WEBVTT 00:00.680 --> 00:16.100 align:start >> From the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. 00:16.100 --> 00:17.400 align:start >> Catalina Gomez: I wanted to welcome all 00:17.400 --> 00:18.900 align:start of you today to today's event. 00:18.900 --> 00:22.880 align:start This is our second Hispanic Heritage Month Program for the year. 00:22.880 --> 00:25.250 align:start We have a wonderful listing of events 00:25.250 --> 00:28.470 align:start for Hispanic Heritage Month here at the Library of Congress. 00:28.470 --> 00:32.880 align:start So I wanted to announce that we have our complete calendar of events here 00:32.880 --> 00:34.880 align:start in the entrance of our room. 00:34.880 --> 00:37.920 align:start It's an honor for me to introduce our featured speaker, 00:37.920 --> 00:41.340 align:start who happens to be also my compatriot, my friend, 00:41.340 --> 00:44.260 align:start and an artist that I admire deeply. 00:44.260 --> 00:47.460 align:start Juana Medina is an illustrator and author of children's books, 00:47.460 --> 00:50.500 align:start as well as a teacher at George Washington University. 00:50.500 --> 00:53.080 align:start She grew up in Bogata, Columbia and studied 00:53.080 --> 00:55.640 align:start at the Rhode Island School of Design. 00:55.640 --> 00:57.840 align:start Medina has -- was the first winner 00:57.840 --> 01:01.470 align:start of the J. Kennedy Memorial Scholarship, an award given yearly 01:01.470 --> 01:03.350 align:start by the National Cartoonist Society 01:03.350 --> 01:06.400 align:start to top college cartoonists in North America. 01:06.400 --> 01:13.020 align:start She is also the recipient of a Marion Vannett Ridgeway Honor Award, 01:13.020 --> 01:16.960 align:start and [inaudible] 100 Columbians, an honor granted 01:16.960 --> 01:20.150 align:start to 100 successful Colombians living abroad. 01:20.150 --> 01:23.440 align:start Her books for children include One Big Salad, 01:23.440 --> 01:28.660 align:start A Delicious Counting Book, and Smick, her latest picture book, 01:28.660 --> 01:31.980 align:start and then Juana and Lucas, who is actually -- 01:31.980 --> 01:34.540 align:start which is actually soon to be published and we managed 01:34.540 --> 01:36.070 align:start to bring some copies here for the event, 01:36.070 --> 01:39.680 align:start and it's published Candlewick Press. 01:39.680 --> 01:41.390 align:start Juana and Lucas tells the story 01:41.390 --> 01:44.480 align:start of a young girl's decision to learn English. 01:44.480 --> 01:47.160 align:start All of her books are on sale here today at the event, 01:47.160 --> 01:50.990 align:start and I'm also very excited to announce that Juana Medina is one 01:50.990 --> 01:53.120 align:start of our featured authors this Saturday 01:53.120 --> 01:55.930 align:start on our National Book Festival in the convention center. 01:55.930 --> 01:59.250 align:start So I encourage everyone to go see her there as well. 01:59.250 --> 02:02.130 align:start Her presentation, I believe, is at two p.m. 02:02.130 --> 02:05.650 align:start at the Children's Literature Pavilion. 02:05.650 --> 02:10.210 align:start Being an immigrant from Columbia myself, and an aspiring artist, 02:10.210 --> 02:11.910 align:start I am very, very eager to hear -- 02:11.910 --> 02:16.200 align:start to hear about this wonderful person's journey. 02:16.200 --> 02:18.510 align:start Please join me in welcoming Juana Melina. 02:18.510 --> 02:26.260 align:start [ Applause ] 02:26.260 --> 02:27.560 align:start >> Juana Medina: Hello. 02:27.560 --> 02:29.990 align:start Thank you very, Catalina, for such a generous introduction. 02:29.990 --> 02:31.510 align:start I really appreciate it. 02:31.510 --> 02:34.240 align:start First, I want to say hello. 02:34.240 --> 02:36.470 align:start It's absolutely wonderful to be here. 02:36.470 --> 02:40.450 align:start I really cannot believe it. 02:40.450 --> 02:45.080 align:start Many years ago now when I first got my reader ID here at the Library 02:45.080 --> 02:47.820 align:start of Congress, I felt elated. 02:47.820 --> 02:53.060 align:start At last I felt like I could take part in coming to the Library 02:53.060 --> 02:56.770 align:start and taking profit of all the wonderful things 02:56.770 --> 03:00.630 align:start that take place in this institution. 