Building Community with Young People with Vanessa Sanchez

Cultura Conscious

My guest this week thinks of her work as building the community of the future. Vanessa Sanchez is the Director of Yollocalli Arts Reach, the youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art, as well as a practicing artist, music festival planner extraordinaire, and activist. She opens up about her apprehension at describing herself as a leader and instead prefers to describe herself as a collaborator. We discuss the importance of Yollocalli in young people's lives, some of the challenges young people face in Chicago, and how an arts organization can make an impact on its community.

Vanessa Sanchez received her BFA in Painting at University of IL at Chicago. Since 2001, she has dedicated her career to designing innovative, creative, and free art and media programs for teens and young adults in collaboration with local and international artists. She has served on the Hive Chicago Advisory Committee, the Little Village Quality of Life Plan, the Pilsen Image Taskforce, and the Lakefront Curatorial Committee. Currently she is one of the lead organizers for Villapalooza, the Little Village Music Fest. She is also an artist and collaborator in the Instituto Grafico de Chicago print collective, and the Chicago Artists Creating Transformation (ACT) Collective.