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Paletas Communal Social Club
Project Type
Social Practice, Socially Engaged Art, Community Art, Multidisciplinary
Date
2017 - Present
Locations
Santa Monica, San Diego, Portland
Budget Varies from location to location.
Santa Monica: $20,000 Santa Monica Cultural Affairs
San Diego: $15,000 Park Social Initiative
Portland: $4,750 through the Precipice Fund
Paletas Communal Social Club
2017–Present
A paleta cart becomes a place to talk. Since 2017, I’ve taken this participatory project into public spaces in Santa Monica, San Diego, and Portland.
Paletas began with a question from the City of Santa Monica: how could residents who might never attend a planning meeting speak about public art? I brought a paletero cart into the streets, offered free paletas, and started conversations about the art people noticed, wanted, or felt was missing. The project has changed with each place. At Santa Monica’s Día de los Muertos celebration, it invited stories of remembrance; in San Diego’s Park Social initiative, it turned toward public space and connection; in Portland, it has continued through a series of neighborhood visits. I develop each iteration, coordinate partners and collaborators, facilitate the exchanges, and document what people share. The paleta is a small invitation. The relationships and stories are the work.