03:00.630 --> 03:04.770 align:start Later on, a few years later while working on Smick, I was contacted 03:04.770 --> 03:09.420 align:start by Penguin asking to send my information so that I could be part 03:09.420 --> 03:13.460 align:start of a catalog, and I thought, great, my work is now part of the catalog 03:13.460 --> 03:16.920 align:start at the Library of Congress, a tiny piece of me there. 03:16.920 --> 03:23.070 align:start And so today I'm short of words to say how exciting it is to be here. 03:23.070 --> 03:25.570 align:start I'm very humbled and very appreciative, 03:25.570 --> 03:29.550 align:start thank you very much for this invitation. 03:29.550 --> 03:33.020 align:start Besides saying yes to this, because of course how could I pass 03:33.020 --> 03:37.410 align:start on this opportunity, then I realized, okay, what do I do? 03:37.410 --> 03:39.150 align:start What do I talk about? 03:39.150 --> 03:40.480 align:start It wasn't just that simple. 03:40.480 --> 03:42.450 align:start And then after thinking about it 03:42.450 --> 03:45.500 align:start for a while I thought, okay, I think I got it. 03:45.500 --> 03:50.050 align:start I want to share what it's been like to be in this journey. 03:50.050 --> 03:52.730 align:start I hope not to put you sleep by doing this. 03:52.730 --> 03:58.030 align:start I promise I'll keep it brief and hopefully entertaining enough. 03:58.030 --> 04:04.500 align:start I hope it will be inspiring, whether you are an artist, or an immigrant, 04:04.500 --> 04:08.980 align:start or Latino or Latina, or queer, or a woman, 04:08.980 --> 04:13.370 align:start or simply a human being here present for this talk. 04:13.370 --> 04:16.040 align:start I hope there's something here for you. 04:16.040 --> 04:19.890 align:start I grew up in Bogota, Colombia, as Catalina was saying. 04:19.890 --> 04:24.530 align:start And here I am with my grandfather as a teeny tiny baby. 04:24.530 --> 04:27.580 align:start The Andes in the back of the picture. 04:27.580 --> 04:31.090 align:start I was very, very lucky to grow up very close to him. 04:31.090 --> 04:34.940 align:start He was one of the first brain surgeons to go back to Columbia 04:34.940 --> 04:40.340 align:start after preparing here in the U.S. There was such a need 04:40.340 --> 04:44.610 align:start for brain surgeons at that time that apparently when he -- 04:44.610 --> 04:48.540 align:start when the airplane landed there was an ambulance waiting for him 04:48.540 --> 04:50.250 align:start to perform the first surgery. 04:50.250 --> 04:54.010 align:start That was the need for surgeons at the time. 04:54.010 --> 04:58.260 align:start He was a wonderful human being, and a wonderful doctor. 04:58.260 --> 05:04.720 align:start He was also somebody who spoiled me like nobody else in life. 05:04.720 --> 05:11.530 align:start My grandmother was also wonderfully skilled and a fantastic human being. 05:11.530 --> 05:17.390 align:start She was a wonderful carpenter, and together they designed some 05:17.390 --> 05:22.310 align:start of the first equipment to perform surgeries in Columbia 05:22.310 --> 05:26.150 align:start because there was no equipment in order 05:26.150 --> 05:27.660 align:start for my grandfather to do the surgery. 05:27.660 --> 05:29.320 align:start So it was a collective effort. 05:29.320 --> 05:31.370 align:start They were both very creative. 05:31.370 --> 05:34.180 align:start Here's my grandma in her studio. 05:34.180 --> 05:39.190 align:start So that was perhaps genetic, I got lucky. 05:39.190 --> 05:43.380 align:start Their house was actually magical, not just by my standards, 05:43.380 --> 05:47.640 align:start but my family and my friends and everybody 05:47.640 --> 05:51.670 align:start around them would just come oftentimes to their house 05:51.670 --> 05:55.980 align:start and benefit from having a very inspiring experience thanks 05:55.980 --> 05:59.300 align:start to their creativity and their generosity. 05:59.300 --> 06:09.370 align:start My parents were basketball players and they were wonderful athletes. 06:09.370 --> 06:11.980 align:start I did not inherit that gene [laughter]. 