building platforms for creative futures.

about me.

I’m a Colombian-American creator, strategist, and organizer for a just creative economy in Baltimore, Maryland.

I combine my passion for connecting people, my creative energy, and my love of Baltimore to build platforms that invest in futures collectively led by artists, cultural workers, and creators.

creative ecosystems

In 2017 I led the launch of the Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network. We prepare, resource, and inspire Baltimore creatives to own their genius, build a mindful creative enterprises, and shape our future. Follow our journey @baltimorecreates.

holding space

In 2009 I founded emp collective, an artist-run arts incubator that was home to boundary breaking independent artists and curators of performance, music, dance, film, visual arts and experimental in-betweens in downtown Baltimore from 2011-2018.

investing

I’m a trustee of Baltimore’s chapter of the Awesome Foundation where we give no strings attached grants to people and projects that make Baltimore the greatest city in America. I also serve on the investment committee for Ignite Capital, where we invest in Baltimore-based social enterprises.

policy

I’ve worked as a creative entrepreneur in the performing arts, as a leader of large-scale public arts programs and place-based initiatives, as a nonprofit executive, and as an artist with a personal practice. I’m adamant about bringing that experience to tables that can shift cultural and economic policy.

creative practice

My creative practice is rooted in media experimentation and organizing. Sometimes it shows up as a curatorial history project. Other times it’s building a zoetrope or directing a play or doing a light study early in the morning. Always it’s about getting lost in curiosity, exploring what’s possible, and cultural memory.