FESTIBA 2023 - DISTINGUISHED GUESTS
FESTIBA 2023 GEAR UP PRESENTERS
Dates: February 28
Times: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Location: Edinburg Campus, UTRGV Performing Arts Complex
JALITZA CHANTEL DELGADO
Jalitza Chantel Delgado was born April 14th, 1996 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She grew up in a military lifestyle, where a majority of her youth was being raised overseas in Mons, Belgium & Heidelberg, Germany. From there, her family returned to the United States, where she graduated high school in San Antonio, TX, and attended college at the Art Institute of San Antonio, and received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Digital Film/Video Production.
Notable Roles: Remi Ayasaki in "Horimiya" anime, Kanade in "Beast Tamer" anime, Saria in "Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had it Made," anime, Mara in "Megalobox 2: Nomad," anime, and more.
JOANA CARVALHAS
Joana Carvalhas is a multi-style improviser violinist actively performing and teaching in Germany, Portugal and United Kingdom, recently graduated by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (UK). She constantly explores new musical styles and new concepts in order to approach innovative sounds and textures on the violin. More than a violinist, she describes herself as a whole musician using the violin to express and enjoy her music. Despite her classical music education, Joana also started to develop her improvisation and jazz skills and even a solo unique project where she plays with loop and effect pedals. During her musical career she already performed in jazz concerts (combo, big band), classical style concerts (solo, chamber music, recitals, orchestra), metal festivals, circus shows, fashion events, ...During her performances the audience never knows what to expect due to her creativity on stage and new ways of experiencing and expressing the Music.
MARGARITA LONGORIA, AUTHOR
Margie is a lifelong bookworm, book blogger, and an award-winning high school librarian in South Texas. She is the founder of Border Book Bash: Celebrating Teens and Tweens of the Rio Grande Valley and served on state reading committees for the Texas Library Association. She is the editor of LIVING BEYOND BORDERS: GROWING UP MEXICAN IN AMERICA, a mixed-media collection of short stories, personal essays, poetry, and comics, that is a hopeful love letter from the Mexican American community to today’s young readers. She holds a BA and an MA in English and an MLS in Library Science. She is passionate about diverse books, her two sons, coffee, and Mr. Darcy. She grew up in Edinburg, Texas, and lives with her family in the Rio Grande Valley.
You can visit Margie online at margiesmustreads.com and follow her on Instagram at @MargiesMustReads.
BALLET EXPAÑOL
Ballet Español was established at UTRGV to provide our students the opportunity to study the art of Spanish Dance. This dance genre encompasses a great range of styles of bailes folkloricos representing different regions in Spain, including Flamenco, the art of the gypsies of Spain, Alegrias, Tangos, Solea, Bulerías, and Siguiriyas. Other dances include the Escuela Bolera, a style of classical dance and music from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries where ballet principles of turnout combine typical Spanish arm movements, with castanets and flamenco footwork and folkloric steps. The Ballet Español consists of dance majors fulfilling their BFA in Dance Performance credits while acquiring the knowledge of producing a full length concert, stage presence and performance experience. Artistic Director of Ballet Español is Sonia Chapa Gómez MA, MFA, Lecturer II.
ART EXHIBITS BY FACULTY, STUDENTS AND GUESTS
EARTHCLOUDS
Nancy Moyer, Professor Emerita of Art
Artist’s Statement
Art has always been a phenomenon of allusion through illusion. The Earthcloud series talks about that. I have built a visual dialogue with illusion alluding to the projected endgame of mass production. It is ironic that it has resulted in actual objects.
Earthclouds are rags that because of excessive mass production and waste have attained quantum consciousness. Everything is energy, and with enough complex mass, can have a quantum consciousness. I saw the enormous piles of fabrics at the Ropas as potentially having this quality, which allowed my rags to rise from the piles of discard into a separate dimension. My photographs show them seeking primordial organization where only newly conscious, man-made, entities exist.
