As Daphne Art Foundation reaches the end of the fifth year of its artist-in-residency (AiR), it is important to note that 31 fellows have been mentored through this program. Being part of their artistic journeys – encouraging and pushing them to think why they chose the path of the artist, why they explore the topics they do with the materials they use, and how to best use their unique languages, their mediums, to tell the stories they want to share – has been an immense and significant duty. Every year we discover how the artists of each cohort mirror each other.

This year’s AiR25 cohort share a thread of persistence, as an act of adaptability and acceptance. Through photography, installation, painting, stained glass, mosaic, ceramic, and printmaking techniques, they each anecdote nature and humanness. The exhibition AiR25 Group Exhibit, on view at Casa Daphne through November 7, showcases geographical and metaphorical connections, impermanence, mortality, the dualities of subjective experiences, and a basic physiological need we all require – food.

The goal of most artistic residencies is to offer space and time to artists of all disciplines, who are serious about the development of their practices. Residencies are moments of focused production; however, not all result in tangible artwork. Some residencies give us opportunities to connect with other artists, writers, or thinkers. They become stages of reflection to conceptualize and build on ideas and to consider how to utilize space for the presentation of art. 

AiR25 worked during 2-3 month periods researching, conceptualizing, and creating artwork while working closely with a mentor

– Maritza Bautista –

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Monse Guajardo

Monse Guajardo’s affinity for photography is forged by an interest in narratives as explorations of the human condition. The duality of being raised on the U.S/Mexico border formed her photographic aesthetic and motivation for the stories she captures. Inspired by Mexico’s nature, colors, textures, and domestic scenes with a focus on intimate portraiture and documentary photography, she explores their interconnection. She often takes collage art onto her images, integrating artifacts from the image’s location to add context to her stories.

Bio: She is a border resident. Her first solo exhibition, Identity Collapse, was in Laredo in 2018. She has been part of the group shows Memory Map by Hardy & Nance Studios, Unusually Unfamiliar by Daphne Art Foundation, Send me anything for Houston Center for Photography’s 41st Center Annual juried by Leo Hsu, and Borderlands Photography group presented at TAMIU. She was a Finalist for LensCulture’s Portrait Award 2024 and awarded the 22nd Julia Margaret Cameron Award in three different categories for an exhibition at Barcelona Foto Biennale in April 2025. She has been published in The Guardian, Dazed Magazine, and Pitchfork.

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Mariana Prado

My work seeks to understand impermanence as a means to push through a fear of leaving what is familial. Through depictions of nature’s inevitable cycles, I explore my experience with migration and how it translates into a fear of change. I use stained glass, painting, and crochet to portray the precarious nature of life, using glass as a visual metaphor for the tangible fragility we experience. By depicting butterflies, deer, and birds, I aim to convey transformation, change, and migration while contrasting these ideas with death.

Bio: Born in McAllen, Mariana Prado grew up and lived in Reynosa, Tamps. until the age of 13 when with her family she migrated to Pharr, where she now resides. Mariana has navigated life through her Mexican eyes in a playful but crude way, with crippling Catholic guilt that allows her to find beauty in the worst places, even death. She earned a BFA from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2021, and has presented works at South Texas College Galleries, Chautauqua School of Visual Arts, San Benito Cultural Heritage Museum, and Fowler Kellogg Art Center. Her recent exhibits have been at Flower Shop Art Studio, Presa House Gallery, and Brownsville Museum of Fine Art. Her multidisciplinary studio practice allows her to communicate fears, worries, death, permanence, self-discovery, and transformation.

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Kristina Salinas

My eyes are open to the vitality intrinsic to culture. My work is imperative, as culture is a vehicle for progress and must be regarded with sincerity. As a multidisciplinary artist, I generate examples of culture, using my pictorial language as a means of expressive reportage. I benefit from two major cultural factors: my identity within my home region and deep musical appreciation. The South Texas borderland is a confluence of Mexican and American customs radiating from the Rio Grande. Music, especially hip hop, informs my work by way of resourceful expression. I metabolize these factors, allowing the resultant blend to filter onto the canvas. I process the world in layers, and so I work in layers, beginning with a deep foundational hue and building upon that over time. As I work, I combine what I see with how it makes me feel, resulting in my truth.

