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.

Kendrick "Mr. Lyrical Groove" Dial

San Diego County

Kendrick Dial, also known as Mr. Lyrical Groove, is a renaissance man with a mission to blend mental health and social justice art. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Africana Studies/Psychology from San Diego State University and a Master's in Social Work from the University of South California. Dial is an accomplished spoken word artist who published his first poetry book, Da JOYNT, in 2005. He has worked with the poetry collective Collective Purpose for over ten years, hosting one of Southern California's highest-attended open mic events, ELEVATED. He has collaborated with several arts-based organizations to perform and produce shows that inspire, challenge, educate, and entertain, including BkSoul, Playwrights Project, and Ira Aldridge Theatre. He is also a teaching artist with the Old Globe and recently completed a veteran playwriting workshop with the La Jolla Playhouse, where he is working on his two-person production.

Jordan Verdin

San Diego County

Jordan Verdin is a visual artist, portrait photographer, and storyteller passionate about promoting social awareness. He uses a camera to build bridges, and since receiving a degree in negotiation, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding from California State University, Dominguez Hills, Verdine combines photography and storytelling to dismantle stereotypes and stigmas and humanize people by sharing their stories. Jordan intends that everyone sees the shared humanity we all have. His focus is to bring attention to the issues faced by people experiencing homelessness and marginalized communities while advocating for sustainable solutions. Through his work, he has photographed and interviewed over 700 people experiencing homelessness in San Diego County, which paved the way for him to found Humanity Showers. Humanity Showers provides mobile showers for communities in Southern California.

Sergio "Takito" Ojeda

Imperial County

Sergio Ojeda is a spray paint artist dedicated to changing the narratives of the binational communities of Imperial Valley and Mexicali. He was born and raised in the borderlands with a bohemian lifestyle and a cosmic perspective gained from an education focused on research, science, and psychology.

Angel Esparza

Imperial County

Angel Esparza is a community-driven multi-media artist from Calexico. As the founder of Mi Calexico, his mission is to inform, inspire, and connect the community. Since 2009, Angel has been fostering connections among the residents of Calexico through various mediums, including photography, videos, a printed magazine, and events such as the Art Walk on the Border, which has brought together hundreds of artists from the region. Mi Calexico has emerged as one of the most engaging platforms in the area, thanks to the heartfelt dedication that Angel and his team pour into his campaigns and events. He ran for city council in 2016, displaying his passion for civic engagement. Additionally, Angel has served on the Calexico Chamber of Commerce board and played an integral role in the Mariachi Festival Committee.

Cat Chiu Phillips

San Diego County

Cat Chiu Phillips creates installation work in public spaces, often using traditional handicraft methods, including crochet, weaving, and embroidery. She often uses discarded materials, including plastic and electronic waste, to create large-scale installations and public art projects.  Growing up in Manila, she was inspired by resilience through tragedy and a sense of resourcefulness. Phillips has received numerous national public art commissions and artwork in the Civic Art Collection of the City of San Diego and Redmond (WA) and has been awarded the California Arts Council's Established Artist Fellowship and National Endowment for the Arts.  She received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a Master of Science in Special Education.  She has been an educator in public schools for over 23 years, a Filipino-Chinese American, adjunct professor, public artist, USMC veteran wife, and mother.

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.

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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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