Decoloniz-ARTE, Empowerment Congress of Dona Ana County

Decoloniz-ARTE is a six-part educational workshop series leading up to a mural creation. Participating youth will be asked about the origin of their name, their families, and even migration stories if they have one. The idea is to empower youth through discussions about identity, history, and membership. These workshops will lead to dreaming collectively and conceiving narratives and imagery that lend to a large-scale mural design. As this unfolds, the core goal is to develop a strong identity within the youth connected to community awareness, pride, agency, and other markers of a healthy self-awareness and self-esteem. The Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County (EC) is a community engagement initiative that works with low-income, marginalized rural (colonia) and urban communities in the county.