Bio: Born in Laredo, I am a 4th generation Mexican-American multidisciplinary artist. I live and work in San Antonio, fortunate to witness the culture that surrounds me. I am deeply connected to my region, proud to represent South Texas in national exhibitions. I am honored to have worked with wonderful organizations throughout my career. I have collaborated with fellow artist, Karla Kopalli, on a piece now in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Latino in Washington, DC. I have also worked with the Museum of the Red River in Oklahoma, The University of Arts and Sciences Oklahoma, Texas State University, the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts in Lubbock, the Contemporary in San Antonio, I Have a Dream Foundation, the Mexican-American Unity Council, and 311 Gallery in North Carolina.

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Sandra Almeda

Forget Me Not is a ceramic installation with an incorporation of my own preserved flowers. Each section has distinct flowers that hold an equally distinct memory – flowers loved ones gave me on a random day or for my graduation, my mom’s birthday bouquet, a rare flower from my grandmother’s garden, a flower from my late grandfather – all moments so close to my heart that became memories over time. Drying or pressing a flower preserves it longer, but eventually the flower decays completely, resembling a moment that fades to memory. Ceramic pieces do not decompose; they preserve their form almost entirely with clay and glaze immortalizing not only the flowers but the memories associated with them. As the flowers visually wilt, the glaze gradually covers them, mimicking the drying process. This technique is my attempt to archive things that are naturally ephemeral.

Bio: Laredoan Sandra Almeda earned a BA from Texas A&M International University and is preparing for graduate school. She practices in varying art mediums — jewelry, drawing, ceramics — with an expression on nature, nostalgia, and spirituality. She has exhibited work at Casa Ortiz, Casa Daphne, and TAMIU. She has assisted artist research projects, including The Living Mural at the Border Heritage Museum, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. She worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant through the ACT on IDEAS award at TAMIU, developing unique techniques that formed the concept of her senior show, Su Jardin, Mi Hogar — a show that jumpstarted the intriguing theme of prolonging the inevitable and the parallels within art and life.

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Bernardo Aria

My work is an invitation to experience life’s complex emotional landscapes. Whether it’s the vulnerability of grief, the complexity of identity, or the connection to the natural world, my art speaks to the depth of the human experience. Through works like Soñé and Carnívora, I strive to capture not just a visual moment, but an emotional truth that speaks to something within. Pieces such as Pulsar Verde and Corazón de la Selva take the viewer on an immersive journey where life, color, and form come together to synthesize the physicality of concepts often considered ephemeral.

Bio: I’m an artist based in Laredo, working in oil, watercolor, and soft sculpture. My work often explores how the emotional experiences of grief, compulsion, and memory behave like natural systems: cyclical, layered, and driven by strange logic. I’m drawn to the biology of thought and the physics of feeling, and how the mind metabolizes emotion into image. I paint to observe, allowing organisms, colors, and plush forms to carry the weight of metaphor; a slow transcription of human experience — sometimes from a banana.

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Genesis Sofia Galdámez Blanco

My work is an exploration of feminine strength, self-discovery, and the quiet, profound beauty of nature. I am interested in themes tied to my identity as a woman, an immigrant, and an artist. I’m drawn to the tactile, transformative nature of clay, a medium that mirrors my journey of growth and adaptation. Growing up between Guatemala’s vibrant traditions and Texas borderland influences have shaped my artistic language. My work embodies organic forms, often echoing the curves of femininity and the resilience of native flora that carry personal and cultural significance. Each piece becomes a vessel for storytelling. Through wheel-throwing, hand-building, and intricate surface work, I create textures and motifs that feel alive — sometimes delicate, sometimes unyielding — like the women who inspire me. My work is an invitation to witness the interplay of vulnerability and strength, to trace the echoes of migration and belonging, and to find beauty in the unrefined, the handmade, and self-discovery.

Bio: Guatemalan-born Genesis Galdámez Blanco is a ceramicist based in Laredo. Her work explores themes of feminine strength, self-discovery, and the profound beauty of nature. Currently completing her bachelor’s degree in ceramics with a certification in art education at Texas A&M International University, she was recently recognized for her sculptures, The Genesis and La Primavera, featured in The Parameters student exhibition.Her work centers on creating organic ceramic forms that reflect her identity and experiences as she explores the intricate layers of womanhood, weaving together symbolism from feminine objects, animals, and flora to express resilience, growth, and transformation. Her art celebrates the enduring power of women and the natural world, inviting viewers to connect with the stories and emotions in each piece.

