Community Engagement
research interviews
school activities with migrant students
mask–making workshops
local–based photographies artwork references
Project: EBAC – East Bay Agency for Children
Location: Oakland, California – USA. 2022
I organized two mask-making workshops with immigrant and refugee youth, fostering diversity and portraying their work in a large community-based mural.
Project: Hoytsville
Location: Hoytsville, Utah, USA. 2022
Permanently installed public artwork involving extensive research, community workshops, school visits, 1:1 interviews and a participatory mural painting made with aerosols.
open mural paint days
meaningful community collaborations
local visual identities
Project: Neighborhood Mural Project
Location: Marshalltown, Iowa – USA. 2023
After an international call for artists was issued, I was selected as the finalist for my expertise in public art and community building projects. I was commissioned to create four murals, located inunderserved neighborhoods, to tell the story of Marshalltown, capturing the unique experiences and dreams of its residents.
To kick off the project, I conducted over a dozen virtual interviews with various community members from both public and private sectors. The community input highlighted the community’s cultural diversity, which serves as a central theme throughout the project. The community’s input directed the murals to depict the history of the community, the diversity of its people, the resiliency and empathy displayed in the aftermath of the natural disasters and the hopes and dreams of its residents.
Beyond the input that informed the mural designs, the community was also invited to paint meaningful symbols along on several of the murals. We had a paint day with each of the three youth camps and a community paint day that was open to the public. The symbols residents painted on the walls showcase their hopes, dreams and what resiliency meant to them following the natural disasters.
Commissioned by the Arts + Culture Alliance of Marshall County.
collaborations indigenous populations
extensive research with state archeologists
Project: Toctiuco
Location: Quito – Ecuador. 2019
I designed and coordinated a participatory mural painting on a 300-steps public stairway, based on a new tourism route made with neighbors. We did group tours around the neighborhood, urban farming, collaborative murals, and collective mappings activities. We designed a logo and visual identity for the neighborhood, later converted as paste ups for street interventions. We also did urban farming, placemaking prototypes and urban furniture.
Project made with MUTA collective, supported by Slum Dwellers International.
mural training emerging artists
collective neighborhood mapping
art & recycling public festivals
Project: Santander
Location: Buenos Aires – Argentina. 2022–23
I gave mural training and mentoring for seven emerging artists of diverse marginal neighborhoods/slums, each one to produce a mural based on local neighborhoods symbols.
Commissioned by Fundacion Santander bank.
Project: Santa Ana
Location: Panama City – Panama. 2019
We organized an art and recycling festival with several participatory workshops, to address public waste issues. We also started the first neighborhood association around Plaza Santa Rita, and we did a pocket plaza design.
Later, I organized a participatory workshop to choose community symbols and people from the neighborhood. I later interviewed street vendors and public workers and included them in public murals.
Project made with MUTA collective, commissioned by Conservatorio SA.
travels through rural communities
1:1 creative interviews
enhancing local traditions
revival efforts for lost native languages
Project: Binni Za
Location: Ixtaltepec, Oaxaca – Mexico. 2019
We interviewed local artists, artisans and educators for a community-based participatory mural. We organized an art workshop in the local school to work on local symbols and identities. Lastly, we held open paint days for community members to paint their own symbols and make a recognizable contribution to the mural.
Project made with MUTA collective, supported by Una Mano Para Oaxaca.