FESTIBA 2022 - DISTINGUISHED GUESTS
DAVID BOWLES
DAVID BOWLES grew up and lives in the Río Grande Valley of South Texas. A many-faceted writer and scholar, he’s the author of Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico. His middle-grade fantasy The Smoking Mirror was selected as a 2016 Pura Belpré Author Honor by the American Library Association.
RAQUEL ORTIZ
Raquel M. Ortiz was born and raised in Lorain, Ohio. She is the author of two other bilingual picture books: Sofi and the Magic, Musical Mural / Sofi y el mágico mural musical (Arte Público Press, 2015) and Sofi Paints Her Dreams / Sofi pinta sus sueños (Piñata Books, 2019). She has worked at The Brooklyn Museum, the Allen Memorial Art Museum and El Museo del Barrio. Currently, she creates educational material for the Puerto Rican Heritage Cultural Ambassadors Program at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City.
ANNA MERIANO
Anna Meriano grew up in Houston, Texas, with an older brother and a younger brother but (tragically) no sisters. She graduated from Rice University with a degree in English and earned her MFA in creative writing with an emphasis in writing for children from the New School in New York. She has taught creative writing and high school English and works as a writing tutor. Anna likes reading, knitting, playing full-contact quidditch, and translating English song lyrics into Spanish and vice-versa. Her favorite baked goods are the kind that don’t fly away before you eat them
JON SCIESZKA
Jon Scieszka is an American children's writer, best known for picture books created with the illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and the founder of Guys Read – a web-based literacy program for boys whose mission is "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers. Scieszka was the first U.S. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, appointed by the Librarian of Congress for calendar years 2008 and 2009. His Time Warp Trio series, which teaches kids history, has been adapted into a television show.
STEVEN WEINBERG
Steven Weinberg - “I write and illustrate kids’ books about mutants fixing climate change, being a middle kid, chainsaws, beards, roller coasters, and dinosaurs. And I paint landscapes and fish, too. Basically all the fun stuff.My books have been called “Brilliant” by Dave Pilkey, "thrillingly shameless" by the NY Times, "guaranteed to fuel read aloud energy" by Publisher's Weekly. They have won awards such as the Virginia Reader’s Choice Award (YOU MUST BE THIS TALL) and the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection (ASTRONUTS: MISSION ONE THE PLANT PLANET), and a best board book of 2021 by Parents Magazine (WASHER AND DRYER’S BIG JOB).
MICHAEL GENHART
Michael Genhart, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California. He lives with his family in Marin County. He received his BA in psychology from the University of California, San Diego and his PhD in clinical and community psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author of several picture books including: Ouch! Moments: When Words Are Used in Hurtful Ways (2016), Peanut Butter & Jellyous (2017), Mac & Geeeez! (2017), Cake & I Scream! (2017), So Many Smarts! (2017), I See You (2017), Rainbow: A First Book of Pride (2019), and Accordionly: Abuelo and Opa Make Music (2020) all from Magination Press, as well as Love Is Love (Little Pickle Press/Sourcebooks, 2018)DIANA LÓPEZ
Diana López is the author of the adult novella, Sofia’s Saints, and of middle grade books Confetti Girl, Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel, Nothing Up My Sleeve, and Lucky Luna. Her novel Choke was adapted as The Choking Game for the Lifetime Movie Network in 2014, and she also wrote Coco, A Story About Music, Shoes, and Family, a novel adaptation of the award-‐winning Disney/Pixar film. Her debut picture book, Sing With Me: The Story of Selena Quintanilla, is now available. Diana recently retired from the University of Houston-‐Victoria as an Associate Professor of Creative Writing after a 28-‐year career as an educator at both the middle grade and university levels, but she still enjoys working with students by visiting schools and in her role as a mentor for new and aspiring writers and often speaks at book festivals and educator and writing conferences.
For more information about the Texas Book Festival visit: Texas Book FestivalFESTIBA 2022 GEAR UP PRESENTERS
LUIS CORPUS
STC faculty member Luis Corpus uses a symbolic medium of handmade charcoal from branches and water from the Rio Grande River to create portraits while attempting to express a cultural identity does not handily offer itself to absolutes.
“The River is special in that it shares in my duality, it is at once American and Mexican,” said Corpus. “It even has two names depending on what side of it you stand. Instead of representing this dual nature using cliché imagery, I sought to retain the essence of the River. I wanted to allow the River itself to speak for the people who have origin in its waters, like me.”
CECILIA BALLI, PH.D.
