Valerie Martinez

Increasingly, my creative work resides in the collaboration between artists (working in different mediums) and members of diverse communities. This work combines my belief and practice in a rigorous creative process that challenges traditional notions of "Art" and "Community Art." As Executive Director and Core Artist with Littleglobe, I continue to witness individual and community transformation as a result of sustained creative engagement--artists working with members of communities to tell their stories as well as imagine and manifest a collective vision. As a professional poet, I am also constantly learning the power of the written word to galvanize capacity. Language (whether manifested on the page or in public readings) affirms our power to be and think, feel and connect.