1999 – 2005
Art Organization as Social Art
Collaborators: Jason Rogalski and see below
Jason Rogalski and I co-founded and co-directing a social art piece, in the form of a bi-national arts organization called, Dot-to-Dot. Our concept for Dot-to-Dot was based on making human connections between children and artists on both sides of the Mexcian/U.S. border to transcend the barriers created by language and the international border, as steps toward reuniting the border-zone as a region. We moved to Rosarito, B.C., where we provided free, weekly art classes to children in orphanages and rural elementary schools, initiated cross-border art collaborations; created free 500+ person biannual community art events, and established an international artist-in-residence program. The most successful aspect of this piece for me lay in the bi-national partnerships between the children; they collaborated on weekly art projects, often exploring and sharing details of their lives. One partner worked on the piece on Tuesday and we would transport the art to their partner on the other side on Friday to add their expression to the piece, creating a bond between the young regional neighbors. I gained innumerable skills during these four amazing years, such as project management, Spanish (we didn’t speak prior to moving), most forms of administrative responsibilities, community engagement, and most importantly, cultural competence.
Dot-to-Dot is a bi-national collaboration of artists and children dedicated to nurturing creative expression and forming a dynamic cultural exchange by bridging the Mexican/United States border to transform communities.
Dot-to-Dot achieved its mission through:
- providing art education to children who do not otherwise receive it in the border zone of California and Baja California, while promoting multi-cultural understanding through cross-border art collaborations
- managing a permanent site in the border zone of Baja California that serves as an art space for children and artists. These spaces offer opportunities for workshops, allowing the children and the artist/teachers from both sides of the border to grow, learn, express, and collaborate, creating strong community networks.
- maintaining an artist-in-residency program that offers extensive teaching and collaborative opportunities in the various communities Dot-to-Dot works with. This provides a variety of artists/teachers and their skills for the children to work with, creating a broad learning base.
- organizing groups of Dot-to-Dot artists to travel the annual Circuit through California and Baja California, stopping to create collaborative events called Art Connections at orphanages, elementary schools, and community centers. These outreach events connect local artists/teachers to their community’s children, children’s organizations, and to the Dot-to-Dot artists that share this common interest, forming partnerships and a pool of local resources for all.
- arranging venues for exhibiting the resulting works from all of the Dot-to-Dot’s programs, thus the exhibitions unite the communities in honor of the children and their creations, empowering the children, their families, and the power of innovation.