Opening Reception: Tuesday, February 28th, 6 p.m.
UTRGV Performing Arts Complex
1201 W. University Drive
Edinburg | (956) 665-3480
JUAN DE DIOS MORA, GUEST ARTIST
Juan de Dios Mora has lived in border towns where different cultures clash and yet expressions and emotions coalesce. However here in the US, it’s traditions, racism, and stereotypes have introduced him to the reality of being an immigrant in a different country.
Mora blends his hybrid Mexican culture and American experiences into a single entity and focuses on the economic, social, and cultural issues of life on the border. Mora portrays characters interacting with customized devices and vehicles that are created to facilitate the daily life, duties, responsibilities, obligations, and entertaining events of the operators.
Working representationally and sometimes with the surreal, he portray images of the typical Mexican/American’s life, iconography, and beliefs. His objective is to bring people together, with sentimental, satirical, sarcastic, and comical themes. He hopes to evoke self-awareness and then to superimpose that awareness on the experiences of life. To learn about Juan’s artwork and upcoming exhibitions, you can access the following:
Website: http://juandediosmora.com
Instagram: @diosprints
Dates: February 5-24
Closing Reception & Artist Talk: Friday, February 24th 6-9 p.m.
Location: Edinburg Campus, Charles & Dorothy Clark Gallery, Liberal Arts Building South (ELABS)
SINCE I WAS A GIRL
By Kaylee Hernandez
An MFA graduate exhibition by Kaylee Hernandez.
Dates: March 1-10
Opening Reception: Friday, March 3rd, 6-8 p.m.
Location: Edinburg Campus, Visual Arts Building Gallery (EVABL)
THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN ARTS
EXHIBITIONS
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CIRCA: CONJETURAS EN PAPEL
By Angela V. Scardigno
"Circa is a project that aims to keep memories alive through collage. A photo, a scene expresses an endless number of possibilities, a continuous presentation of stories, which can be reassembled, re-narrated, and consequently can remain current. Circa is a word that comes up recurrently in any archival search, demonstrating that our findings, although imprecise but true, are only the surface of a reality, a reality so complex that we can generally only reach it superficially through conjecture. In this project/experiment the old scenarios are mutilated, distorted, and intervened to open a dialectic between the figurative and the abstract, the narrative and the formal."
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.
Date: February 15 – March 5th
Location: Edinburg Campus, Library First Floor, behind the elevators
Link: https://www.utrgv.edu/claa/index.htm
INTANGIBLE
By Carlos Limas
“INTANGIBLE is a photography exhibition by artist Carlos Limas, who has been documenting the backroads of the Rio Grande Valley since 2017. These explorations have led him to rethink the rural and urban landscapes, envisioning the possibilities of the imaginary.”
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.
Date: February 20 – March 8th
Opening Reception: February 23rd at 6 p.m.
Location: Rusteberg Art Gallery, Brownsville Campus, 65 Gorgas Drive
Link: https://www.utrgv.edu/claa/index.htm
MUSEUM OF SOUTH TEXAS HISTORY
GUEST PRESENTERS
FRANCISCO GUAJARDO
THE FREDDY GONZALEZ’ LETTERS PROJECT: BUILDING MIDDLE SCHOOL WRITING SKILLS WITH AN EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIP
Francisco Guajardo is the Chief Executive Officer of the Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg, Texas. A child of the South Texas and northeastern Mexico borderland, he was raised on both sides of the border, attended public schools in the rural community of Edcouch-Elsa in the Rio Grande Valley, and became an educator. He earned a B.A. in English, an M.A. in History and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in History, Curriculum & Instruction, and Educational Administration from University of Texas at Austin.
In 2020, Ms. Dolia González, the mother of Sgt. Freddy González, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, donated over 150 letters to the Museum of South Texas History. These letters allow the reader a personal look into the life of this young Edinburg service member serving his country during the Vietnam Conflict. The Museum of South Texas History, in partnership with the Edinburg CISD Social Studies Department, will integrate these personal letters in a writing curriculum framework for middle school students.