06:11.980 --> 06:16.130 align:start My mom at some point, my atrocious career 06:16.130 --> 06:17.640 align:start in basketball didn't last long, 06:17.640 --> 06:22.340 align:start and at some point we had a very serious talk about it being okay 06:22.340 --> 06:26.570 align:start for me to quit the basketball team. 06:26.570 --> 06:30.130 align:start So overall, it was a very happy childhood 06:30.130 --> 06:33.040 align:start and I felt incredibly lucky. 06:33.040 --> 06:38.840 align:start My father died when I was about seven months old in an accident. 06:38.840 --> 06:42.520 align:start So I must say the strength and courage 06:42.520 --> 06:44.540 align:start from my mother has been something 06:44.540 --> 06:47.820 align:start that has kept me going for a very long time. 06:47.820 --> 06:50.010 align:start I'm very lucky to have her here today. 06:50.010 --> 06:53.040 align:start So that's me with my mom. 06:53.040 --> 06:56.590 align:start One of the hardest things about growing up in Columbia, 06:56.590 --> 07:00.580 align:start despite me saying I was very lucky, was the war. 07:00.580 --> 07:05.010 align:start This were the 1980's and during the '80s the situation 07:05.010 --> 07:08.270 align:start in Columbia was far from peaceful. 07:08.270 --> 07:13.340 align:start It was incredibly, incredibly hard for very many. 07:13.340 --> 07:19.100 align:start We were, again, lucky to first be comfortable to live in Bogota, 07:19.100 --> 07:24.770 align:start which was a very extensive city where people were a lot more 07:24.770 --> 07:29.220 align:start at peace than out in the countryside. 07:29.220 --> 07:31.570 align:start Still, this doesn't mean we were not touched by the war. 07:31.570 --> 07:36.570 align:start I still remember, you know, blasting bombs and, you know, 07:36.570 --> 07:40.690 align:start people being kidnapped around us, and situations that were quite dire. 07:40.690 --> 07:43.540 align:start But in the grand scheme of things we were quite lucky 07:43.540 --> 07:49.230 align:start to not be touched directly by the war. 07:49.230 --> 07:56.670 align:start Bogota is a very diverse city, very vibrant, very big, and it allowed 07:56.670 --> 08:00.280 align:start for me to have tremendous inspiration just by hearing stories 08:00.280 --> 08:06.070 align:start from countless people, who in a very generous 08:06.070 --> 08:10.450 align:start and passionate way do share stories, very Colombian style just 08:10.450 --> 08:13.490 align:start by simply opening up and saying hello. 08:13.490 --> 08:15.530 align:start So we were very lucky. 08:15.530 --> 08:19.640 align:start Besides that amazing environment 08:19.640 --> 08:23.330 align:start where storytelling was very much alive, I happened to grew 08:23.330 --> 08:26.050 align:start up in a household that was tremendously creative. 08:26.050 --> 08:27.540 align:start These are my cousins. 08:27.540 --> 08:30.410 align:start I'm standing with the red veil. 08:30.410 --> 08:32.370 align:start I have no idea what we were playing. 08:32.370 --> 08:36.590 align:start But, you know, it must've been quite exciting. 08:36.590 --> 08:41.650 align:start And we were encouraged to think that way and to create things out of, 08:41.650 --> 08:44.790 align:start you know, whatever we found around, like a little piece of rag, 08:44.790 --> 08:48.850 align:start and we played for hours and we were very, very happy. 08:48.850 --> 08:50.510 align:start The only thing I know for certain 08:50.510 --> 08:52.740 align:start in this picture is Filipe [assumed spelling], 08:52.740 --> 08:55.140 align:start who's in the middle, was an astronaut. 08:55.140 --> 08:59.350 align:start That's -- that helmet -- that helmet says it all, 08:59.350 --> 09:02.110 align:start and that was his preference. 09:02.110 --> 09:06.390 align:start I also happened to be very lucky to go to a school 09:06.390 --> 09:10.320 align:start that valued arts tremendously, and that was very, 09:10.320 --> 09:13.100 align:start very helpful in my upbringing. 09:13.100 --> 09:15.030 align:start It was a wonderful environment 09:15.030 --> 09:22.580 align:start where everybody found constant ways of expression. 