Artists + Practitioners + Organizations

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.

Trixi Agiao

San Diego County

Trixi Anne Balinggan Agiao’s first experience dancing was with traditional Igorot dance she learned from the Northern California chapter of BIBAK. Her first ties to dance were about heritage, community, and joy. Trixi is a socially conscious performer, choreographer, and filmmaker using the digital guise of The Thoughtful Beast. Trixi creates work centered on fighting the stigma against mental illness. Utilizing her visual storytelling experience, Trixi sets out to make work that kinesthetically and mentally connects with her audience. She is a company dancer for Visionary Dance Theatre, where she also runs their educational training company, V2. 

Trixi is also an active volunteer. She is a lead volunteer for the San Diego, Filipino Cinema, United AAPI Artists and Mental Wellness for Artists. Agiao co-founded The Filam Film Collective which focuses on Filipino American representation in the media, and they also provide free affinity spaces for AAPI artists and actors.

Johnnierenee Nelson

San Diego County

Award-winning poet and playwright Johnnierenee Nia Nelson, aka the Kwanzaa Poet, has written and published six books of poetry. Ms. Nelson is a poet/teacher with California Poets in the Schools and San Diego's Border Voices Project and a performance poet who has presented readings and workshops from Cairo, Egypt, to Vancouver, British Columbia. She also appeared in the Emmy-Award-winning documentary "Lighting the Way." In 2017, Nelson received a Fellowship from the Livingkindness Foundation to attend the International Women Writers Guild's 40th Annual Summer Conference in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She serves as the San Diego County Area Coordinator for California Poets in the Schools and as Poet Laureate of the World Beat Cultural Center in San Diego's Balboa Park.

Dinah Poellnitz

San Diego County

Dinah Poellnitz is a curator and creative director, recognized as a leader for her arts programming in Oceanside's art and cultural district and a San Diego county leader in art curation and art education; she brings twelve years of experience in driving the development of communal partnerships, art exhibitions, and social impact programs across local communities. Throughout her tenure, Poellnitz gained a depth of knowledge in delivering the best-curated experiences through artist engagement and building partnerships with political organizers, students, artists, businesses, public institutions, and residents. In addition to her expertise, She is deeply committed to building thriving art communities and art event programming across Southern California.

Eric "EV93" Vargas

Imperial County

Eric Vargas, aka EV9thr33, lives and works in the Imperial Valley. He is passionate about creating and producing music and has produced, mixed, and mastered thousands of solo and collaborative projects for over ten years. He has recently expanded to work with more genres and networks with different outlets such as record labels and A&Rs. Since opening a studio in the area, Vargas has also pursued his artist development.

Samuel Valdez

San Diego County

Samuel Valdez is an actor, playwright, director, and producer who has worked with several groups around San Diego, such as Sledgehammer Theater, Chronos Theater, Los Amigos del Rep., and currently his own performing arts bi-national company CARPA San Diego. Valdez graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor’s degree in theater arts and has served on the National Performance Network board, the Alternate Roots Executive Committee, and the National Disability Theatre board. In 2016, he received the Ashley Walker Social Justice Award from the City of San Diego for his community theater work. Valdez directed several Latino plays, including “Roosters,” “The Conduct of Life,” and “The Guitarron.” He has also directed and produced his plays such as “Soy Yo/It’s Me,” “P-13-VIVE,” “Ambos/Both,” and “And He Became Man."