El Sonido del Agua

Completed while at buildingcommunityWORK

El Sonido was a collaboration between buildingcommunityWORKSHOP, La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), A Resource in Serving Equality (ARISE), the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center, and Texas Housers, with the support of UTHealth School of Public Health, UTRGV School of Medicine, and UTRGV-Cameron County, to mobilize and equip residents of the Lower Rio Grande Valley’s colonias to tackle public health issues that arise from inadequate infrastructure.

With residents, four local conjunto musicians wrote seven original songs. The lyrics of the songs composed tell the story of what colonia residents experience—the day-to-day challenges of living in these substandard subdivisions, such as flooding and a lack of street lighting. Project partners and participants used these songs, in conjunction with graphics and poster campaigns, to draw attention to inequities of place and build momentum for colonia residents’ organizing campaigns to win change for their communities.

A copy of the project story can be found here. The album can be listened to here.

Partners: LUPE, ARISE, Texas Housers, Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center, with the support of UTHealth School of Public Health, UTRGV School of Medicine, and UTRGV-Cameron County.

Funder: ArtPlace America

Role: Project Manager while with buildingcommunityWORKSHOP. Work included: defining with project partners project goals, outcomes, and project schedule; supervising [bc] staff on day-to-day project work like music recording and community outreach; coordinating and collaborating with project partners on the agendas and materials for writing workshop and other project events; led final documentation and deliverables including grant reporting