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Valeria Samara Guajardo Serrano

I make use of the unique characteristics of printmaking to explore questions for which I do not hold the answers, as well as my own struggles and victories. My work is deeply rooted in my personal experiences and the views of the world that surround me. Being a mixed-media artist, I experiment with materials and processes to combine them into cohesive artwork. As a writer, my work is also greatly influenced by this medium, taking inspiration from the works of various talented writers and poets, as well as attempting to translate my own writings into visual art, or a mix of the two. I’m developing work inspired by Sylvia Plath’s fig passage in The Bell Jar and Laura Esquivel’s match allegory in Como Agua Para Chocolate. Both will later be exhibited at Los Olvidados. 

Bio: Laredoan Samara Guajardo is a spoken word poet, writer, and mixed media artist. Their preferred mediums are linocuts, dry point etchings, and screen prints, often experimenting with different materials and combining their knowledge for different mediums into their work. Their work deals with their life experiences and often intertwines aspects of the natural world, such as the growth of mold or the formation of stalactites as symbolisms for more complex human experiences, like decaying interpersonal relationships or mental health. They currently attend Texas A & M International University to complete a Bachelor’s degree of Art with a major in Art and a minor in Creative Writing. At TAMIU, and through the ACT on IDEAS Program they are currently employed by Tarantula Press, which collaborates with artists to create and publish prints.

The Quest to Dream II: A Rare Collection of the First Printed Don Quixote Illustrations, will remain on exhibit at the Laredo Center for the Arts through October 24.

The installation, which offers immersive educational components, is presented by Cliffe Killam in collaboration with the Center for the Arts.

The exhibit’s expanded educational outreach, which is underway, is open to the students of Laredo Independent School District, United Independent School District, United Day School, and St. Augustine School.

“Introducing the world of Miguel Cervantes and Don Quixote to students brings so much joy for me, as they will get to experience literature and art as well as directly participate in the creation of their own print making. I hope that this experience encourages young writers and artists to pursue their quest to dream,” Killam said, also noting that local artists were extended an open invitation to share their Don Quixote-inspired art work. “I was so blown away by the incredible talent in Laredo. I am deeply inspired by how art brings people together, and creates connection and community,” he said of the 28 works of art included in the installation.

According to Killam, the exhibit’s goal has been to inspire curiosity, discovery, and reflection on the human experience. 

At the core of the Center for the Arts exhibit are over 70 photographs of original Don Quixote illustrations first printed in 1738. A volume in Killam’s rare book collection was the resource for the illustrations. Displayed in the Main Gallery, these works remain the centerpiece of the exhibition. To complement them, the Community Gallery showcased a juried collection of local artists’ interpretations of Don Quixote, offering modern reflections on the timeless themes of idealism, reality, courage, and the pursuit of dreams.

This, the newest iteration of Dare to Dream, includes new audio-visual elements that enrich the experience, including a newly developed app and QR code for a virtual tour to draw audiences of all ages into the story’s adventure and enduring lessons. A video installation by designer Robert Novido, enhances the atmosphere with moving windmills and a knight.

Laredo artist Alexander Barron created the mural behind the podium. Alan Holmgreen of Casa Verde Construction crafted the windmill in the exhibit. 

Sponsors for Dare to Dream II include Texas Community Bank, IBC and Commerce Bank, PNC Bank, and Texas Commission on the Arts. Their support has allowed the Center for the Arts to expand the scope of the exhibit with large-scale installations designed to immerse visitors in Don Quixote’s journey. 

Elizabeth Velasquez, Dean of English and Spanish Language for LISD, noted, “We are incredibly grateful to Mr. Killam for making this opportunity possible for our students. The chance to walk through an exhibit of this caliber, enriched with workshops and interactive experiences, is something they will carry with them for a lifetime.”

Center for the Arts board member Alejandra Urrabazo Martinez commented, “What makes this exhibit so meaningful is how it connects art, history, and literature directly to our students and community. Bringing this level of educational and cultural opportunity to Laredo is an investment in our youth and in the enrichment of our community as a whole.”

Admission is free, however, donations are encouraged to support future educational and cultural programming.

The Laredo Center for the Arts is at 500 San Agustin. 

(The Laredo Center for the Arts is dedicated to fostering a vibrant arts community in Laredo and the surrounding region.)

