Santa Fe Tells Its Stories

A public display at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe titled "Carlos," made of images by Carlos Mora and Chrissie Orr. The piece is part of El Otro Lado, a project created by the Academy for the Love of Learning.

Photo by Chrissie Orr

You can glimpse the lives of Santa Fe youths in public art displays around the city. The Academy for the Love of Learning created El Otro Lado (“the other side” in Spanish), a citywide public art project that encourages people to learn about one another.

Through the year-old project, ­local kids turn their heritage stories and immi­gration experi­ences into writing, paintings, photographs, and journals. Displays scattered in public places around ­Santa Fe transform feelings of alienation into feelings of community.

The artwork above is called “Carlos,” with images by Carlos Mora and Chrissie Orr, and is installed at Genoveva Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe. The project incorporates audio narratives of the artists’ personal stories. Here is Mora’s narrative: “I was born in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, an island in the Caribbean. I currently live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Home to me is within myself … I carry home with me wherever I go, wherever I am … Home is Santa Fe and it is also the Dominican Republic.”

Check out aloveoflearning.org.

 

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Youths Face History		Citizen Scientists		Volunteer Teachers		Climate Activists		Life-long Learning		A City Learns
Parents Who Listen

 

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