Milagro’s tertulia: Art + Conversation returns in 2024 in El Zócalo at El Centro Milagro. We are presenting a diverse group of Latina/o artists with whom we will have a conversation about their craft. Each event is different and tailored to the specific artist. tertulia is free, space is limited, and reservations are required. Light appetizers and wine will be provided.
*The term tertulia is used for groups of people who meet informally on a regular basis to chat about current affairs, the Arts etc, and is also used to refer to the gathering itself. In early 20th Century Spain, tertulias literarias were much in vogue, and critics and writers would meet to discuss the literary issues of the day in places such as the famous Café Gijón. (source: Collins Dictionary)
Previous Artists featured on tertulia: Art + Conversation
Wednesday, November 30, 2022, 6:30 – 7:30 PM
Joeanally González, and the women of her workshop, Mujeres Caminando Hacía el Éxito
Joeanally González was born and raised in Puerto Rico. While earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design from the School of Fine Arts in Puerto Rico, she also worked in the Puerto Rican film industry for over six years. In pursuit of her passion for the design industry, she relocated to Orlando, Florida, where she worked at Walt Disney World as a costume designer assistant. She moved to Portland, OR in 2017 with a new approach to life and arts. She wanted to return to teaching and connect with diverse communities, especially Latinx ones.
Mujeres Caminando Hacía el Éxito is a workshop series that empowers women with techniques and tools to create good habits and increase confidence facilitated by community artist and creative coach, Joeanally Gonzalez.
Joeanally implements mindfulness with the intention of cultivating awareness and practicing the art of being present. In addition, students will engage in art activities in which curiosity, imagination, mind, and heart help make contact with our inner child, the creative self. The workshop will provide an opportunity for a change of heart and mind, transforming us from the inside out.
Monday, October 10, 2022, 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Romina Del Castillo and Nirmala Cristal Waterhouse
Romina Del Castillo was born in Lima, Peru, and grew up in Santiago de Chile until immigrating to the United States at the age of 16. She obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Drawing and Painting at California State University Long Beach. She relocated to Portland, Oregon in 2018. Her artistic practice remains close to her roots with South American fauna and landscapes as recurring themes. She works in various media including drawing, painting and straw marquetry. She’s a new member of IDEAL PDX, currently collaborating in their mural series around town
Nirmala Cristal Waterhouse is a local artist with Paraguayan lineage. She started working on embroidery ten years ago. In the past 2 years, she has taken up her lineage’s craft of ñanduti, a word in Guaraní meaning “spider-web”. She spends most of her time doing this craft and childcare. Nirmala is honored to carry this beautiful craft and to share it with the world!
Wednesday May 9, 2018 at 6:30 PM
Veronica Guzmán, Maya Ceramics
Verónica will do a ceramics demonstration, go over her work process, and will have some of her finished work on display.
Veronica Guzman grew up in Mexico but has lived in more places than most people visit in a lifetime. These countries include China, Malaysia, India, Viet Nam, Italy and now the United States for a number of years. Her ceramics is her main medium, but she also expresses her creativity in many other art mediums. She majored in graphic design in Guadalajara and has continued her studies in all the places where she has lived, like Florence, Italy. Beginning with an interest in painting and design, she branched into ceramics while living in Malaysia and bought a potter’s wheel. That has been a major interest ever since. Other areas of her artistic curiosity include painting, printmaking, collage and papier maché, and most recently has returned to work in encaustic painting. veronicaguzman.com
Wednesday March 28, 2018 at 6:30 PM
Jon García, filmmaker
Jon will be talking about his new project LUZ, of which he will do a partial reading and invite audience feedback and participation. He will also talk about producing high quality, topical films on a low budget.
