How Art Can Heal A Community

Painting When Mountains Cry and Poem My Cultural Inheritance

By Victoria (Tori) Martinez

What if art doesn't just help us to heal ourselves. What if art can help to heal a community. That is the concept I explored in a recent conversation with Jamie and Crystal Ray Dominguez, founders of the Shooting Stars Cultural and Leadership Center. In this second interview in this series, exploring the locations for the Dreamscapes Lounge art exhibit, we go deep into culture.

The exhibit is a multi-location community art exhibit and the theme for this second location is "Mestizo, Future, Dreams." In this space the work relates to the experiences of being Chicano, Indigenous, Mestizo (of mixed race, culture, language, origin, identity), or a person of color with roots in the Southwest. The work in this space colorfully and beautifully explores the different cultural ways of being and navigating through the world. It connects us to our ancestors, grounds us to the sacred places of the Southwest, and depicts the loving and complicated relationships of love and Familia.

When tragedy strikes a community, like the events of Los Sies de Boulder, the ripples can impact for years, even decades. One of the pieces of art in this space touches on the lives forever changed by this tragedy. The conversations happening in this space around that history is helping elders connect with the younger generations. It's also helping youth understand the sacredness of spaces, the resilience of their elders, and the power of art. A series of drawings by Rogelio Briones, is center stage and the first thing you see as you enter the building.

The two paintings and two poems that I have in this building are part of my series called "Returning to Ourselves," the other is part of my series called "Sacred Spaces." Both depicting the power found when we return to cultural ways of knowing and being. I had the opportunity to read my poems at the exhibit opening. One of the things I often hear is that it isn't the same experience reading the poem as it is hearing the poet read it. I am touched that my poetry performances can be so moving, but there is still an amazing experience to be had when you read a poem, alone, with space to reflect and look inward. When no one is watching you are free to laugh, cry, remember, and heal. My prayer is that art becomes a part of your healing journey!

Painting Grandmother's House and Poem La Cocina

You can watch the full interview with the two founders of the Shooting Stars Cultural and Leadership Center on my YouTube Channel. We had a conversation about how art can heal a community and the role art plays in helping us express our culture, identity, and heritage. I hope you connect with something in this conversation as you reflect and dream with us.

Jamie and Crystal Ray Dominguez,

Founders of the Shooting Starts Cultural and Leadership Center