Artists
Many organizations focused on art and social justice say they’re driven by this work and operate to achieve “justice,” but we firmly believe that there’s a huge difference in solely presenting and creating work that touches on social issues, and doing that work authentically and respectfully, with those most impacted at the center. Very few organizations do the latter. For us, this means critically moving as a whole (artists, administrators, participants, etc.) towards building an analysis that is centered on those most affected and then clearly articulating a position that roots this work. Our team is composed of individuals doing this work in a respectful, reciprocal and non-extractive method.
DIRECTOR / Co-Creative director
Joel Garcia
Joel Garcia (Huichol) is an artist, arts administrator, educator, and cultural organizer with 20+ years of experience working transnationally on community-centered strategies. His approach is rooted in Indigenous-based forms of dialoguing and decision-making (non-hierarchical) that uplift non-institutional expertise. Joel uses art and organizing to raise awareness of issues facing underserved communities, inner-city youth, and other targeted populations. His art explores healing and reconciliation, as well as memory and place garnering national press in publications such as the LA Times, New Yorker, and Artforum among others.
He’s a current Stanton Fellow and former fellow of Monument Lab ('19 and '22), and a co-facilitator of the Intercultural Leadership Institute ('21-'23) which proposes to hold space for cultural production outside of white supremacist frameworks. He served as Co-Director at Self Help Graphics & Art (‘10-’18).
Artist / Cultural worker apprentice
River Tikwi Garza
River Tikwi Garza is an interdisciplinary visual artist of Native American (Tongva) and Mexican descent. He is a member of the Ti'at Society—a group dedicated to traditional Indigenous maritime culture, and his work draws inspiration from this cultural background as well as graffiti, Mexican and low-rider culture. Through painting, muralism, and mixed-media works, his artwork often deals with issues around identity, memory, tradition, and a quest for what he describes as visual sovereignty (in response to his tribe's lack of federal recognition). His work has recently been shown at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, the Fullerton Museum Center, Descanso Gardens, and the Soul Center for the Arts in Genoa, Italy.
ARTIST / FORMER Co-Creative director / Mentor
Kimberly Robertson
Kimberly Robertson is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, an Associate Professor of American Indian Studies at California State University, Long Beach, and an artist. Her scholarship and creative practices center Native feminisms, the sexual and gendered violence of settler colonialism, ceremony, storytelling, decolonization, and Indigenous futurities. She has published in journals such as Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education, and Society and Wicazo Sa Review, as well as peer-reviewed anthologies such as Otherwise Worlds: Against Settler Colonialism and Anti-Blackness and Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters. Her creative practices currently include screen printing, collage, beadwork, installation art, and zine-making. Her artworks have been exhibited in numerous community, university, public, and private galleries as well as peer-reviewed monographs and anthologies. She is also an active member of the Los Angeles Indian community and facilitates beading circles and art-making workshops both locally and nationally.
Program Manager / Artist
Kenneth Lopez
Kenneth Lopez (Mixteco) is a photographer and cultural worker from Los Angeles. He is the Program Manager for Meztli Projects, an Indigenous-led arts collaborative working on the ancestral homelands of the Tongva, Tataviam, and Chumash Tribal Nations. Kenneth’s creative practice has helped document important conversations related to monuments and civic memory in Los Angeles. His work has been published internationally and will be featured in the upcoming Monument Lab book documenting their ReGeneration initiative. His approach has allowed him to build trust with LA’s Tribal communities and support their efforts such as with the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa (pronounced Tar-a-haht pah-hava) Conservancy.
Artist
Kelly Caballero
Kelly Caballero is a California-based actress, traditional basket weaver, and singer-songwriter who uses her urban-Indigenous upbringing to inspire songs and stories of life, love and resistance. Tongva, Yaqui and Spanish, Kelly’s cultural background allows for a unique and fresh perspective that results in a natural and soulful sound. She performs in all SoCal cities and often lends her voice and time to speak for and support Indigenous communities and their work to preserve sacred cultural sites. Additionally, she serves as an apprentice to Grandma Gloria Arellanes, a Tongva elder.
Artist / Artist in Residence
Isaac Michael Ybarra
Isaac Michael Ybarra (Tongva, Chumash, and Xicano) is a poet, visual artist, and storyteller based in Los Angeles County. As a steward of Indigenous cultural conservation, he utilizes film, photography, and poetry to amplify decolonial narratives and reclaim Indigenous pedagogies. Through art, Isaac seeks to challenge the dominance of the human experience and instead honors the interconnectedness of all beings. He embraces the values of Indigenous Futurism to retell the past and present, envisioning a future with his ancestral homelands guided by his community's stories, visions, and desires. He is currently a California Creative Corps Fellow.
Artist / Cultural Worker Fellowship Steward
Laura Nieto
Laura Nieto is a cultural worker, activist, and community organizer whose work is deeply rooted in the intersection of arts and social change.
She is a former Senior Grants and Professional Development Associate for the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture (2014 -2024). She managed the Community Impact Arts Grant that funds arts programs at social service and social justice organizations and fosters cross-sector collaborations. She also supported the Organizational Grant Program, which funds over 400 arts nonprofits with general operating support and the cultural policy team.
She’s a graduate of Cal State University Long Beach, where she studied Political Science, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Artist / INTERN
Aanii Tate
Aanii Tate (Diné and white, she/her) works with printmaking, digital media, and fiber arts. Her art seeks to disrupt the settler colonial methods of display and is based on remembering the land and sisterhood. She grew up in Portland, Oregon making art with her two older sisters. Three years ago she moved to Los Angeles, where she currently resides, to study at USC majoring in American Studies and Ethnicity (Dornsife) and minoring in Communication Design (Roski). She is passionate about arts education, community organizing, and arts resource redistribution.
Artist / Former Intern / Femme Circle Podcast Steward
Alexandria Ybarra
Alexandria Ybarra (Tongva, Chumash, and Chicana, she/her) is a graduate and former President of the American Indian Student Association at CSUN, a cultural worker, and an Indigenous artist who uses art mediums such as clay, fabrics, traditional basketry, and other natural materials to advocate for cultural preservation, cultural environmentalism, and mental health while continuing to learn from her ancestral roots.
She currently leads the development of the Femme Circle Podcast.