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.

Neil Kendricks

San Diego County

Neil Kendricks is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, filmmaker, and educator. Kendricks earned a Master's in Television, Film, and New Media from San Diego State University in 2006. Kendricks launched his mixed-media "Strange Fruit" drawing series as a participant in the Art Produce Gallery's 2020 Artist-in-Residence program. The exhibition "Mirror, Mirror: Lights, Camera, Dreams!" at Bread and Salt Gallery showcased his short films and storyboards in 2021. Kendricks' exhibition "Temple of Story" which combined large-scale drawings with audio recordings of his short stories inspired by past, present, and future pandemics, was shown at the Oceanside Museum of Art 2021/2022.  His new experimental short film, "Book of Skin," will complete postproduction in 2023.

Marcos Duran

San Diego County

Marcos Duran channels intersectional imaginations into embodied performance. His approach to directing is informed by craniosacral integration, political reflection, and the desire for personal and collective evolution. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Marcos was in the final days of completing his Master of Fine Arts in Dance Theatre at the University of California San Diego. He took refuge in creating "Acts of Togetherness," a social media series that cultivated international, digital dance collaborations. In 2021, his short film "Minced" won Best Performances at the LA Experimental Film Festival, and his evening-length solo, "Shapeshifter," debuted at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in 2022. Marcos is currently in post-production for his autobiographical dance film, "Best To Move," and "Guardians of Water," a short featuring Donal Hord's sculpture at Waterfront Park. Marcos works to educate and uplift diverse voices as a University of California San Diego and San Diego City College Lecturer.

Kelsey Daniels

San Diego County

Kelsey O. Daniels is an artist organizer and baddie scholar from Southeast San Diego. Her work centers on storytelling, world-building, and dreamwork as tools for liberation. As a fat Black queer disabled femme, Kelsey's work is rooted in a commitment to honoring her ancestors and descendants by revoking consent from the failed experiment of white supremacy and dreaming up worlds that are affirming and lit. She explores themes of identity, imagination, and ancestral memory through poetry, performance, and mixed media. She is an internationally ranked slam poet whose work has been platformed on VAST Press and as an opening act for Rupi Kaur's world tour. Kelsey founded Check, Please: an open mic experiment, a transformative platform that reimagines creative community by prioritizing connection over perfection. Additionally, Kelsey curates the Black Dream Experiment, a creative universe that explores Black dreaming as a collective ancestral, wellness, and liberation practice.

Darreon "D-Stats" Staton

Imperial County

Darreon Staton is an accomplished Christian hip-hop artist hailing from Imperial, California. With an unwavering faith and a profound love for music, He channels his passion into delivering impactful messages of hope and inspiration. Known for his captivating stage presence and dynamic performances, Station has had the privilege of sharing the spotlight with numerous renowned artists, solidifying his presence in the music industry. Through these community gatherings, his mission is to touch the hearts and souls of his audience, creating an uplifting atmosphere of spiritual connection.

Natalia Ventura

San Diego County

Natalia Ventura is a Mexican-Cuban-American interdisciplinary artist from the border city of Chula Vista. She leads a dual art practice -studio and social- that reflects the dichotomy of her borderlands consciousness. In her studio practice, Ventura explores her internal and domestic experiences as a border-dwelling woman. She manipulates materials from her everyday life, such as human hair, textiles, and family heirlooms, to understand and present her identity. Ventura also engages in social practice, using art as an organizing tool to fight for a better quality of life for border crossers. Ventura's dual approach grows symbiotically, strengthening her ability to express visualizations of liberation that she holds and shares with her border community. She is a 2022-2023 artist-in-residence with Artists at Work's Borderlands Initiative.

Alicia Siu

San Diego County

Alicia María Siu’s art centers on revitalizing a Mesoamerican mural tradition and recovering historical memory through art. As a first-generation refugee from the political violence of Central America, Siu came to the U.S. in 1998 at the tender age of 15, eventually earning a master's degree in Native American Studies from the University of California Davis. Her love for her own Mayan/Nahua-Pipil culture and awareness of Colonialism's political reality inspired Siu to advocate for Indigenous and environmental rights. Her art highlights Indigenous and marginalized peoples' ongoing struggle for respect, dignity, and sovereignty while celebrating a spirit of resiliency, healing, and hope.

See More

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.

See More