueer, queer, trans, women, young adults, and BIPOC creators, while welcoming people across the diaspora whose practices are grounded in respect, humility, and reciprocity.
About This Initial Interest Form
This first step takes about 5–10 minutes to complete. It helps us understand your practice, your intentions, and which residency track (Root, Bloom, or Dream) may be most aligned for you.
Due to the intimate nature of Casa Ceiba, capacity is limited. We review each submission with care, centering alignment, readiness, and relational fit.
What Happens Next
- If your Interest Form is aligned, you'll be invited to continue with a $50 non-refundable deposit and the intake form.
- After your intake form, you'll be invited to schedule a one-hour consultation call, which includes a second $50 non-refundable deposit.
- Both deposits (a combined $100) are applied toward your base residency cost.
- After the call, you'll receive your customized residency proposal: a detailed outline of your final residency cost (minus the $100 in deposits), dates, itinerary, accessibility needs, and an estimated cost of optional offerings (ceremony, workshops, elder sessions, etc.).
- Two weeks before arrival: you'll receive a house manual and travel guide, packing list, cultural protocol guide, and a confirmed schedule.
How We Hold This Space
Casa Ceiba is not a tourism experience. It is a place of relationship-building, cultural exchange, and deep listening. Applicants should come with readiness to engage respectfully with Maya communities, Santiago Atitlán, and the host land of Lake Atitlán.
Accessibility Information
We want to be transparent about the physical realities of this place so you can make an informed decision about your participation. Santiago Atitlán is not currently accessible for wheelchair users or people with limited mobility. Most walking happens directly on the roads, as sidewalks are limited or absent, and where they exist they are often narrow and uneven. The terrain throughout the town is uneven and frequently steep. Getting to and from Casa Ceiba, including to most cultural activities, practitioner visits, and community spaces, involves walking on these surfaces. Travel to and from Santiago Atitlán may also include boat travel across the lake and uneven docks. The studio space at Casa Ceiba involves stairs and floor space around the house is uneven.