James Córdova's San Hipólito sculpture in progress

Culture and Community

James Córdova's San Hipólito sculpture in progress.

James Córdova

James Córdova is one of four artists who participated in Cuatro [4]: A series of artist interactions. Each of the four artists brought our pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial art collections to life through their own artistic practice. James used his practice as a santero, an artist who creates images of saints, to activate the collections and help us see the collections in a new way.

And they just spoke to me. It was a visual language that spoke to me. It didn’t just speak to me, it spoke to the artists who made them. It spoke to a lot of locals who were there to admire and purchase the art. I could see that it was a language that a lot of people could speak and made sense to them. And I knew I was part of that group. In other words, it made me feel like part of a community, a cultural community.

— James Córdova

Guiding Questions:

  • How could you use group time to brainstorm different communities the children feel a part of?
    • Examples: school community, family community, sports communities, etc.
  • What is an object that would represent one of their communities? If that object could speak, what would it say?
  • What are ways that you “belong” to your community?

TIP: Have a variety of items that could represent a “community”. These items could help prompt ideas and conversation.

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