Dates: Monday, February 27th
Times: 10 a.m.
Location: MOSTHistory’s Facebook @mosthistory
MELISSA PEÑA
STORYTELLING WITH ARTIFACTS
Behind every museum exhibition is hours-long research into an artifact and its provenance. Crafting the major theme of exhibit requires storytelling techniques and choosing other artifacts to supplement. MOSTHistory’s Exhibits & Collections Coordinator Melissa Peña will share details on building spotlight exhibits.
Dates: Tuesday, February 28th
Times: 11 a.m.
Location: MOSTHistory’s Facebook @mosthistory
JOHNNY GONZALES
The Art & Design of a Windmill
Windmills are a South Texas tradition. Many ranches still use windmills to pump water, which can be utilized to irrigate land or provide to cattle. At the Museum of South Texas History, a towering windmill was placed in the Will Looney Legacy Park to honor the cowmen and ranch-hands in South Texas. Facilities & Security supervisor Johnny Gonzales will share the history of this windmill and its importance to the museum.
Dates: Thursday, March 2nd
Times: 10 a.m.
Location: MOSTHistory’s Facebook @mosthistory
READING ROCK STARS
Visits to Public Schools with Book Distributions
In keeping with our mission to promote early childhood reading, FESTIBA is proud to present the “Reading Rock Stars” program in partnership with the Texas Book Festival. This program is a popular mainstay of FESTIBA, and children receive a signed book by an author of national repute.
2023 Reading Rock Stars Schools and Authors:
Dates: Thursday & Friday, March 2 & 3
Location Schools: Hurla Midkiff, Mission; Bryan Elementary, Mission; Guillermo Flores Elementary, La Joya; EB Guerra Elementary, Edinburg; Cesar Chavez Elementary, Pharr; Dr. RE Margo Elementary, Weslaco.
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.
ZARA GONZALEZ HOANG
ZARA GONZÁLEZ HOANG is a picture book author and illustrator. She grew up in a little bungalow in the frozen tundra of Minnesota. Surrounded by snow she spent her days dreaming, doodling and listening to the colorful stories of her Dad’s life growing up in Puerto Rico while trying to figure out where she fit in as a mixed-race Latina Jew in a sea of Scandinavians. These days, she lives outside of DC in a magical suburban forest with her Mad Man husband, human-shaped demons and curly-coated corgi. She still spends her days dreaming and doodling, but now instead of listening to stories, she’s starting to tell some of her own.
ANA SIQUEIRA
Ana Siqueira is from Rio, Brasil, where she is an award-winning published author. In 1992, she moved to the United States where she teaches Spanish to elementary children. She has published a Spanish book for the educational market, El Pato Quiere Uvas, published by Teacher’s Discovery. Ana is also an Abuela and she loves playing with her grandkids, reading, writing, and cooking. She has never learned how to bake...yet. She lives in Florida with her husband and with her college-aged son. She has four kids and five grandkids. Her favorite things in life are family, books, and chocolate. Her debut book, Bella’s Recipe for Success, tells the story of a Latina bilingual girl who tries to learn how to bake with Abuela and discovers the value of making mistakes and trying again. Publication by Beaming Books is planned for Spring 2021.
KARLA VALENTI
Karla Valenti is the author of the bestselling and highly-acclaimed middle grade novel, LOTERIA, as well as various picture books, chapter books, and middle grade novels. Her storytelling is seeded in Mexican culture and mythology, and heavily influenced by the cultural profile of the many countries where I have put down roots throughout my life, including France, Japan, Germany, and the United States.
Her stories are often explorations of various philosophical and identity-based themes (inspiring the mind) while also taking readers on riveting magical realist adventures (inspiring the heart). She currently lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband, three kids, and two very lazy cats.
