"Art Saved My Life: A Reflection on Transformation and Community"
Art has saved my life! It all started with a group of great friends, the Marin Brothers, Juan and German, who supported me in the early 2000s with my website and designs, promoting my career back then. This support was especially crucial after the traumatic departure from Colombia following the loss of my partner in a kidnapping attempt.
Many moons have passed since then, with multiple changes including a pandemic, eclipses, and the loss of my mother. In this process of internal transformation, I find myself repeating the same message because art has been and continues to be the catalyst for the many experiences in my life. Today, in my work as CDO of the Latin American Coalition, I see clearly the need to promote the arts as a means of healing, of finding ourselves as a community, as an instrument to unite cultures, and to convey a message of social unity.
It is in this context that the "Amigos" campaign was born, organically growing from my work in development. This campaign highlights the artistic component of social reflection on the meaning of immigration, embodied in the form of butterflies that will adorn the facade of the LAC building. These butterflies symbolize a natural process, one that humans have undergone for multiple reasons. In my personal case, it gave me the opportunity to live and become the artist who saved his life through art. Today, I use art to inspire others to save themselves or to highlight the importance of an organization like LAC, highlighting the helping hand of thousands, millions who, like me, are simply seeking another chance at life!
I invite you to join us on April 28th at 3 pm to celebrate as friends the launch of this campaign, which will undoubtedly leave a mark on the hearts of many individuals in the city of Charlotte. We will have many surprises at this event, including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra inaugurating their mobile stage, and the local group Ultima Nota as guest artists, who generously composed a song for this project, to be released on this day. I want to thank the McColl Center for their support in the process of the Clay Butterflies, especially Doris Kapner, and a huge thank you to my great friend and amazing artist Nico Amortegi, who has led the clay workshops for the creation of the butterflies in this great project.