Artists + Practitioners + Organizations

Meet the artists, practitioners, and organizations! Far South/Border North awarded funding to support artists and cultural practitioners working in disciplines from performing arts, visual arts, music, film and media, and literature to multidisciplinary and socially engaged forms.

Far South/Border North Round I Grant Recipients

Our Round I grant recipients include about 60 artists and cultural practitioners from San Diego and Imperial counties. Round I grant recipients began developing their campaigns in June 2023, and are now implemented those campaigns through May 2024.

Ana Ruth Castillo

San Diego County

Ana Ruth Yela Castillo is an art therapist, a mother, and a muralist of Guate-Mayan descent who engages the community in healing through creative expression. She began her career by developing after-school programming using poetry, theater, and muralism to empower the lives of youth. Listening to her student's stories of intergenerational trauma and resilience directed her toward the mental health field. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2017 with a dual master's in Family Therapy and Clinical Art Therapy. Ana Ruth moved with her family in 2019 to the beautifully rural and artsy town of Ramona in San Diego County. As a mother, a new journey began that informs both her clinical and intuitive skills as a therapeutic arts practitioner. Creative expression continues to be the bridge she trusts and uses to facilitate a naturally unfolding process connecting people to themselves, their medicine, and wisdom.

Amber Green

Imperial County

Amber Green was born and raised in the small town of Marshall, Texas, home of "The Great Debaters." She studied studio art at Arizona Western College and the Art Institute in Dallas. She now lives and works in El Centro. Green works primarily within the medium of animation.

Bernardo Mazón Daher

San Diego County

"Bernardo Mazón Daher is a border brat from the San Diego South Bay. He has taught and worked in the arts nationwide for premier, prestigious companies and on grassroots, community-based projects. Mazón Daher has also organized public health causes and voting campaigns in Hispanic communities throughout California. Before the pandemic, he served as a medical disaster responder for multiple governments and agencies and, afterward, worked in a pro bono law office for immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and Latin America. Returning to his calling to engage people in civic action, among other creative projects, Mazón Daher recently wrote and performed “Taxilandia: San Diego” to motivate people to support local causes. He is an all-around story-focused advocate and seeks to create spaces where different peoples intersect to listen, learn, labor, love, and play together.

Alma Silva

Imperial County

Alma Silva is a Mexican-born, California-based artist who works with digital illustration and acrylic paint. Nostalgia, pop culture, and personal interests inspire her work. Her use of bold colors, fun subjects, and wild design produce pieces that she hopes elicit an uplifting experience. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Fine/Media Arts from the Illinois Institute of Art, Chicago, and worked with a Chicago-based comic book publisher. Silva creates custom artwork and murals for local businesses and clients nationwide.

Lissbeth Garcia

Imperial County

As a former teacher or (edutainer) with a background in psychology, Lissbeth Garcia works with varied media including cardboard boxes, acrylic paints, music, play writing & performance. As a seminar administrator, she has worked in the medium of communication, seeking to mobilize & inspire others.

Thelma de Castro

San Diego County

Filipinx playwright Thelma Virata de Castro lives in San Diego, and her writing explores identity and belonging. She's a Hedgebrook alumna and a commissioned artist with The Old Globe Theatre. With Asian Story Theater, she won The San Diego Foundation's Creative Catalyst Fellowship and collaborated on multiple California Humanities projects. Access Inc. awarded her the Esperanza Award for extraordinary commitment to eradicating domestic violence in San Diego County. Playwrights Project produced The TAG Project with support from the William Male Foundation. She founded San Diego Playwrights, serves the Dramatists Guild on the Regional Affairs Committee, and builds community with United AAPI Artists. She chairs the DEI committee and sits on the Board of Directors for San Diego Writers, Ink. She works as a teaching artist and dramaturge. The San Diego Union-Tribune included her in its list of Phenomenal San Diego Women: Creators and Performers.

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Far South/Border North Round II Grant Recipients

Our Round II grant recipients include 18 San Diego and Imperial County organizations. In fall 2023, they hired artists and cultural practitioners and began working alongside them to develop their campaigns, and implemented them through August 2024.

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