CARMEN TAFOLLA
Loved throughout the world for her moving performances and poetry readings, Dr. Carmen Tafolla is a poet, storyteller, performance artist, motivational speaker, and university professor.
The author of more than 30 books, her work appears internationally in high school and university textbooks, newspapers, journals and magazines, and elementary school readers. Named State Poet Laureate of Texas in 2015, she is currently the President of the Texas Institute of Letters. Tafolla had also served from 2012-2014 as the first City Poet Laureate of San Antonio and presented at more than 300 schools, universities, professional conferences, and community arts centers in her two-year tenure. Called by Roots author Alex Haley a “world-class writer”, Tafolla has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Americas Award, presented to her at the Library of Congress in 2010, five International Latino Book Awards, two Tomas Rivera Book Awards, three ALA Notable Books, a Charlotte Zolotow Award, the Art of Peace Award, Top Ten Books for Babies, and has been recognized by the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies for work which “gives voice to the peoples and cultures of this land.”
MARCELO VERDAD
Marcelo Verdad is an author and illustrator from México who likes to tell stories from unconventional perspectives. He graduated from ArtCenter College of Design, where he came upon the Children’s Book Illustration class and immediately fell in love with kids’ books. He is a member of SCBWI and was one of the recipients of the Mentorship Award at SCBWI’s 2019 Summer Conference. The Worst Teddy Ever is his picture book debut. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
XAVIER GARZA
Xavier Garza was born in Rio Grande City in Texas's Lower Rio Grande Valley in 1968. Growing up along the border in a Mexican-American family, he became intensely interested in both the spooky local folklore and the sport of lucha libre or Mexican wrestling. After receiving his BFA in art from the University of Texas Pan American in 1994, he became an art teacher. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, he began to exhibit his work in venues such as Talento Bilingue de Houston, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio, Nuestra Palabra de Houston and various Mexican Consulates in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso. Garza's art has also been displayed in The Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, Mexic-Arte in Austin, Gallista Gallery in San Antonio, Coronado Studios in Austin, and The Ice House in Dallas, among many others. After contributing to several anthologies in the early 2000s, Garza penned and illustrated his first children's book, Creepy Creatures and other Cucuys, which was published by Arte Público Press in 2004. Over the next decade, he went on to craft many other award-winning titles. His stories have also appeared in many periodicals, including El Mañana, The Monitor, TABE, The Corpus Christi Caller Times, Mesquite Review and the Milwaukee Spanish Journal . In 2007, Xavier Garza received his MA in Art History and Criticism from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He presently resides in that city with his wife and son.
For more information about the Texas Book Festival visit: Texas Book Festival
FESTIBA GUEST ARTISTS
ROBERT SATTERLEE, PIANIST
Pianist Robert Satterlee has developed a reputation as an accomplished and versatile solo recitalist and chamber musician, playing regularly throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He teaches a studio of students from all over the United States and abroad in his position as Professor of Piano at Bowling Green State University. A recent CD of his was selected by the New York Times as one of the outstanding classical recordings of 2014.
Date: Tuesday, February 28th
Presenter: Dr. Brendan Kinsella, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Edinburg Campus, UTRGV Performing Arts Complex
RICOCHET DOCUMENTARY SCREENING with MATT GONZALEZ, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC DEFENDER
Matt Gonzalez was 1983 Senior Class President at McAllen's Memorial High School. Since then he rose to prominence as a U.S. Vice Presidential and a San Francisco Mayorial candidate. Never afraid to take a hard stand as a politician and always eager to bring the Fine Arts to his workplace, he shows courage in RICOCHET in defending a Mexican migrant in a State case where the odds seemed stacked against him as the Trump campaign tries to use the case for its own political gain. Matt Gonzalez will introduce the film and conduct a Q&A
Date: Wednesday, March 1st
Location: Edinburg Campus, Student Union Theater
Performance: 12 -2:00 p.m.
