Meet our Community Engagement Facilitators

Dear Crisalida Community,

I'm back in New York and Autumn is gorgeous.  After a month in the desert it sure is nice to be around the lush landscape of Hudson Valley.

I have to admit that the Crisalida bug has bit, and hard...I think often about the people I've met, and have a buzzing brain about the possibilities.  So, though I am on the East Coast till December, my heart and mind is with y'all, truly.

I'm delighted to present three of Crisalida's recent hires...more to come.

Meet the Community Engagement Facilitators

Sofia S. Enriquez

 

I was born and raised in the Coachella Valley.

I’ve been painting and creating for about 10 years now.  Encouraging other people to make and understand art is one of my biggest passions…along with eating elotes at the Indio swap meet and finding rare decorative textiles.

Growing up in the Valley has made me appreciate a close community. It’s also made me capable of standing tall through any kind of heat. I’ve become the person I wanted to be since I was a kid here.

This job is exciting because I get to run around all over the valley, and get a chance to meet communities, and find out about old traditions and new subcultures. I look forward to developing and/or inventing creative ways that can help improve the valley.

My area of interest would have to be the art world. It’s the kind of world where everyone has gone mad, but in the most beautiful way. I know there’s a creative side to everyone, I feel like my job is to make that creative chunk of someone’s brain come out and rampage.

(Sofia is a phenomenal artist and illustrator, I saw her work at COD's Marks Gallery and bought a painting!.  She is working on a master list of festivals and visual arts and artists in the East Valley.  You can reach her at sofia@crisalida-arts.org)

Lenin Silva

Growing up in the Coachella valley is like taking a crash course in socioeconomics. The experience has cultivated in me a sense of what it means to live at both ends of wealth. Most of the original works of art and creative endeavors that emanate from the valley not only transcend and evoke abstract universal feelings, but at the same time evoke a brutally obvious concrete truth, that the valley is a service/tourist dominated community which is just starting to find and create a voice for itself

I love telling people the stories they need to know with the insight and context to understand what the story means. This job is exciting because it provides the opportunity to listen to other people’s stories and help folks in the community share their stories with others.

My area of interest is in helping other people, through community outreach, involvement, and activism. Hearing stories of folks who struggle and suffer in their efforts to have a greater part of life’s blessings inspires me to want to help make their voices heard and help them produce positive changes in their experience.  

(Lenin is one of the most thoughtful and articulate young men I have met in a long time.  As the former editor-in-chief of the COD Chaparral Newspaper he was hands-on/mind-on all the relevant news stories that came across his desk.  We only have Lenin for a short time before he heads to UC Berkeley to pursue his Philosophy and Law studies...happy to have this brilliant and soulful man along while we can!  Lenin is currently working to compile a list of health care and elder care agencies for Crisalida. Reach Lenin at lenin@crisalida-arts.org)

Jon Becerra

Growing up here has been challenging; It's always up and down in the valley. But I've gotten to know a community of people who support and help each other. It's made a lot of my personal goals possible to have grown up here. 

This is the first job where I'm not choosing between human services and film production. I've never thought those two worlds would merge; let alone that I could get this opportunity within the Valley. 

I'm fascinated by media. I think commercials, movies, music videos, gifs, selfies, anything visual online or in entertainment is a weird new language we're all learning together. I'm just always looking for a way to be apart of the conversation when it comes to my film production. Which is relatively easy nowadays with the technology we have.  

(Jon is a can-do, multi-media producer who has earned his stripes with social service and arts organizations throughout the valley.  He is spearheading an Instagram story project for Crisalida and is also working on a short feature on the Marks Gallery and some of the local artists who are showing there.  Look for Jon at the CULTURAS SYNERGY FESTIVAL on November 15 where he will be interviewing and recording local peeps. Reach Jon at jon@crisalida-arts.org)