Cultura Conscious
21 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 42 ratingsJoin Paula Santos, a podcast addict and lover of everything arts and culture, in conversation with other museum and cultural workers, educators, artists, activists, and leaders about how we work with our communities and the public at large. She is particularly interested in how the work we do is informed by larger questions of race and inequity in society.
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Episodes
Responding to the Capitol Insurrection with Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell
January 19, 2021 20:11 - 59 minutes - 42 MBWhat is the responsibility of museums in the wake of the Capitol Insurrection? Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell, a DC-based cultural equity strategist, joins us to talk about how critical museums are in the struggle to dismantle white supremacy. We originally spoke with Kayleigh about her practice in late 2020 and planned to release that conversation on January 6, 2021. Instead, she graciously joined us for a new recording to process the violent images of that day, the care museum workers deserve f...
Building a Community Museum with Chelsea Ridley and Jonathan Kelley
December 02, 2020 07:30 - 1 hour - 62.3 MBIn community organizing work, there are no shortcuts or gimmicks, only relationships built on trust and continued investment. The Lawndale Pop-Up Spot is a community-led museum located in a shipping container at the Spaulding Memorial Garden, a community garden in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood. Chelsea Ridley and Jonathan Kelley, the museum’s founders, trace the evolution of this project from an idea seeded in the classroom to a living space rooted in a collective vision. Along the w...
Bonus Episode: Welcoming Collaboration
December 01, 2020 07:30 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBIn this mini-episode, Paula talks with Gwendolyn Fernandez, a recovering museum educator and fellow Museum Workers Speak organizer, about embracing collaboration and breaking up with your career. Gwen will be joining the Cultura Conscious team to produce a series of new episodes featuring inspiring museum and culture workers. Look for fresh conversations on the first Wednesday of every month. Gwen has a long fascination with what goes on behind the scenes to transform ideas into experienc...
Personal and Collective Grief with Diane Exavier
April 10, 2020 06:30 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBLoss has been a constant over the past few weeks. Writer, educator and theatermaker Diane Exavier joins me to talk about personal and collective grief during a pandemic. We talk about how coping in our current moment requires some of the resiliency we’ve built through other experiences of loss, and yet those well-trodden maps still fall short of helping us navigate the present. Diane discusses how she’s processing being a writer right now, especially since she defines poetry as being about t...
Our Need to Connect with Mayra Cecilia Palafox
March 27, 2020 17:52 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBMayra Cecilia Palafox shares with me why connecting with people and meeting their needs is so important to her. We discuss why humility is a useful practice for the present moment. When dealing with the uncertainty of a worldwide pandemic, what strengths do we have as cultural workers that prepare us to weather challenges as they present themselves? We also welcome a special guest, José Alfredo Guerrero, a musician and educator who reminds us of the strength and joy we gain from music. ...
Storytelling Through Exhibits with Jackie Peterson
July 31, 2019 17:55 - 1 hour - 60 MBJackie Peterson, a Seattle-based exhibit developer and independent curator, is passionate about the ways exhibits can tell important stories in ways that are compelling to the public. Jackie grounds her practice on the trust she develops with communities whose stories she’s working to tell. Her research and development process adds another layer to the necessity of community engagement in cultural work. In particular, Jackie is invested in telling stories that benefit the black community and...
Economic Development at the Border with Cristina Garza
June 27, 2019 16:35 - 1 hour - 76.7 MBCristina Garza, Director of Social Impact at Mission EDC, shares the journey that led her to leave her small town in Texas for New York City, to her various roles in museums, and then back to her hometown area working in local government. She reflects with candor on all the reasons it was important and necessary for her to move on from museums, including the skills she has developed in her new career that were once out of her reach. Through her work at Mission Economic Development Corporatio...
Docents as Educators with Stephanie Samera
May 28, 2019 06:00 - 1 hour - 83 MBDocents play a vital role in museums across the country. As museum education departments change and evolve, tensions have surfaced on what the role of docents should be as teaching in museums becomes more specialized. Stephanie Samera, Lead for Gallery Learning at the Columbus Museum of Art, joins me to discuss all things docent. She shares how building genuine relationships with docents has allowed her program to flourish and how her museum’s unique vision for learning and visitor experienc...
What Does Success Look Like? with Anabel Roque Rodríguez
April 25, 2019 04:00 - 54 minutes - 74.6 MBWhat does success in the arts look like? Anabel Roque Rodriguez has been asking women in arts and culture this question for over a year. Anabel shares findings and reflections from her project so far. We touch on the power of solidarity and community in achieving success, especially for women, and how making choices that center well-being can illuminate professional and personal paths. We are frank about how job loss and institutional authority has affected our careers so far, plus how care...
Live from MESC's Annual Institute with Elena Muslar
August 27, 2018 06:00 - 50 minutes - 69.3 MBLive episode recording from Museum Educator of Southern California's 2018 Annual Institute at the Skirball Cultural Center. My guest was Elena Muslar, Assistant Director, Entertainment and Fine Arts Professions at Loyola Marymount University. Elena was so wonderful and insightful! Our discussion veered in many directions, including breaking down the buzz versus the actual work of social justice work in arts and cultural organizations and how that manifests from our individual selves to the...
