Making a Mark, Making Places Institute for Immigration Research

Uruguayan Ximena Varela, Associate Professor and Director of Arts Management at American University, is a mother of two children, a researcher, and an educator. She lived in many places around the world with her parents before landing in the U.S. long-term as an adult. Matt Torney is the Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre. Born in Northern Ireland, Matt was inspired to study in the USA by the work of Professor and Director, Anne Bogart, who teaches at Colombia University where Matt graduated with a MFA in Theatre Directing.

Join co-hosts Louise Puck and Anna Danielson for a candid conversation on life as an immigrant artist. Edited by Abraham Kadi.

Irina Tsikurishvili attended full-time ballet school while growing up in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The destruction of her homeland in the transition following the collapse of the Soviet Union prompted her and her young son to reunite with her husband in America. Today she is the mother of two children, an educator, choreographer, dancer, and the Associate Artistic Director at Synetic Theater in Arlington, Virginia. Fabiola Yuricisin, a visual artist born in Mexico and also mother of two children joins the conversation with Irina. Fabiola is an environmentalist who uses recycled materials for her visual art displays which allow for multiple layers of interpretation on social and emotional levels.

Join co-hosts Louise Puck and Anna Smith Danielson for a conversation with two immigrant artists, Yosef Habte and Ernesto Bravo. Yosef and Ernesto share stories of their journeys as both artists and new Americans.