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2025 Community Arts & Creative Work Summary

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In 2025 , my work as an artist and cultural organizer focused on creating shared spaces for creativity, cultural connection, and collective care. Throughout the year, I collaborated with community partners, artists, and institutions to support projects rooted in participation, cultural memory, and access to the arts. I began the year with the beautiful closing of Arts For EveryBody , a national arts and health initiative organized by One Nation/One Project in collaboration with the National League of Cities and partners like the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine . This initiative culminated in a meaningful capstone gathering in Dallas, Texas , where we celebrated the power of art to support community wellbeing and public health. I’m forever grateful to have worked with national collaborators to bring art to our communities in ways that foster connection, healing, and resilience. In March, I traveled to the Dominican Republic for the closing ceremony of Anticanon RD...
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Storied Providence

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  Presented By:   The Providence Eye Dates:   December 11, 2025 Location:   Roger Williams Park Casino Address:   1000 Elmwood Ave, Providence, 02907 Time:   6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
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Art As Spiritual Practice

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  Worshiping a woman came very naturally to us. After all, my family is a matriarcado—a matriarchy. My sister and I grew up in the Dominican Republic with our mother, Mami, a teacher who held multiple side jobs to make ends meet. She was smart, ambitious, and always with a plan: to do better, to make more money, to help other women. Perhaps she inherited this drive from my grandmother, Carmela, who worked as a seamstress and was known for feeding everyone in the neighborhood. I never met my grandmother—she died after giving birth to her ninth child, when my mother was only seven—but I knew her through Mami’s stories. My mother spoke of her kindness, her creativity, and her vibrant spirit. Making was her gift. I know she would have loved to see us creating too.   I’m sure mi abuela was all the things I heard growing up, but I often wonder what made her sad, what worried her. As I understand it, she had nine children by the age of thirty-three; I can only imagine the toll th...
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On Building a Transparent Community Engagement Practice

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My work is, and has always been, rooted in relationships. Community practice is not a strategy; it’s a way of being. Over the years, I’ve developed guiding principles that continue to shape how I show up, build trust, and create space with others. Sharing them here in case they support your own community-rooted work: 1. Begin with the Call (Llamado) A community practice, for me, begins with a call to gather, to create space for voices, stories, and questions to rise. Make and respond to that call with intention and humility, listening to all voices. 2. Root in Relationship Strong community work is relational, not transactional. To build deep, trust-based connections, honor collaboration over competition. Let your practice be shaped by the people walking alongside you. We each carry wisdom rooted in our personal histories; every one of us is both teacher and student. Make intentional space to understand and honor the wisdom everyone brings.  3. Be Patient Relationships are not ...
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Rooting at the Rose Garden

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  Rooting at the Rose Garden  Grateful to have shared an hour of presence and gratitude together under the open sky. As the sun set over the Rose Garden, we gathered in stillness and reflection—grounding, releasing, and simply being.  Pneuhaus' Mini Groves Installation brought a magical glow to a very special night.  Thank you to all who came with open hearts and rooted in community.  May what was planted continue to grow.  Thank you to @rogerwilliamspark for inviting to hold this meaningful space.
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Community Gatherings

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I had a delightful time hosting a Cultural Night at Conexión Latina in Newport and hosting an Arts & Healing station at the Gloria Gemma Foundation Passport event. 
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Museo de las Ancestras Performance

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  Living statues of important and celebrated women in history come alive at the former Columbus Square. This community performance invites neighbors and audiences to be immersed in a magical realism intervention upon the former Columbus Square, to recognize the contributions of women across time. It takes place in the Elmwood neighborhood, on the Southside of Providence. Join us for vibrant performances, community gathering, public education, and poetry. Performing Artists: Sussy Santana Violeta Cruz del Valle Shey Rivera Ríos Shaffany Terrell Maritza Martell Varsobia Acosta Cheniell Ruiz Crystal Angeles Saul Ramos Espola Live painting by Emelia Orellana Art activities table by Carolina Briones Storytelling activity book table by Watson Creative Food by Cultro Food Truck and more! This outdoor theatre production is part of the Providence Commemoration Lab, as a collaboration between Studio Loba (Shey Rivera Ríos), Arte Latino New England, Sussy Santana, and the collaborating artist...
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