Jon Garcia is an accomplished musician and Emmy-nominated filmmaker currently living in Portland, Oregon. He earned a BA in Film Studies from Portland State University. He is best known for his film The Falls (2011) and it’s two sequels, The Falls: Testament of Love (2013), and The Falls: Covenant of Grace (2016). As a producer and documentarian, he has worked with Oregon Public Broadcast and produced original content for the show Artbeat. As a musician he has released two studio albums, performed soundtracks on award winning feature films, and had a popular song on BBC radio in the UK, Heart shaped Skeleton Keys in 2007. Currently he runs his company, Lake Productions, a full service production company that creates feature films, commercials, and music videos. Jon’s music video, Feel like Running, won Paste Magazine’s music video of the year for 2015.
Wednesday February 28, 2018 at 6:30 PM
Luna Flores, poet
Luna will read for us some of her poems and will talk about the different types of poetry, as well as the many ways to write, read, and recite it.
Luna was born in Mexico City, where she took up both technical and literary studies, with a preference for literature. She took literary writing workshops at the Museo Universitario del Chopo in Mexico City. She started writing poetry when she had no more tears to shed for the broken heard of a first love. Before moving to the United States, she traveled through some of the Mexican states, where her fondness for short lesbian stories was born.
A Porland, OR resident since 2000, she’s a collaborator on KBOO radio’s Buscando American and FA radio programs, and has been writing poetry for Voz Alta since 2014. She currently writes poetry, not to cry, instead to laugh at tears themselves and continues to write short stories.
Wednesday January 17, 2018 at 6:30 PM
Raúl Gómez-Rojas, Music Director, Metropolitan Youth Symphony (MYS) — bilingual
Appetizers courtesy of Aprisa Mexican Cuisine
Raúl will be talking about his start in music and the transformative power of music education. He will also be performing some of his favorite Costa Rican songs on the violin.
Raúl Gómez-Rojas enjoys a busy schedule as an orchestral conductor, violinist/violist, clinician and public speaker. He is in his second season as Music Director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in Portland, OR, where he leads a team of 12 conductors and numerous coaches serving over 500 students in 14 ensembles including orchestras, bands and jazz groups. Originally from Costa Rica, Raúl served as a Conducting Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival (2011) and completed doctoral studies at Louisiana State University (2012). Since then, he has been in high demand by professional and youth orchestras around the US and Latin America. Information about upcoming MYS concerts in Portland is available at www.playmys.org.
tertulia: Art + Conversation March 22, 2017 with William Hernandez
Hailing from Peru and training at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Lima, William has a distinct style that he lends to both figurative and abstract painting. His work has been exhibited throughout the Northwest, and his artwork is found in private collections in Spain, Lima, Germany, Guatemala, Chile, France, Australia, Belgium and the US. William is a founding organizer and member of Latino Artists Exchange LAX/IdeAL and has taught several bilingual art workshops at Milagro throughout the years.
To read William’s Artist Statement, learn more about his background and training, see example of his murals, commissions and other work, please visit www.williamhernandezart.com
tertulia: Art + Conversation January 25, 2017 with Germán Rizo
Germán Rizo is a Mexican poet and narrator residing in the United States. He wrote his first poems at the age of ten, in which he described landscapes of his land and amatory stages, influenced by the poets of Romanticism. He went on to study Business Administration. Rizo has published Cantos del alma y la vida (2014), Bajo la sombra del corazón (2016) and contributed to the anthology Equilibrios contrarios, tributo a Federico García Lorca (2015); he has a third book in the process of editing: Atráeme contigo, a dos manos con la poeta Odalys Interián. Rizo lives in Portland, Oregon, where he actively participates in cultural events and poetry readings. Several of his texts have been read on the radio and television stations of his city of residence. He has also collaborated with some international literary magazines. He is currently a member of the Hispanic Poets and Writers Association AIPEH-Miami.
tertulia: Art + Conversation September 21, 2016 with Maria Olaya
Hailing from Colombia, Maria Olaya is a classical guitarist, music teacher, composer, and arranger who draws from many years of experience and a wealth of musical knowledge. Maria has performed and taught around the world, including appearances in Colombia, Germany, and all over the United States. “For me, music has always been a means for genuine connection with others, a means to experience transcendence and connect to our humanness.” For more information about Maria Olaya, visit her website.