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CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER CARMEN DE NOVAIS-GUERRERO
12:30 - 1:00 PM Central Time Friday October 15th
Our closing keynote speaker will be Carmen De Novais-Guerrero. She learned her traditional beadwork from her indigenous grandmother in Brazil, and is an artist, educator, performer, and community organizer of regional observances such as Día de los Muertos in Arizona.
She will tell us about her experiences in various artistic mediums. Her background as an educator and community activist gives her a unique perspective on what we can all do to celebrate Latinx art and culture.
Carmen formed the popular band Zúm Zúm Zúm and sings and plays guitar and accordion as the Guerrero Family Musicians and the duo Bossa Nossa.
As an educator, she explores her indigenous roots through music and art in order to foster multicultural understanding. She is a teaching artist and works regularly at various valley schools.
As a jewelry designer, she exhibits and sells her artwork as part of The Phoenix Fridas, a collective of female artists who take Frida Kahlo as an inspiration.
As an arts advocate, she co-founded Xicanindio (now Xico, Inc.), Cultural Coalition, Inc. in 1997 and ALAC in 2007. In May 2012, she received the Patron of the Arts in Education Award from the Victoria Foundation and has been nominated a few times to the Governor’s Arts Award.
She is currently the Executive Director of the Cultural Coalition, Inc. and producer of the annual Dia de Los Muertos Phx Festival taking place at the last Sunday of October downtown Phoenix.
As an artistic producer, she has organized many Dia de Los Muertos events and festivals in Arizona and is committed and dedicated to issues of cultural literacy and social justice.
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