Please join ENTRE and the Museum of South Texas History (MOSTHistory) for Timelines from the Future: Preservation efforts across the RGV, a conversation with border artists, activists and archivists who’s work advocates for the importance of collecting and preserving regional histories, especially those that have been systemically unrepresented, censored and/or forgotten. Presentation begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 4, in the museum’s Courtyard Gallery.
This conversation aspires to shift perspectives to empower our community to see the value in personal and collective memories, and challenge outdated narratives, and inspire community members to pursue an archival project of their own!
We invite you to stick around after the panel to enjoy some cafecito and pan dulce while exploring the various projects on display. Participants will also have an opportunity to engage 1:1 with featured panelists and cultural workers. This panel is free, all ages and open to the public. Please RSVP at Eventbrite.
ACCESSIBILITY
Spanish + ASL interpreters will be present and accessible to all.
Panel will be live-streamed on MOSTHistory’s YouTube channel and archived on both MOSTHistory’s and ENTRE’s websites.
PANELISTS
Gabriel Sanchez has spent several years researching, documenting, sharing, and writing about the LGBTQIA+ history of the Rio Grande Valley. Gabriel has presented at museums and colleges on this topic and curates an annual exhibit highlighting local queer and trans history and culture as well as a digital collection on Instagram called Pansy Pachanga . Gabriel is also involved with multiple efforts to advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community in the Rio Grande Valley including STEP, GenTEX, and the RGV Trans Closet.
@pansypachanga, @southtexasequalityproject
Nansi Guevara is a rasquache artist, illustrator, & author based in Brownsville, Texas. Originally from Laredo, Texas, she holds a bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Design from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s in Education from Harvard University. She is currently focused on narrative change and cultural organizing to create radical spaces of resistance and creative economies centered on community cultural wealth and solidarity. She runs her own freelance illustration for education practice, Corazón Contento, based out of Brownsville, Texas. Nansi has been awarded residencies, fellowships, & grants from the NEA, Artplace America, a Blade of Grass, NALAC, SFAI, and is currently a Constillations fellow at the Center for Cultural Power.
Monica A. Sosa (she/her) is a left-handed, segunda lovin’, domestica designer, and nesting aficionado. She is an arts administrator by profession, and community organizer and fronteriza de corazón. Monica currently serves as the Boca Chica, Corazón Grande Project Curatorial Manager at ENTRE and as the Board Administrator for Centro Por La Justicia/Southwest Public Workers Union. Previously she led cultural initiatives as the Program Manager of the Leadership Institutes at the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC), where she co-led programming for hundreds of Latinx arts and cultural leaders and visionaries.
Juan B. Mancias, the Tribal Chairman of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, was born and raised in Plainview, Texas. He is the eldest born to a father and mother Carrizo Comecrudo. Juan received his higher education at the Incarnate Word University, receiving a Pastoral Studies certificate, and at Texas Tech University, earning degrees in both Political Science and Sociology. Currently, he is building resistance to the fossil fuel industry and the devastating impact they bring to the environment, raising awareness of the dangerous impact of border wall construction, organizing efforts to assist asylum refugees, and reclaiming and protecting his tribe’s ancestral lands.
Melissa Peña, an Edinburg, Texas native, graduated from the University of Texas- Pan American with a Bachelor of Arts in history and minor in anthropology. During her internship at the Museum of South Texas History, she volunteered in the Margaret H. McAllen Memorial Archives, which lead her to earn a master’s degree in archival studies from Clayton State University. Since 2015, Melissa has worked in various positions at MOSTHistory, reinforcing the importance of preserving and presenting history. Currently, she is working toward better accessibility for community preservation.
Facilitator
C. Díaz is an interdisciplinary artist and radical archivist from the Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Their work explores the relationship between cerebral landscapes and the natural environment through the weaving of social practice, experimental cinematic techniques, and the reimagining of archives. C. has worked on various film restorations, oral history projects, and home movie collections as a colorist, editor, and digitization specialist for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, NMAAHC at The Smithsonian, and The Estate of Ana Mendieta. In 2021, they co- founded ENTRE, an artist-run community film center and regional archive located in the Rio Grande Valley, with the mission to invite more voices to document, share and preserve the vast narrative of US/Mexico border communities.
For any additional inquiries or more information please contact C. Díaz at c@entrefilmcenter.org