VALLEYSESQUE
By Fernando Flores
Fernando Flores grew up in the RGV and is now a rising young fiction writer. His second collection of short fiction (2022) Valleyesque—yes, our Valley—has recently been favorably reviewed in the New York Times.
A previous near-future science fiction novel (set in a version of the RGV) also received critical acclaim (it was long-listed for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize).
Texas Monthly mentions Flores's name in comparison with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Kurt Vonnegut, and Gloria Anzaldua.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/author-fernando-a-flores-reinventing-texas-borderlands/.
Presenters: Through collaboration with the Creative Writing Department and the School of Art and Design at UTRGV, Fernando Flores will perform readings of his work in the galleries of both Visual Art Buildings in Brownsville and in Edinburg.
Date: Wednesday, March 1
Time: 3 to 4 p.m.
Location: Brownsville Campus: Rusteberg Art Gallery Performance
Date: Thursday, March 2
Time: 7 to 8 pm
Location: Edinburg Campus Visual Arts Building Performance
VISITING POETS & PERFORMERS HOSTED BY CREATIVE WRITING: GRIS MUÑOZ & ANDREA "VOCAB" SANDERSON
GRIS MUÑOZ
Gris Muñoz is a frontera poet and storyteller, described as “a rock and roll curandera” by Luis Urrea. She is the author of the bilingual poetry and short story collection, Coatlicue Girl FlowerSong Press), named a finalist for the John A. Robertson Award for Best First Book of Poetry by the Texas Institute of Letters. Muñoz is currently commissioned to write a biography of acclaimed L.A. artist Fabian Debora. She is also the co-founder of the digital map and storytelling project, GeoTestimonios Transfronterizxs, which aims to record the experiences of women living on the El Paso/Juarez border. Muñoz is Xicana of Apache descent. This visit is made possible by UTRGV’s Dr. Robert S. Nelsen Professorship in Mexican American Studies.
ANDREA SANDERSON
Andrea Sanderson, San Antonio Poet Laureate 2020-2023, performs as “Vocab” in her hometown San Antonio. “Watching her perform, the word ‘hero’ comes to mind. And not ‘hero’ for the sake of just skill, but for her work in her community: Sanderson teaches poetry workshops, mentors, builds up and encourages artists to pursue their art, and gives them platforms to showcase their talent. Sanderson’s interest in other people’s art and artistic development became a passion of hers, and she started curating her own shows and creating platforms for other artists to hone their craft by hosting open mics.” (From The San Antonio Current, Jan. 16, 2018.)
Her poetry is published in, The Texas Observer, Pariah Anthology SFA Press, and Sycorax’s Daughters, and other publications. Her debut book entitled: She Lives In Music, published on FlowerSong Press, was released on Valentine’s Day 2020. Her album She Tastes Like Music, is available on all music streaming platforms.
MARIACHI FESTIVAL GUEST ARTISTS
Friday & Saturday, March 3 & 4
FESTIBA 2023 MARIACHI FESTIVAL
Masterclasses, Competitions & Concert featuring Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández
SPECIAL GUESTS:Maestro José Hernández, founder and director of Mariachi Sol de México and Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles; recognized internationally as an innovative force behind mariachi music, both musically as well as in mariachi education.
Mariachi Sol de México, internationally recognized mariachi, renowned for their innovation and fusion of different styles of music, with a distinguished history of performances for five US Presidents, and tours throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Maestro Jorge Iván Velasco, internationally renowned harp player, Director of the Mariachi Universitario de la Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico.
Dr. Diana Seitz, Associate Professor of strings and violin at the UTRGV School of Music, College of Fine Arts, is recognized nationally and internationally as a pedagogue, soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician.
Josué “Eddy” López, professional mariachi performer and arranger, Director of Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy’s high school mariachi program.
Dr. Adolfo Estrada, professional mariachi performer and guitarist, Assistant Professor in the School of Music and Director of Latin Music Studies at Texas State University.