Cultural Coalition celebrated its 25 year anniversary in 2021. As this year comes to a close, we thought it would be a perfect time to take a look back over the last quarter century and how that has led to who we are today.
The idea of Cultural Coalition began in 1996, with Zarco Guerrero and Carmen de Novais Guerrero, already established artists and musicians, when they sponsored the Los Angeles production of The Last Angry Brown Hat to the Phoenix Orpheum Theater. A groundbreaking play exploring the story of four middle-aged Chicanos who meet again after 25 years and reminisce on their involvement in the Brown Berets and the Chicano Movement of the 1960’s.
From there, Zarco and Carmen continued to share the stories and culture of the American Southwest and Mexico with an emphasis on bringing back the lost connection of these cultures to their indigenous ancestral practices.
In 1997, Cultural Coalition produced its first festival in Phoenix, El Dia de la Raza, a collaboration with José Cortez, and Chicanos Por La Causa. It took place in Maryvale,
Cultural Coalition Executive Director Carmen Guerrero on that first event, “Our first festival celebration as Cultural CoAZ. was an affirmation of our desire to serve our community with free access to culture and art. Music, dance, storytelling and theater together with delicious foods and drinks are the very medicine we need to heal and nurture a healthy people. It is also a way to bring in the next generation into sharing cultural knowledge." |
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While the Dia de la Raza festivals were the first festivals produced as Cultural Coalition, it was not the first festival that Carmen and Zarco had produced. Their dedication to uplifting the art and culture of Indigenous peoples has a long legacy in Arizona. > They are the founding members of XicanIndio Artes Inc. (now known as Xico, Inc,) and established the first community celebration of Dia De Los Muertos in Arizona in 1975. > They were also the founders in 2007 of ALAC, (Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center). Together with other artists, they established these organizations in order to provide opportunities for the arts to flourish in our metropolitan area. |
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> In 1997, Cultural Coalition’s tradition of storytelling continued with performances of La Pastorela, a traditional Mexican Christmas play that is a combination of humor and satire, exploring religious and secular themes. Part of the Untold Stories show at Gammage Auditorium at Arizona State University, the first Pastorela was performed by Teatro de La Esperanza, written by Rodrigo Duarte Clark. Zarco later rewrote the script to include current local events of those tumultuous times and made all the masks for future performances. The Pastorela traveled throughout the Valley for many years, and it was performed at several high schools, local theaters and community colleges. |
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> Cultural Coalition has maintained their connection to the theater community throughout its 25 year existence in a variety of ways. Through important partnerships, the Coalition has connected their roster of artists with organizations and festivals throughout the Valley. Zarco has made hundreds of masks for theater, music, and dance companies all over Arizona. You have probably seen his work used in performances by Childsplay Theater, Quetzalli Ballet Folklórico, and Borderlands Theater in Tucson, to name a few. |
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“After 25 years, the Cultural Coalition continues to reach out to individual artists and local arts organizations in order to assist in our common goal to bring people from all walks of life together to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of our community,” says Zarco Guerrero. “Since the first Dia De Los Muertos Festival in 1975, the Mask artform has become recognized as an iconic symbol for artistic expression in Arizona. The Mask is the very tool that makes us unique, it’s both ancient and modern. Now is the time to continue the planning of the Mask Museum and Cultural Center to keep our legacy alive for generations to come.” > Cultural Coalition Inc was officially incorporated as a 501(c)3 charitable organization in April of 2000. Beginning in the early 2000’s, Cultural Coalition began expanding its mission of supporting Latino and Indigenous artists to also provide arts education to underprivileged families and communities. We began hosting festivals in Patriot Park in downtown Phoenix with music and dance performances. We provided hands-on arts engagement activities for children and partnered with AZ Health to talk to kids about how to stay healthy. This annual procession in downtown Phoenix to the festival continued until 2006. |