CECILIA BALLI Cecilia Ballí is a magazine writer, cultural anthropologist, educator, and research and communications consultant. For 23 years, she has conducted research and written about the U.S.-Mexico border and Latino issues. In 2000, she became the first Latina or Latino writer at Texas Monthly, where she continues to serve as a writer-at-large, writing stories that seek to elevate the voices of Latinos and to challenge the mainstream narrative of Texas
She has published in other highly regarded media outlets including Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, and Columbia Journalism Review, and was a reporter at the San Antonio Express-News and The Brownsville Herald. She has won various journalism and writing awards, and her stories have been reprinted in several anthologies, including Hecho en Tejas: An Anthology of Texas-Mexican Literature and Best American Crime Writing. As an anthropologist,
For six years, she served as a tenure-track professor in the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Anthropology, where she taught in the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands Program and was affiliated with the Center for Mexican-American Studies, the Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies, the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, and the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice. She left academia to write full-time, but is presently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Houston’s Center for Mexican American Studies. She has also been a Visiting Researcher at the Humanities Institute and the Center for Mexican American Studies at UT Austin. In 2018, she founded Culture Concepts, LLC, a strategic and creative consultancy offering services throughout Texas. In this role, Ballí works with nonprofits, foundations, museums, and other organizations providing ethnographic research and storytelling, as well as offering analysis and strategy on projects related to U.S. Latinos and the U.S.-Mexican border.
The daughter of former migrant farmworkers who have long roots on the Texas-Mexico border, she was raised in Brownsville and considers herself a proud tejana and fronteriza. Websites: https://www.ceciliaballi.com/ https://www.cultureconcepts.co/
KATELYN RENTERIA
KATELYN RENTERIAFrom South Texas, Katelynn Rentería is an award-winning author with a deep passion for writing. Ranked as valedictorian of her graduating high school class (2018), Katelynn is a true advocate for literacy and is the 2017 recipient of the Literary Classics Book Awards: Silver Award for the Middle School division for her first published novel. She wrote her first manuscript at age 14 and published her first book, “The Other Side of the Law”, at age 16, which was featured as the Weekly Top Seller after its release, and was featured on the Top 50 Best Sellers List of 2019 from her current publisher.
She loves to visit South Texas campuses to give presentations advocating literacy, and motivates students to read, write, and always move forward in accomplishing their goals. Katelynn is currently writing her second novel, the sequel to her first, and is now a self-published author. She works as a freelance writer for various media outlets and independent entities, and has earned an Associate's of Science Degree in Biology (2018), a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Psychology, summa cum laude (2020), and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Arts Degree in Experimental Psychology
BALLET NEPANTLA
Ballet Nepantla originated from a series of pláticas between founders Andrea Guajardo and Martín Rodríguez, two artists whose early professional identities emerged from distinct genres: Andrea from classical ballet and contemporary dance, and Martin from traditional Mexican folklórico. They envisioned a new form of expression that fused the two modalities, and they envisioned an aesthetic that would speak to the historical, cultural, and social realities of a broader narrative of being Mexican, Mexican American, immigrant, and trans-cultural. Drawing inspiration from Gloria Anzaldúa’s borderlands theory, Andrea and Martín imagined they could create performances that spoke to the “in-between” qualities of being from both sides of the borderland. They found the idea of Nepantla, a Nahuatl term of the indigenous people of Mexico. Nepantla provides a historical, intellectual, and artistic framework through which to explore the “in-between” spaces of history and culture by exploring new artistic expression that fuses different traditions on stage. Thus, Ballet Nepantla was born in January 2017.
VISITING ARTISTS
JESSICA MONROE MARTINEZ
ANCHOR MOMENTS
Inspired by the natural world, artist Jessica Monroe often works on location using watercolor, pastels and a camera. She then brings her practice into the studio to create large scale oil paintings based on her studies and photographs. Jessica Monroe Martinez was born in McAllen. She holds a BA from Southwestern University and studied painting at New York University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For more than 20 years, Monroe has exhibited her work throughout Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.
Performing Arts Complex Dates: Spring and Summer 2022
THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN ARTS
RGV x Art for Change 2022 Exhibition
The exhibition will explore the theme of sustainability through the unique lenses of contemporary artists. Submitted artwork will communicate the community’s collective reflection about the state of sustainability in the environment and culture, particularly how it relates to border identity.
Artwork has been selected based on the portrayal of sustainability, border identity and artistic quality themes that focus on solutions showcasing sustainable practices through conceptual or material qualities in both 2D and 3D works. “The exhibition aims to bring artists in our community together to view works, discuss ideas, make connections and reflect on important messages that inform their artistic process,” said Dr. Katherine Moore McAllen, CLAA director and assistant professor of Art History. “The ultimate goal is to support our graduate students like Keatan McKeever in their curatorial efforts to give artists an opportunity to present their current creative works, connect with other artists and receive feedback and support.”
