Stained glass mirror, "Mexican Ocean"

"With our work, we want to make this project self supporting. 'Don't give a man a fish, but teach him to fish' is our guiding philosophy. Work is essential in a person's formation, and this is why we've begun a workshop to produce handicrafts in glass as the first stage of a project that will lead us to attain our complete ideal. In this stage, we have hired deaf people, taught them a trade and we pay them a salary. They receive all the perquisites required by law, they participate in the system of socialized medicine for working people (IMSS) and they can earn weekly bonuses and prizes. We assist them with their audiometric exams and help them acquire hearing aids.

"We also give jobs to pregnant women from the 'Vida y Familia A.C.' shelter. These are people who for a number of reasons – rape, abandonment, family violence, etc. – are living at the shelter, and it is impossible for them to find a job to save money for when the baby is born. We are also working hand in hand with the state's Family Development Agency (DIF), that aids people with different kinds of handicaps.

"The final objective is a simple one – to be happy. For our employees, our goal is to offer them an education and help them develop as people of integrity with positive attitudes, aptitudes and values. We want them to be able to contribute to the development of others, of their community, city and country.

"Vidri Arte came about as a reaction to the reality in which we live as we seek coherence and congruence in our own lives. Since we were children we learned certain beliefs and a scale of values. We've also had experiences that showed us the extreme reality some people face. This made us stop and realize how our friends graduate from college programmed to find the best possible job, the best position in a prestigious company. But, after searching our own hearts, after questioning our reason for living, we asked what we could do and where our acts would take us. Happiness? Fulfillment? I think everyone asks him or herself these questions, but the difference is this – do we go with the flow? Or de we try to achieve congruence and coherence in our lives?

"Our fundamental mission in Vidri Arte is to train people with attitudes, aptitudes and values for the common good. We want our endeavor to be an innovator. We want to help those less fortunate by contributing to their personal success and help them generate and administer economic resources.

"To achieve this, Vidri Arte hopes to create a new business philosophy by demonstrating that this is a viable style of life, a way to be happy. We want to promote the development of our personnel, to be a business with a social conscience, committed to the development of our community and our country. We produce and merchandise handicrafts in glass.

"Our slogan is 'Light Through Glass.' Its meaning is twofold. First, when light passes through glass, it makes the product look more beautiful. Secondly, through our work in glass, we want to offer light and hope to others.

In this group photo, the members of Vidri Arte are signing "hola."

2008 update from Vidri Arte's Fernando Montano:

"Becoming part of Novica's beautiful mission has been a great experience for us, especially getting to know the people that make up Novica's team. They all have a warm sense of humanness. Novica and its team make you feel you're not alone. Novica encourages us to do what we love. This is reflected in our sales, which are now constant, allowing us to work year-round. We have been receiving so many orders that we have been able to employ assistant artisans, and we have chosen to employ artisans with physical disabilities, so they may have an opportunity to contribute to their family's income, and become financially independent. Aside from the economic aspects, Novica has enabled us to promote our little-known process of glasswork. Novica offers us a place from which we can reach people who are searching for something authentic, something that is deeply ingrained in our Mexican heritage."