Sharing ideas on campus and across student clubs is a great way to spark change and improvements to make the campus stronger. Many of the organizations attending Celebrando Comunidad placed art at the cornerstone of their practices.
One of these clubs was the First Draft: Creative Writing Club, eager to spread the word about their stories.
“We need to get our stories out, and we do that through creative writing. You don't have to be an English major or a creative writer. You just have to have truths and stories that you want to tell,” Garcia said.
Setting up the event required a lot of planning, communication and trust. Anna Lugo Ortecho works as the director for student involvement and diversity at ASU West Valley. Ortecho helped put together the event alongside her peers and staff at ASU.
“It was a lot of emails, a lot of calls, countless questions and responses, but all in all, it was all of this, all the community, them coming together, willing to work with me, willing to do those tough conversations and stay up those countless nights to get this all happening for our community,” Tacho said.
She stepped back to show her outfit — a Sinaloan dancing dress adorned with embroidered flowers at the neckline. It was followed by a ruffled, flowy, deep green skirt cinched at the waist by a thick red band of fabric. A small bushel of flowers lined Tacho’s forehead.
“This outfit is fully brought to you by Mexican traditional culture. It is straight from Sinaloa, Mexico. It is what you normally see, and it’s very inspired by Frida Kahlo and other Hispanic cultures,” Ortecho said. “We look at the other campuses and realize those big events aren't always right here at the West Valley campus. It really meant a lot to me to get all of these people to come together here in the West Valley,” Ortecho said.
Photography by: Jr De Chavez and Kaitlyn Beickel