Dane County Arts: Fueling Community Through Creativity

Jessica Gutiérrez : Art as Healing and Self-Discovery

Jessica Gutiérrez, artist and mental health therapist, shares her journey of embracing creativity as a healing tool. Discover how chronic pain, trauma-informed therapy, and ancestry inspired her unique collage art, blending personal narrative with universal themes of strength and possibility.

Dani Cordomi: Community and Accessibility in Food

From watching cooking shows with her dad to nurturing a vibrant garden, Dani Cordomi’s life is a testament to the power of food to comfort, connect, and nourish. Join her as she shares her evolving relationship with cooking, the joy of discovering exotic fruits, and her dream of creating inclusive food spaces.

Paul Baker Prindle’s Art Journey and Philosophy

Paul Baker Prindle, the Gabrielle Haberland Director of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, shares a unique path to art. Initially a gifted musician, a serious accident in college redirected Paul Baker Prindle’s focus to visual arts. The accident led to an exploration of memory and trauma, particularly through a series documenting hate crime sites. This work, while visually stark, delves into how the brain makes sense of difficult experiences. Paul Baker Prindle emphasizes that once art is created, its meaning is co-authored by the viewer, highlighting how diverse audiences connect with the work in personal ways. This understanding has shaped Paul Baker Prindle’s perspective on art’s role in making sense of the world.

Poetry’s Power: Finding Your Voice with Rita Mae Reese

Rita Mae Reese describes her path to becoming a poet as a journey of discovery rather than finding a lost voice. She emphasizes the importance of family influence in fostering a love for language and playing with words. Her initial academic pursuits in math and art were short-lived, leading her to the English department where she found a community that felt like “her people.” An early positive experience with a published story, where a stranger connected with her work, foreshadowed the impact she would later seek to create.

Yolibeth Rangel: Food, Community, and Well-being

Food is more than sustenance. It’s a bridge. It connects us to our past, our culture, and each other. For Yolibeth Rangel, this connection runs deep. Her journey from Venezuela to Wisconsin is a testament to the power of food. It’s a story woven with family, tradition, and a growing understanding of its profound impact on well-being.From a young age, Yolibeth Rangel was captivated by the magic of growing food. This early fascination with plants and their genetics laid the groundwork for a lifelong passion. In her culture, cooking was a communal act. Mothers and grandmothers gathered to prepare meals for the entire family. This wasn’t just about nourishment; it was about shared experience and learned tradition.