My earliest memories of the traditional folk Catholic dance ritual, los matachines, go back over 70 years to when my family lived in the CantaRanas neighborhood in West Laredo. We’d go to Mother Cabrini Church to watch them dance on May 3rd for the Day of the Holy Cross. As a child, I didn’t understand the tradition or why the dancers danced. I remember being frightened by El Viejo (the Old Man), who would swoop down on us children with a whip in one hand and a ratty old doll in the other. Later, as a doctoral student studying the tradition, I learned that El son del Viejo was just one of over 50 tunes performed as prayer by the troupe.

As I interviewed the elders who may have been the same dancers from my childhood, I discovered they also danced on December 11th for the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and sometimes on Christmas Eve and other special occasions. I even remember attending an event in the late 1980s at a modest home near Mother Cabrini Church where the Matachines were invited to dance as a prayer of thanksgiving because the family had just paid off their mortgage.

Believed to grant blessings and offer comfort, the Matachines’ object of veneration, La Santa Cruz (the Holy Cross), leads the procession through the neighborhood streets to Holy Redeemer Church during the fiesta followed by the dancers and the community members. Each year, the women in charge of “dressing” the cross meticulously prepare and decorate it for the celebration. The Liendo family has been the custodian of this tradition for generations, and I’ve known four generations of women from this family who have been responsible for dressing the cross each year.

 Of the many Matachín groups in Laredo, the troupe I’m most familiar with is the Matachines de la Santa Cruz, as I’ve been involved with them for over 40 years. At one time, the name also included “de la Ladrillera,” a reference to the now-nonexistent brick factory located between the riverbank and Main Avenue. This troupe, which has been in Laredo since 1935, dances on both December 11th and May 3rd at their neighborhood terreno – a lot behind the Ortiz’ family home –  and in procession to and from Holy Redeemer Church. They originally came from Real de Catorce in the mountains of Mexico to a cluster of villages known as Las Minas, primarily settling in Dolores and Palafox. They moved to Laredo when the coal mines closed.

Today, there are more than 20 Matachines groups in Laredo, loosely affiliated with different parishes, including San José, San Luis Rey, and Guadalupe. Unlike the Santa Cruz troupe, these groups mostly dance in December and do not use an accordion the way that the Santa Cruz troupe does.

The origin of this hybrid dance tradition, which extends throughout the Americas, remains a mystery. Scholars like Brenda Romero have tried to pinpoint a root culture to explain the blend of Christian and Indigenous folk Catholic elements. While the dancing and musical instruments may differ, one constant across this vast geographical space is the sacred purpose of the ritual: to honor either a specific local patron saint or Our Lady of Guadalupe. For example, the Matachines tradition in Bernalillo, New Mexico, which dates back over 300 years, honors San Lorenzo. It differs from the Laredo tradition in significant ways, including the traditional dress and the music.

In some areas, Matachines dance to a single drum that keeps the rhythm, typically played by a young troupe member. Other percussion elements may include the sound of the dancers’ foot-stomping or the sweet jingle of the bells that adorn the nagüilla (the skirt). In my youth, these noisemakers were made of flattened bottlecaps strung and sewn onto the nagüilla. Today, the jingle bells at the end of the reed cane pieces act as noisemakers attached to the skirt.

In earlier times, the music for the Laredo group included a guitar and a violin in addition to the accordion and drum. As the musicians who played these instruments have passed away, only the accordion and drum remain.

Why do they dance? I asked this as a child. As a scholar, I’ve spent years researching the question. I’ve found three possible answers. The most obvious is that it’s an expression of faith – the dance is prayer, a spiritual and religious ritual practiced by believers. A second reason may be the social bonds that require members of families, who have been involved for generations, to dance with the troupe. A third reason is personal satisfaction. I have often heard Matachín dancers explain they are dancing to honor a manda (a promise), either in thanksgiving for a favor granted (perhaps someone recovered from an illness, graduated high school, or conceived a child after being barren). A promesa might entail dancing for several years, dancing barefoot, or contributing money to feed the dancers during the celebration

Whatever their reason and commitment, all dancers hold the tradition dear and see it as a form of prayer, a reason for hope and for belief that all is good.

During September 5th’s CaminArte, Laredoans got the opportunity to practice a technique that few living people here have experienced. In the back corner of Casa Ortiz by the kitchen, the packed audience watched women from the crowd taking turns at the stone metate, using the oval rock called a mano to grind corn kernels into masa. Maíz expert chef Luna Vela instructed the volunteers to put their whole upper body into the metate. Over a hundred years ago, likely in this same kitchen, this process would take the better part of a day to transform raw corn into our beloved tortillas, tamales, and gorditas. 