The Cost of Making It with PJ Gubatina Policarpio
June 21, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBPJ Gubatina Policarpio gets real with me on the nitty gritty of what it takes financially and emotionally to pursue a career in museums if you come from a low-income background. He discusses why building community is integral to his work, how diversifying his skill set was a financial strategy, and why he considers himself primarily a museum educator. Plus he shares his ideas on how we can mentor another generation of brown and black museum workers. Share your own stories using the hashta...
Aligning Your Work and Practice with Stephanie Cunningham
April 25, 2018 06:28 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBOn this month’s episode, Stephanie Cunningham shares her efforts to create alignment in her work after ten years of experience in the field. As a speaker, consultant, and educator, Stephanie has been a leading voice on race and equity in museums. After so many conversations, workshops and conferences discussing race and equity in museums, how far are we in achieving our goals? (Spoiler: we need to be reading a lot more!) How have the principles of museum education guided her journey throug...
Radical Imagination with Adjoa Jones de Almeida
February 28, 2018 05:00 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBWhat is necessary for museums to radically imagine what is possible, not only what has been done? Adjoa Jones de Almeida, Director of Education at the Brooklyn Museum, shares how she decided to "step up" during a moment of transition for the museum. After beginning her career at the Brooklyn Museum in an entry level position, she hadn’t planned for a leadership role of this nature in her career trajectory. She shares how youth organizing and collectives have shaped the values that inform her...
Looking Back to Look Forward with Paulina Lopez
January 30, 2018 08:00 - 1 hour - 54.9 MBThis month’s episode of Cultura Conscious is all about transitions and finding your purpose. Paulina Lopez, adult educator and teaching artist at the Art Institute of Chicago, joins me to discuss the events of 2017 and how they affected our personal, political and professional lives. Paulina shares her insights on what keeps her motivated and focused, even among political turmoil. She shares her unique perspective on how we can learn to weather ambiguity by practicing basic principles of art...
Advising First Generation College Students with Dr. Jody Dublin
November 30, 2017 08:00 - 54 minutes - 25.2 MBDr. Jody Dublin joins me this month to discuss how individuals and institutions can better understand and support first generation college students. We discuss the ways in which policy and institutional decisions are driven by the theory of college choice, even though not every student falls neatly within outlined categories when deciding to pursue a college education. Dr. Dublin shares how her personal experience and research on Haitian immigrant community college students has informed her ...
Building Community with Young People with Vanessa Sanchez
October 19, 2017 05:00 - 1 hour - 41.2 MBMy guest this week thinks of her work as building the community of the future. Vanessa Sanchez is the Director of Yollocalli Arts Reach, the youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art, as well as a practicing artist, music festival planner extraordinaire, and activist. She opens up about her apprehension at describing herself as a leader and instead prefers to describe herself as a collaborator. We discuss the importance of Yollocalli in young people's lives, some of the challeng...
Responsive and Caring Leadership with Veronica Alvarez
September 19, 2017 06:00 - 53 minutes - 24.4 MBMy guest this week does it all! Museum educator, academic researcher and museum boss lady. Veronica Alvarez, Director of School and Educator Programs at LACMA, discusses how her career has been shaped by her experiences as an immigrant, as a student and as a museum educator. We discuss how she keeps up with her teaching practice even as administrative obligations claim a lot of her time, how to be responsive and caring as a leader, the low salary crisis of museum education, and how she sees ...
Community Organizing in Museums with Oliver Merino
August 22, 2017 09:30 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBWhat can museums learn from the work of community organizers? Oliver Merino discusses his work with the Latino community at Levine Museum of the New South, a history museum in Charlotte, NC. He shares with me what he thinks is the importance of history museums in contextualizing current events, how he approaches leading and organizing through listening, how important it is for museums to have people who speak from the community, rather than about them, and the ways white supremacy lives ev...
Anti-Racist Museum Education Pedagogy with Alyssa Machida
July 17, 2017 19:08 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBOn this episode of Cultura Conscious, Alyssa Machida discusses her motivation and inspiration for The Dreamspace Project, workbook and toolkit for educators who are ready to move beyond demanding social justice and are ready to take critical action. We talk about the ways institutions communicate to the public beyond the art on the walls, the need to acknowledge how we are building on work done by black women and people of color, and what the role of patience is when working within instituti...
Welcoming DACA Students as Museum Workers with Marimar Gutierrez
June 20, 2017 04:22 - 56 minutes - 31.6 MBOn this episode, Marimar Gutierrez speaks to me about her experience as a DACA student and museum worker. We discuss the ways museums can be welcoming to young people like her, what the atmosphere has been like in the museum galleries since the 2016 election, how we can’t deny ourselves the feeling of fear, and what steps she has taken to ensure her family is informed and prepared in the case of deportation. Marimar is a college student who has interned at the National Museum of Mexican ...
Equity and Power in Museums with Keonna Hendrick
May 22, 2017 20:14 - 1 hour - 29.3 MBKeonna Hendrick joins me for my first ever episode! Our frank, informal conversation was recorded during the American Alliance of Museums 2017 annual conference. We talk about white supremacy, what to do about racism and inclusion at a personal and professional level, what a vision of inclusion looks like for museum professionals, #museumsrespondtoferguson, MASS Action and Alice Walker's In Search of Our Mother's Gardens. Correction: Keonna meant to mention Kwame Ture, not Kwame Nkrumah. ...