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> In 2012, Cultural Coalition hosted its inaugural MIKITZLI: Dia de los Muertos Phx Festival (DDLM). Originally funded by a grant, the festival was a partnership with CALA Alliance, (Celebración Artística de las Américas). MIKITZLI has evolved and grown to become our signature event, focused on decolonizing the celebration with a return to its indigenous roots, and just celebrated its 10 year anniversary at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix. Event Coordinator, Ami Rogers has been with Cultural Coalition for over three years. Her favorite memory since joining the staff, she shared was at the 2019 MIKIZTLI festival, “QVLN headlined the Mikitzli DDLM and their performance at sunset with everyone dancing was magical. There were people of all ages and backgrounds coming together and celebrating.” |
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> Since its inception (over the last 25 years) the Cultural Coalition has established annual cultural festivals in partnership with different municipalities all over the Valley. Mask Alive! Festival of Masks has been growing as an arts placemaking community favorite at Pioneer Park in Mesa for the last four years. Showcasing the art of masked storytelling and performance, Mask Alive is a multicultural festival of art from around the world that celebrates the diversity of our city. At the Tempe Center for the Arts, Cultural Coalition has been producing El Puente Festival since 2013. Focused on families and young artists, this festival has music and dance performances by youth from around the Valley, continuing the legacy of Latino traditional cultural arts. And our newest festival, Portal to the Past, in partnership with Pueblo Grande Museum, celebrates the water legacy of the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People. We continue to create new opportunities for community celebrations at different locations of the Valley.
In addition to festivals, in 2015 Cultural Coalition opened a dedicated art space for children at the low income housing complex Rancho del Art in Mesa, Arizona. Here, teaching artists work with school aged youth to provide arts engagement activities that range from music, drawing, painting, and mask making. Children also receive help with their homework, cooking and gardening lessons, and a free meal donated by St. Mary’s Food Bank to help encourage healthy eating and educational success. |
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Stirling Anderson, who has been with Cultural Coalition for five years as the Social Media Manager and Teaching Artist, has been a part of the festivals and the art space at Rancho del Arte. When asked what her favorite thing about working with us is, she replied. “I love being a part of keeping culture and traditions alive while making it accessible to the community and future generations.” 2020 was the first year that Cultural Coalition did not have any in-person festivals. But the desire to keep people connected to the arts and to support our community of artists led us to produce our first ever virtual festivals. A couple of our festivals were rescheduled that year, but thanks to the dedication of our staff and artists, none of our festivals were cancelled. We were able to bring the amazing, colorful, healing power of the arts into people’s homes during the pandemic through live streaming. |
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This fall, with a variety of health and safety measures in place, we were able to host our Mask Alive, Portal to the Past, and MIKITZLI festivals in-person again! Both events were wonderfully attended, and we heard such heartwarming feedback about how much people missed our events. And how much it meant to be at an event again with family and friends. “You could sense how much this event meant to everyone,” said Renee Aguilar, Marketing & Museum Collections Manager. “Walking around the MIKIZTLI festival, you felt the release of all that we went through last year and the joy of celebrating the gift of life.” |
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As we reflect on all that we have accomplished over the years, the ways we have grown, and all the amazing artists we have worked with, we are excited to continue expanding the ways we can connect our community with the vibrant cultures of the Southwest. Looking towards the future, Cultural Coalition is working to launch an online museum with a complete archive of artwork from Zarco Guerrero and other Cultural Coalition artists. With so many pieces connected to cultural festivals and theatrical performances throughout the Valley, this museum will tell the history of art as storytelling and culture keeping for audiences extending outside Arizona. The Mask Alive Museum of Art will have a comprehensive collection of cultural masks and art that will engage visitors with the traditional practice of art as storytelling around the globe. |
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As a non-profit, it is with the help of grants and donations that we are able to continue the work we do. It is because of artists, the individuals and families who come to our festivals, and our amazing partner organizations, that we have the support to provide our community with accessible and meaningful ways to interact with each other to cultivate culture while creating positive social change. We look forward to your continued financial support! |
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