Vela then showed the audience how masa is made today with an electric molino that was loaned by Kendra Gutierrez of La Fe Tortilleria. What would take hours on the metate took just a few minutes with the loud machine-powered molino.

“I use this same type of molino in Austin. Even though it’s much faster, I like to meditate on the amount of time and labor that women used to spend every day doing this by hand,” Vela said.

Vela has roots in both Monterrey and McAllen. During the pandemic, she started a project called Neighborhood Molino, meant to both educate people on the ancient process and allow the public to use her molino communally to make their own masa. 

As she explained at Casa Ortiz, the first step is nixtamalization, a technique developed at least 3,000 years ago in Central Mexico whereby dried kernels are simmered and then steeped overnight in a water-alkaline solution to unlock nutrients like niacin and calcium and make the corn more digestible. Likely by some accidental miracle, our ancestors learned to do this with wood ash. Today, the norm is cal, white powdered limestone. A few hours before the workshop, Vela used cal donated by La India Packing Co. to cook the corn for grinding. 

The event’s overwhelming turnout is interesting given maíz’s universality in our culture and cuisine. The positive reception is at least partly explained because of how rare this ancient process has become. For those of us who grew up after the 1970s, there is a good chance that almost every tortilla de maíz we have eaten is the same tortilla de Maseca, made by simply adding water to dehydrated cornmeal. For Maseca purchased in the United States, it’s likely that the corn wasn’t even grown in its birthplace in Mexico but instead from industrialized fields in the Midwest, where genetically modified (GMO) corn is the norm. Today, very few tortillerias in northern Mexico and across the United States make their masa using nixtamalization and a molino, except for a few holdouts like La Fe. 

During the workshop, the guests prepared and tasted two varieties of rare heirloom corn: a yellow corn from Tlaxcala and a blue corn from Oaxaca. Combining them into one tortilla can yield a variety of yellow-blue designs: swirls, flowers, half-and-half. 

“The first flip is the most important,” Vela told the crowd during the first demonstration. After carefully laying the pressed masa onto the comal, she flipped it less than a minute to prevent it from drying and cracking. After a few minutes, she flipped it again, causing the tortilla to inflate as the steam from the masa moisture cooked the inside.

Vela unleashed the eager crowd around the portable presses and comales stationed around the kitchen. The frenzied pressing, flipping, and eating added more heat to a scorching late-summer evening. Luckily participants cooled off with another expression of maíz: Vela’s agua fresca made from the same yellow masa used for the tortillas. Since this was a celebration, a few people added a splash of pox, a liquor from Chiapas made from cane sugar and…more maíz. 

As the saying goes and as Vela helped us appreciate, somos gente de maíz y el maíz es de la gente. 

Note: Luna Vela’s workshop on September 5, 2025 was co-hosted by The Laredo Cultural District and the Laredo Film Society (LFS). After the workshop, LFS screened a double feature of two short films: Bisonte by Luna Vela, and Ingles sin Fronteras by Gil Rocha and Edwardo García. 

The Webb County Heritage Foundation (WCHF) is preparing for 2025’s version of Movies on the Patio, which will feature the campy 1969 Mexican horror film, El Santo enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos on Friday, October 10. The wrestlers will save humanity from El Vampiro, La Mujer Vampiro, Franquestein, El Ciclope, El Hombre Lobo, La Momia, and a floating brain.

The 1999 release of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will be screened on Friday, October 17. This Gothic dark movie directed by Tim Burton features Johnny Depp, Christoper Walken, and Christina Ricci. It is based on a story by Washington Irving, an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century.

Each screening will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Villa Antigua Border Heritage Museum. Audience members are encouraged to arrive early to find street parking and good seating.

Vendors at both screenings include Gloria’s Coffee, Mucho Pop Ice Cream, Los Pasteles Bakery, and My Lovely Annie.

As part of the October 3 Caminarte, Laredo Main Street will be hosting A Harvest on the Border Pumpkin Patch that evening and again on October 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pumpkin sales will continue October 10 from 7 to 10 p.m. and October 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“This anthology is a revelation, a multicultural blend of well-known and emerging writers who come together to give nature a voice in our literature and our lives,” said Witliff Series Editor Steven L. Davis, adding, “Not least of the many benefits to readers are its contributions from eminent Latina writers presented here as advocates for the environment. Though this theme has long existed in Chicana literature, it has never been positioned as front and center as it is in this anthology.”

