Artist residency in the Library
As part of my artist residency at Toronto Public Library. I facilitated a paper mache Alebrijes workshop for the community in Brentwood library.
The program was online via Zoom, and the participants create very beautiful creatures. Complementing this workshop there are 26 video tutorials on my Youtube channel like this one.
INKTOBER PANDA 2020: 31 days drawing challenge
As a part of my artist residency at the Toronto Public Library, I hosted the Inktober Panda drawing challenge where 10 people had joined me to draw with me for 31 consecutive days. It was a new experience do the live streaming, and drawing at the same time, and posting the videos of the creative process. The whole series is in my Youtube channel.
Emotionart and Alebrijes Workshop
During summer 2021, Emotionart delivered an Alebrijes workshop for the Latino women and seniors community which was part of creative communities project funded by TAC. This was a fantastic experience for the participants and for me. Their creations were amazing. Check them now in the video below.
A woman and creator:
Ana Gabriela Lopez Castro, is a Mexican Visual artist based in Toronto, living on the East End. Her artistic formation started in the areas of photography and printmaking in 2000, where she first found the best way to express her voice. She is an active exponent of Mexican folk art, through the presentation of her artistic and handcrafted alebrijes, fantastic creatures made on paper mache. The love for her roots and Mother Nature are always present in her work.
She has a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from the Faculty of Arts and Design at UNAM in Mexico City and an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design from Centennial College. She has been collaborating with Muse Arts since 2013.
In 2019, she founded Emotionart collective art group, to bring intergenerational art workshops to Toronto Community Housing buildings, initially to seniors to break the isolation of their tenants that may be experiencing, and rebuild their communities again.
“My body of work is inspired by Mexican folk art, colourful, diverse and rich”.
“Arts are transformative”
Paola Gomez – Muse Arts Founder