Presenters:
The exhibit is organized by Moore McAllen; Keatan McKeever, Master of Fine Arts student and UTRGV Presidential Research Fellowship Grant recipient, and Tim Gonchoroff, assistant professor for the School of Art and Design and director of the UTRGV Galleries, and is designed to support artists – painters, sculptors, printmakers, digital artists, mixed media artists and writers and poets – at UTRGV, as well as members of the community.
Date and location: The exhibit will be open from Feb. 1-21 at the University Library on the UTRGV Edinburg Campus. It will move to the UTRGV Visual Arts Gallery, located in the Visual Arts Building at 2412 S. Closner Blvd. in Edinburg, from Feb 24 - March 13.
Time: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN ARTS VIRTUAL EXHIBITS
https://www.utrgv.edu/claa/index.htm
CARLOS LIMAS
Carlos Limas, Mexico (b.1970) holds an MFA from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, a BA in Studio Art from l’Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles in Belgium, and a BA in Graphic Design from the Instituto Profesional de Arte y Diseño in Monterrey, México. Limas currently teaches Photography at the UTRGV School of Art and Design, and he is the Chief Coordinator of Media and Graphic Design at the Center for Latin American Arts.
ANGELA V. SCARDIGNO
Angela V. Scardigno graduated as a Graphic Designer from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2006. While she attended the University, she took classes in several art workshops taught by masters such as Lautaro Fiszman, Aníbal Cedrón, and Carlos Terribili. Later she moved to the United States, where she completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2019. Scardigno has exhibited throughout the Rio Grande Valley, Argentina, and México, and her work was published in Studio Visit Magazine in 2018. She currently works at the UTRGV Center for Latin American Arts as Coordinator of Media Design and Communications. Scardigno lives and works in McAllen, Texas.
CENTER FOR MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES and GALLERY PRESENTS GUEST AUTHOR
IVELISSE RODRIGUEZ
Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Ivelisse Rodriguez grew up in Holyoke, Massachusetts. She earned a B.A. in English from Columbia University, an M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College, and a Ph.D. in English-creative writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her short story collection, Love War Stories, is forthcoming from The Feminist Press in summer 2018. Her fiction chapbook The Belindas was published in 2017. She has also published fiction in All about Skin: Short Fiction by Women of Color, Obsidian, Label Me Latina/o, Kweli, the Boston Review, the Bilingual Review, Aster(ix), and other publications. She is the founder and editor of an interview series, published in Centro Voices, the e-magazine of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College.
KAREN VILLEDA
Renown Mexican writer, poet and digital artist who has received multiple National Literary Awards for her work. Villeda was born in Tlaxcala, Mexico in 1985. She began writing at age 9, and had her first poem published in a local newspaper after attending a literary workshop at age 16. She published her first book of poetry at age 18, and studied International Affairs at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. Her poetry has been translated to several languages, including Arabic, English, French, German and Portuguese. Her work as poet is part of the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape of the Library of Congress (2015) and she is one of the few Mexican writers in the archive. Part of her digital work is in the third volume of Electronic Literature Collection of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the editor-in-chief of the Este País. In 2015, she became the Fall resident of the International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa, and was selected as the IWP Outreach Fellow.
MARIACHI FESTIVAL GUEST ARTISTS
So excited to have these great musicians performing at FESTIBA 2022 - the nation’s foremost mariachi educator, José Hernández, the operatic baritone Dr. Octavio Moreno, and La Reina de los Mariachis, Aida Cuevas!
The Grand Concert is Friday, March 4th at the Edinburg Campus Performing Arts Complex
SCHEDULE:
March 3
The History of Mariachi with Jonathan Clark and Mark Fogelquist Virtual Presentation at 7 p.m. Contact
March 4
Masterclasses, Competition, Grand Concert at UTRGV
Schedule:
8:00 a.m. Welcome and Registration
9:00–10:00 a.m. Dr. Octavio Moreno, baritone, Vocal Masterclass
10:00–11:00 a.m. José Hernández, founder & Director of Mariachi Sól de México, presentation
11:00 – 11:45 a.m. Aida Cuevas, La Reina de Los Mariachis, interview
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch on your own
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Middle School and High School Mariachi Competitions
9:00 p.m. Grand Concert: UTRGV PAC Auditorium With special guests: Aida Cuevas, Jose Hernandez, Octavio Moreno Mariachi Aztlán,Grand Champion High School Competition Winner. Middle School Group Winner Vocal Competition Finals
Location: Edinburg Campus, UTRGV Performing Arts Complex
On April 22nd, (location TBA) in Brownsville and in collaboration with the Nuestra Cultura Mariachi Festival, FESTIBA 2022 will present a workshop that will feature the fabulous Mariachi Los Camperos and Pedro Fernandez, Mexican singer. We will call for those registrations after March 5th. $45.00 registration fee includes concert ticket