At the Anderson Ranch Arts Center Hispanic Heritage Celebration in Snowmass Village last month, art and education converged in dance performances, live music, art-making tents and pop-ups with partner organizations.
Folklorico dancers from the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet mesmerized the crowds. People picked up dance moves in a lesson with Mezcla Socials. And pint-sized artists could learn how to make tissue-paper flowers under one tent, then explore the drums and string instruments used for mariachi music under another.
Teachers even got a shoutout from Los Mochochetes, a Chicanx funk band that performed songs about culture, community and identity.
The event — much larger than last year’s first-ever version — was an outreach opportunity for partner organizations and a chance for everyone to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month over tacos and live entertainment.
But entertainment and outreach were really only the beginning for the ranch’s expanding slate of Latinx community programming, which involves visiting artists as well as local educators.
Olivia Martinez is the Latinx community leader and children’s program coordinator at Anderson Ranch.
She organized last month's celebration, as well as a workshop for educators and a public panel on “Culture and Community in Latinx Art” that the ranch hosted earlier this month.
She also worked with a company to develop a curriculum around the life, work and creative journey of visiting artists Rafael Fajardo and Ricky Armendariz.
“When we talk about sustainability of programs, I'm hoping that (curriculum) is something that keeps the engagement, but also is huge in terms of representation in schools,” she said in an interview.
Fajardo and Armendariz, who teach at the university level, arrived at the ranch this fall and wrapped up their stays on Sunday.
Fajardo, who works in new media and video games, said that it’s an “honor” to help establish a tone of resiliency and innovation as Anderson Ranch expands its Latinx offerings.
He cited the “rasquache” aesthetic of Chicano art made from leftover and discarded materials as an example.
“It's essentially making beauty from garbage, but that doesn't mean that that's the only way that we make work,” Fajardo said in a joint interview with Armendariz the day before the panel. “And so that sort of sense has made us more resilient and more inventive, but the work is strong, the work is beautiful, the work is compelling.”
The visiting artists worked on their own practice in the studios — Armendariz on drawing and printmaking, Fajardo on his next video game — and both helped lead the educator workshop a couple of weekends ago.
They also spoke on the panel about culture and community in Latinx art alongside mixed-media artist Lillian Lara.
Alex Sánchez, who leads the Voces Unidas de las Montañas advocacy group, moderated the session and mingled with workshop participants.
Sánchez, who is also a trustee at Anderson Ranch, takes pride in the arts center’s programming that goes well beyond the dates of Hispanic Heritage Month.
“If you're Latino and you're Latina, you celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, every single day, 365 days a year,” he said in an interview just before the panel. “And I think the ranch is also modeling that — where this is a commitment where Latinx programming is happening year-round.”
He also recognizes the role that art plays in building community around and across identity.
“That's the beauty about the arts, of how it sort of brings people together: We can have a conversation about how we see ourselves through the arts,” he said.
Armendariz said in the joint interview with Fajardo that he hopes to be a role model for as many people as possible.
“It's such an important thing to have a picture of what you're attempting to strive for, right?” he said. “And if I can validate some of their creativity in their life in any way, shape and form, that's what I hope to do here in Anderson Ranch.”
During the panel discussion, Lara, who used to be a K-12 teacher, emphasized the value of representation in arts education.
“You strive to be what you can see. … We've done this, we've got this, we've just forgotten, or we've been told to forget, or it's been excluded from our histories, right?” she said. “Especially as you go through the American educational system, right? A lot of our stories aren't told.”
She said it’s also important to acknowledge the history of Latinx artists such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
“These are big names. You know them, you've seen their artwork, and seeing and telling yourself, ‘I can be that too’ (has value),” she said. “I have that innate power, creativity and capability within myself to do it.”
Anderson Ranch’s lesson plans, based on the lives of the visiting artists, can play a role in that representation, too, especially because teachers have limited resources, according to arts educators who attended the panel.
The curriculum Martinez helped develop is designed for the fifth-grade level and incorporates both subject-specific learning goals and criteria to meet Colorado state standards.
Andrea Monique Peña Harris, an educator based in Carbondale who participated in the workshop, said she hopes to see more of that inclusive, standards-based approach in the future.
“Creating those lessons that meet the standards yet encompass that (philosophy of) equality and inclusivity, I think, is where we need to go, which is so beautiful about what we're doing right now,” she said.