09:22.580 --> 09:28.540 align:start So art and creative expression were from very early, just simply, 09:28.540 --> 09:30.570 align:start you know, parts of my life. 09:30.570 --> 09:31.870 align:start I didn't question it. 09:31.870 --> 09:33.250 align:start I didn't think of it as art. 09:33.250 --> 09:39.220 align:start I didn't think of it as, you know, other than just expressing. 09:39.220 --> 09:43.380 align:start And that changed as I grew a little bit older 09:43.380 --> 09:46.790 align:start and I started meeting people that didn't grow up in 09:46.790 --> 09:49.700 align:start such a fortunate household and then they would say 09:49.700 --> 09:51.490 align:start to me, well, I can't draw. 09:51.490 --> 09:54.050 align:start And it's like, what do you mean you can't draw? 09:54.050 --> 09:56.240 align:start I'll give you my pen, or you need paper, 09:56.240 --> 10:01.080 align:start or how can we [inaudible] can draw, but I couldn't really conceive 10:01.080 --> 10:02.380 align:start that people could not draw. 10:02.380 --> 10:10.210 align:start During the 1980's, the late 1980's also, things changed a little bit 10:10.210 --> 10:14.770 align:start and we were touched by the financial crisis taking place in Columbia. 10:14.770 --> 10:18.280 align:start And this was quite hard because we had lived comfortably 10:18.280 --> 10:21.360 align:start and we had had a safe life, 10:21.360 --> 10:24.180 align:start and all of a sudden all these conditions changed. 10:24.180 --> 10:28.740 align:start So all of a sudden we had close to nothing, 10:28.740 --> 10:34.160 align:start or we were very uncomfortable and it was a difficult situation. 10:34.160 --> 10:37.160 align:start And from realizing that there were very few resources, 10:37.160 --> 10:40.950 align:start or they were quite limited, thank goodness I grew 10:40.950 --> 10:44.330 align:start up with a very creative mother and I learned 10:44.330 --> 10:49.210 align:start that having nothing could be translated into making something. 10:49.210 --> 10:53.770 align:start Everything was an opportunity to make things and shift things around. 10:53.770 --> 10:57.000 align:start That being creative ensured that there was some sweetness 10:57.000 --> 11:04.620 align:start in life no matter what, and a little bit of humor took us a long way. 11:04.620 --> 11:08.070 align:start By the year 2000 my family ended up leaving 11:08.070 --> 11:10.940 align:start and they came to the United States. 11:10.940 --> 11:14.620 align:start I stayed behind studying physical therapy. 11:14.620 --> 11:20.450 align:start And talk about being creative, this was during a financial crisis, 11:20.450 --> 11:23.650 align:start working in very, very poor hospitals, 11:23.650 --> 11:28.280 align:start and that's where you see most creativity really at work. 11:28.280 --> 11:32.080 align:start I think we often think of creatives as entrepreneurs 11:32.080 --> 11:34.430 align:start or designers or craftsmen. 11:34.430 --> 11:38.030 align:start Go to a hospital, go talk to a physical therapist, 11:38.030 --> 11:41.590 align:start to an occupational therapist, to a nurse, especially in Latin America 11:41.590 --> 11:45.840 align:start and you will see really what creativity is at work, 11:45.840 --> 11:49.400 align:start and not necessarily for any special award or anything, 11:49.400 --> 11:54.250 align:start but simply to improve somebody's life. 11:54.250 --> 11:58.490 align:start In the end, opportunities were narrowing for me in Columbia, 11:58.490 --> 12:02.010 align:start and what made most sense was for me to leave. 12:02.010 --> 12:03.700 align:start This was not an easy goodbye. 12:03.700 --> 12:06.840 align:start I was leaving behind my grandparents. 12:06.840 --> 12:12.370 align:start And, for some reason, I knew I wouldn't see them again. 12:12.370 --> 12:14.240 align:start This was incredibly hard. 12:14.240 --> 12:20.470 align:start That goodbye I still can sense it in me 15 years later almost. 