Join Galería de la Raza for our annual Día de los Muertos remembrance and celebration. This year we will feature poets THEA MATTHEWS and CHRIS “L7” CUADRADO. The evening will be opened with a blessing from the folks at BAAITS and emceed by PERSIA with a DJ set by CHULITA VINYL CLUB.
Studio 24’s voting project “¡Mi Gente Vota!” will be live screen printing posters to give away for free.
The event will take place in front of our digital mural project on the corner of 24th Street an...
Join Galería de la Raza for our annual Día de los Muertos remembrance and celebration. This year we will feature poets THEA MATTHEWS and CHRIS “L7” CUADRADO. The evening will be opened with a blessing from the folks at BAAITS and emceed by PERSIA with a DJ set by CHULITA VINYL CLUB.
Studio 24’s voting project “¡Mi Gente Vota!” will be live screen printing posters to give away for free.
The event will take place in front of our digital mural project on the corner of 24th Street and Bryant Street.
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ARTIST BIOS:
BAAITS:
Bay Area American Indians Two-Spirits (BAAITS) exists to restore and recover the role of Two-Spirit people within the American Indian/First Nations community by creating a forum for the spiritual, cultural and artistic expression of Two-Spirit people.
PERSIA:
PERSIA was born from the burgeoning creative mind of a child in South Central Los Angeles. With degrees from the University of California, Santa Cruz and the San Francisco Art Institute in one hand, and a few pairs of heels in the other, she set out to conquer and revolutionize the drag community. Persia began performing weekly at Esta Noche, the recently closed Latino gay bar in San Francisco. Whilst performing at events around the Bay Area, in Los Angeles, and Mexico—including a few quinceañeras—Persia has also curated art shows, done stand-up, appeared on a few television shows, modeled, and has represented SFMOMA by transforming into Matisse’s “Woman with a hat.”
CHULITA VINYL CLUB:
Chulita Vinyl Club is a DJ collective of self-identified muxeres who collect and spin vinyl. The club was founded in 2013 by Claudia Saenz aka Tear Drop in Austin, Texas and is open to all womxn of color, of any age or skill-set. The mission of CVC is to create a space where womxn can come together to learn and share their love of music in an welcoming and inclusive space. Since it first began, CVC has expanded and continues to grow. There are currently chapters in Austin, San Antonio, Rio Grande Valley, Los Angeles, Santa Ana, the Bay Area and more recently in San Diego.
THEA MATTHEWS:
For this BlXicana born and raised in San Francisco, the power of Words enthrall her. Her poems have been published through WritersCorps; and recent works have been published through CCSF’s literary magazine Forum, and in Sweet Wolverine: a Collection. She frequents Bay Area open mics and runs the circuit as a poet feature. Thea Matthews is an activist, a poetivist, and a curator who has been involved in the Black Lives Matter movement since 2014. She is also a survivor of sexual violence; and is currently studying Sociology at UC Berkeley. Her bachelors thesis examines the impact of responses to child abuse trauma. And through her poetry, Thea raises awareness, strengthens survivorship, and fortifies her healing and in turn the healing of others.
CHRIS CUADRADO:
Chris "L7" Cuadrado is a poet, MC, hip hop producer, photographer, graphic artist, director, and community organizer from Inglewood CA, currently based in San Jose, CA. L7 centers his community and oppressed people's within his work and seeks to challenge and dismantle structures/systems of power that reproduce our oppression. Follow: Lsiete.tumblr.com & instagram.com/lsiete7/