Anthology editor Cordelia Barrera, a professor of English at Texas Tech University, teaches with a focus on Latinx and borderlands literature. 

“This collection foregrounds issues of rootedness, cooperation, nurturance, and identity to illustrate how women’s writing about place moves us beyond landscape as capital, or as an open space of infinite exploitable resources. By representing voices from a diversity of women – some likely unknown, some rising stars, and others who are established poets, authors, and professionals in fields touching women’s studies, ecocriticism, memoir, poetry and prose – the works collected here are meant to move readers towards an expanded definition of land/landscape/territory to expose a genealogy of practices that point to reciprocal relationships with the landscape,” Barrera said.

Her own writing appears in this volume of the work of the 30 writers in the collection, including notable Latina, Anglo, African American, and Indigenous contributors. Among those writers are two Laredoans, Trinity University professor Dr. Norma Cantú and Tragaluz editor María Eugenia Guerra. 

According to the TAMU Press narrative for We Are Nature Defending Itself, “The incorporation of border voices into the anthology effectively challenges long-dominant mythologies of the American West and offers a prominent place for literatures of social justice and the environment.

“We Are Nature Defending Itself adds important new work to the growing canon of nature and borderlands writing by women of color. In turn, these new voices deepen and broaden our understanding of humanity and its relationship to the natural environment.” 

The 280-page clothbound anthology goes to press October 17. To place a pre-publication order go to https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781648433733/we-are-nature-defending-itself/

Laredo Theater Guild International kicked off the start of its 17th season with an opening performance of Kate Hamill’s Sense & Sensibility, based on the novel by Jane Austen. The story of the Dashwood sisters is one familiar to many a literary, and Austen, enthusiast. 

As is known, a novel-to-stage adaptation is no easy feat, but during the show’s run time, any quirks in the transfer only further execute the humor that was written into the script. From the galloping actors meant to mimic horse-drawn carriages to the lingering gossips turning into Mrs. Jenning’s playful pups, the unexpected twists and physical comedy in the play were one of the most consistent shining areas throughout the viewing experience. 

Further, the use of doubling throughout the performance, particularly through the characters of Fanny Dashwood/Lucy Steele (Desiree Perez), pushed the comedic elements into a tongue-in-cheek irony, poking fun at the absurdity of the gossipmongering mentality that drives the characters throughout the plot. This stage technique functions as a means to engage the viewer, making them both the participant in the residual entertainment of the gossip being spread while also allowing the audience to self-aware enough to question whether the gossip they are being entertained by is more harmful or helpful to the Dashwood sisters they have eagerly grown to empathize with. After all, it isn’t hard to relate to Elinor and Marianne, expertly interpreted by Katelyn Kahn and Allyson Tellez. From Marianne’s youthful romanticism to Elinor’s more subdued affections, the yearning for love that we mistakenly assume is, or is not, reciprocated, is something most, if not all, audience members have experienced at some point in their lives. 

The heartbreak that befalls Marianne at the hands of the playboy John Willoughby (Ben Lule), and the mixed feelings Elinor receives from the confused and indirect Edward (Emiliano Reyna), are enough to elicit similar pangs of hurt drawn from our own romantic endeavors. Thus, it is no surprise that the TAMIU Fine & Performing Arts auditorium erupted with applause and joyful holleration upon the sisters’ joint nuptials to their respective suitors as the performance concluded. 

Yet, despite Sense & Sensibility being a love story in the romantic sense of the phrase, there is a greater love at play between Elinor and Marianne. Although overshadowed by the element of romantic partnership, the love shared between the two Dashwood sisters is what truly solidifies the foundation of this story. Regardless of the ups and downs, the secrets and partial truths, the misunderstandings, the sisters’ love for one another remains a constant, underlying the entirety of the plot. This love is the driving force that enables both Elinor and Marianne to love each other, to love themselves, and to share that love with Edward and Colonel Brandon (Ben Hinojosa). Ultimately, between the laughs and the tears elicited by the LTGI cast and crew, the audience was given a story about a love that need not be spoken out loud, simply because it is a love that has always been known. What kind could be better?

(Xiomarra Milann is multidisciplinary artist, activist, and educator whose roots lay in Laredo, TX. She is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Texas-El Paso. Her work can be found in the Sybil Journal, the Acentos review, among other places, and is forthcoming in Defunkt Magazine.)

