CONEXIONES

Advancing Latinx engagement, participation, and programming.

OVERVIEW & MISSION

Conexiones: Latino Arts @ WAA is WAA’s special interest group for artists, agents, presenters, and anyone interested in building authentic, sustainable, and equitable relationships and conexiones (connections) with Latinx artists or audiences.  

Conexiones is dedicated to advancing Latinx engagement, participation, and programming at Western Arts Alliance and communities across the West, and to integrating the presenting industry and Latinx artists and communities.  

Conexiones meet-up in Calgary, 2022 WAA Annual Conference; image credit: Shane Cadman

 

PROGRAM HISTORY

WAA formed Conexiones as a result of the 2014 WAA Institute, which focused specifically on the changing demographics of the West. The four-day program — titled The Emerging Latino Majority — was held in San Antonio, Texas, during the city’s annual Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival.  

The program opened with a Tamalada — a traditional community gathering that honors the Mexican/Mexican-American tradition of making tamales — and included activities such as guided tours of San Antonio’s institutions, venues, and Latinx communities. Panel topics included Riding the Waves of a Sea-Change: Demographic Transformation as seen from Within, exploring the opportunities, challenges, and rewards of social, political, cultural, and educational demographic transformation; Hispanics & Philanthropy, examining the issues, challenges, and rewards of engaging Hispanic volunteers, board members, and donors; and Meet the Emerging Majority: Understanding Cultural Participation of Young Hispanics, a facilitated focus group of young Palo Alto College students exploring cultural appreciation, participation and preference among the millennial Latinx community. You can see the 2014 at-a-glance schedule here

In 2016, Conexiones held a pre-conference seminar in Los Angeles entitled Engaging Latino Artists & Audiences. In 2018, the initiative conducted a survey designed to establish a baseline measure of Latinx programming and engagement to identify presenter needs, interests, and challenges for Latinx arts and communities.  

The COVID-19 pandemic unfortunately thwarted plans for a 2020 Conexiones program in Tijuana, Mexico. Still, the Conexiones affinity group gathered virtually at the 2020 joint conference and held roundtable and affinity sessions at the 2021 conference in Portland, Oregon.  

 

Performance by Guadalupe Dance Company, 2014 WAA Institute

Antonio Gómez at the 2014 WAA Institute

San Antonio city tour, 2014 WAA Institute

2014 WAA Institute participants

Tamalada at the 2014 WAA Institute in San Antonio,Texas.

Creative Placemaking – A Debate panel, 2014 WAA Institute 

CONEXIONES NEWS & EVENTS

MEET THE CHAIR

 

Antonio Gómez (he/him)

Associate Director of Education, Tacoma Arts Live| WAA Board Director

Tony embodies the intersection of professional music, education, arts presenting and public media. He is passionate about intertwining these skills to connect learners of all ages with compelling cultural stories and inspiring art. A former K-12 teacher, he manages economically and culturally accessible education programs at Tacoma Arts Live. He is a curriculum designer for public media and arts nonprofits. As a percussionist, Tony specializes in Afro-Latin, Mediterranean, and Arabic genres. He performs with Trío Guadalevín, the Eurasia Consort, and the national touring music-dance production Tango del Cielo. He has studied in Cuba, Argentina, Panamá, Spain, Italy, and Morocco.

Image credit: G Davidson-Gomez