CSU Pueblo Aztlán Research Center Announces Fifth Annual Summer Institute Focusing on Art, Storytelling, and Generational Healing
Release Date: June 24, 2025
One-day professional development gathering explores “Aztlán Futures” through Indigenous and Chicano perspectives
PUEBLO, Colo. – The Aztlán Research Center at Colorado State University Pueblo will host its 2025 5th Annual Summer Institute, “Aztlán Futures: Generational Healing through Art & Storytelling,” bringing together artists, educators, and community members to explore how creative expression shapes cultural identity and healing.
The one-day workshop examines the vital roles artists and storytellers play in maintaining Aztlán's narrative while addressing historical trauma and rebuilding Indigenous systems of responsibility. The gathering centers on the concept of “futuring”– the understanding that present actions hold power to reshape tomorrow.
“Artists and storytellers have always been crucial in maintaining our narrative,” said Library Dean Rhonda Manzanares. “This institute explores how their work helps heal from historical trauma while reaffirming the importance of place-based identities.”
The event serves as professional development for CSU Pueblo faculty and staff, plus educators throughout the region. Students and community members are welcome to attend. Registration is open to the public.
April Bojorquez, Interim Director of the Aztlán Research Center, notes that the institute positions Aztlán not merely as a historical anchor but as “a guiding vision for a sustainable, inclusive, and just future.”
Four distinguished presenters will lead sessions throughout the day. Dylan AT Miner, Ph.D., Professor and Senior Associate Dean at the University of Michigan's Stamps School of Art & Design, will speak on Indigenous sovereignty and visual cultures of resistance. His book, Creating Aztlán: Chicano Art, Indigenous Sovereignty, and Lowriding Across Turtle Island, explores these themes extensively.
Ramona Beltrán, Ph.D., brings her work on Our Stories, Our Medicine Archive (OSOMA) to demonstrate storytelling as a method for healing historical trauma. Her approach bridges academic research with community advocacy and cultural production.
Matthew Garcia, M.F.A., Associate Professor of Art at Colorado State University Pueblo and founder of DesertArtLAB, will present “Healing Ecologies of Aztlán.” His work focuses on Indigenous and Chicanx relationships to land, art, and self-determination.
Tony Garcia, Executive Artistic Director of Su Teatro and a cornerstone of Denver's Chicano arts movement, opens the day with reflections on cultural resistance and place. A playwright and activist, Garcia has championed Denver's displaced Westside community for decades.
The institute receives support from CSU Pueblo Library, the Chicano/a Studies Program, and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. This collaboration reflects the university's commitment to serving its Hispanic student population and broader community.
Registration details and additional information are available at: https://www.csupueblo.edu/library/aztlan-center.html.
The Aztlán Research Center serves as a hub for scholarship, community engagement, and cultural preservation focused on Chicano and Indigenous experiences in the Southwest.
Contact: Library Dean Rhonda Manzanares, Colorado State University Pueblo at rhonda.gonzales@csupueblo.edu