If your high school theater director told you that you were going to perform in the world’s largest theatre festival, would you believe him? 

I didn’t. It seemed too good to be true. For starters, it was the type of opportunity that fosters sweet, addictive hope for possibilities – the kind fueled by childhood desires of one day visiting a distant city full of adventure. 

The “what ifs” were vast; fundraisers too few and far between, and the uncertainty whether every member of our group would be able to afford attending. 

The summer of 2025 arrived and the show became a reality. This small group of VMT students were going to Scotland, and we began rehearsing for Lord of the Flies. Suddenly, the pressure hit –money had been donated and high expectations were set for us. 

The preparation was stressful, and though it was a certainty we would be boarding a plane to Edinburgh in a few months, doubt crept into the cracks where I could see that our show was not ready. The rehearsals were inconsistent, and the entire group procrastinated throughout the preparation process. 

Now, here’s the thing about my director and my peers that can be viewed as both a vulnerability and an asset: every show transforms into a piece of art at the very, very, very last moment. I have heard artists described as discoverers, how sculptors chip away at a giant slab of rock to uncover their masterpiece, as if it were always there waiting to be revealed. 

Every film and theater project I have ever done with our director Marco Gonzalez begins as a mangled mess of concepts and semi-coherent ideas, but then is unearthed as an art piece that inspires audiences to look within or question the integrity of mankind. It was no different with Lord of the Flies.

Once in Britain, our schedule allowed two rehearsals, one tech rehearsal, and four performances in Edinburgh, Scotland, which meant that our rehearsals in Scotland were our last chances to fix and finish the show. After the first rehearsal in Scotland, I felt reassured that our show was finally coming together. I could see cast members truly committing to their parts. 

Our first performance was rough. We were like a newborn deer stumbling around before we got our bearings. 

Doubt follows me like a shadow through most aspects of my life – are my rank and GPA competitive enough, am I doing enough to prepare for college? I brought doubt with me to Scotland, wondering if this group of teenagers from Laredo had the qualifications and preparation, or had we procrastinated too much? Were we going to disappoint the people who had sacrificed so much to get us here? 

Theatre – never stable and never finished – evolves. This gave me hope. By our second performance, I could finally see this work of art unfolding, improving. Anything I worried about was far, far away, and I decided not to let doubt spoil the time I had left in this city of possibilities. 

This may sound dramatic and naive, but I felt uninhibited in Scotland. Edinburgh was thrumming with art; every ordinary building was turned into a theatre or performance space. On every corner was a person handing out a flyer for their evening show. Not only was I surrounded by art, but I was also enveloped in this experience with my friends – the people with whom I create theatre and who understood the pressures we faced. 

Strangely, I no longer felt fear and expectations. 

Freedom is inherent, and as human beings, it is understood that we are born with it; however, it is intangible in the sense that you never truly know it’s there until it is. Looking back, I remember that feeling of freedom and the unending possibilities for art – a  reminder that I am free to unveil my future as it looms before me. 

For the first time that I can remember, I feel able to move forward confidently in my life, reassured that my future depends on the power I have to shape it. 

Life, like art, begins as a messy jumble of passions that is sometimes hard to navigate. Once you choose to shape it and trust the process, you can carve something beautiful from it. 

As Caminarte participants walked west on Zaragoza St. after the well-attended featured events of Casa Ortiz on September 5, many came across the evening of Danzón coming to life in San Agustin Plaza, thanks to members of the Banda Municipal de Nuevo Laredo, dancers of the grupo Mextli, the Laredo Cultural District, and the City of Laredo.

The art walk participants, in addition to taking in the Danzón performance, were also able to experience a couple of lessons in Danzón under tutelage of the Mextli dancers.

Jorge Santana of the Laredo Cultural District noted, “Danzón is a slow partner dance. It is considered the national dance of Cuba and bears African and European influences. Mexico has adopted and expanded this beautiful, graceful art form. Here in the heart of this historic district, this performance brought to life a piece of the legendary Salón México,” he said. 

Santana credited Nuevo Laredo’s Director of Arts and Culture, Felipe Flores Montemayor, with his assistance in staging the event, as well as District 8 City Council member Alyssa Cigarroa and the City of Laredo. 

As the evening of dance and live music continued, the Plaza filled with energetic dancers of all ages and many who were content to observe and listen.