12:20.470 --> 12:24.640 align:start And it wasn't easy, and I don't think I have 12:24.640 --> 12:26.450 align:start to go extensively about it. 12:26.450 --> 12:30.270 align:start For those of you who might have been immigrants you all remember this 12:30.270 --> 12:32.500 align:start in some kind of way. 12:32.500 --> 12:38.560 align:start Needless to say, I still remember and miss those big mountains 12:38.560 --> 12:43.380 align:start and miss the smells of fresh fruit and fresh flowers everywhere, 12:43.380 --> 12:49.640 align:start and Spanish being spoken loudly everywhere, but life went on. 12:49.640 --> 12:52.950 align:start I had in my pocket $220. 12:52.950 --> 12:58.570 align:start Like many immigrants, many had much less than that. 12:58.570 --> 13:04.820 align:start And I also had my bags full of books and very many expectations. 13:04.820 --> 13:06.120 align:start I was lucky. 13:06.120 --> 13:07.420 align:start I was lucky in many ways. 13:07.420 --> 13:12.490 align:start One of them being I had my family here, so they were receiving me 13:12.490 --> 13:14.700 align:start as soon as I got off that plane. 13:14.700 --> 13:18.010 align:start I was coming to a city that I was already familiar with. 13:18.010 --> 13:20.040 align:start I knew the language. 13:20.040 --> 13:23.840 align:start I had been able to receive wonderful education, 13:23.840 --> 13:27.640 align:start and that made a huge difference that I'm well aware. 13:27.640 --> 13:31.610 align:start Not every immigrant gets those possibilities right off an airplane, 13:31.610 --> 13:34.860 align:start or right as they walk past the frontier. 13:34.860 --> 13:39.530 align:start But that doesn't take away the amount of uncertainty 13:39.530 --> 13:41.390 align:start when you're an immigrant. 13:41.390 --> 13:43.310 align:start And it's hard, it's very difficult to figure 13:43.310 --> 13:46.740 align:start out how things will work out, what is your role, 13:46.740 --> 13:49.260 align:start what are you supposed to do with your life? 13:49.260 --> 13:50.840 align:start And that prompted questions for me. 13:50.840 --> 13:55.040 align:start Who am I? What does it mean to be an immigrant? 13:55.040 --> 13:59.500 align:start Because all of a sudden there so many labels imposed on me. 13:59.500 --> 14:00.800 align:start Where are you from? 14:00.800 --> 14:02.100 align:start When did you came? 14:02.100 --> 14:03.400 align:start What are you doing here? 14:03.400 --> 14:04.700 align:start Are you staying here for good? 14:04.700 --> 14:07.840 align:start It's like, I don't know, I have no idea. 14:07.840 --> 14:10.520 align:start Back in Columbia my identity was very clear. 14:10.520 --> 14:14.420 align:start I knew who I was, what I wanted to do, and here everything shifted 14:14.420 --> 14:17.230 align:start and all I had was a blank slate. 14:17.230 --> 14:20.200 align:start I felt very much like one in a million. 14:20.200 --> 14:23.880 align:start Nothing seemed to be the experience that everybody was having. 14:23.880 --> 14:26.340 align:start It seemed to be very different and foreign to a lot 14:26.340 --> 14:29.690 align:start of people, and that was difficult. 14:29.690 --> 14:32.520 align:start All of a sudden also, I realized there was a label 14:32.520 --> 14:33.820 align:start that was imposed on me. 14:33.820 --> 14:35.120 align:start I was brown. 14:35.120 --> 14:37.840 align:start I had never been brown in my life before. 14:37.840 --> 14:41.170 align:start All of a sudden I was -- I would enter a shop and I would be followed 14:41.170 --> 14:44.770 align:start by the lady at the store, and I would be stopped by police, 14:44.770 --> 14:48.440 align:start and all these situations that, again, I'm one of the lucky ones. 14:48.440 --> 14:51.800 align:start But it just seems so foreign to me, 14:51.800 --> 14:54.880 align:start and something I had never encountered before. 14:54.880 --> 14:58.150 align:start I was the other. 14:58.150 --> 15:00.470 align:start And being the other is very scary. 15:00.470 --> 15:06.890 align:start It's something that shuns us away, that stops conversations, 15:06.890 --> 15:09.320 align:start that encourages fear, and we're leaving it -- 15:09.320 --> 15:13.980 align:start we're living at quite vividly right now during this election season. 15:13.980 --> 15:19.870 align:start While I was trying to figure out what to do with my life I happened 15:19.870 --> 15:21.850 align:start to see that there would be -- 15:21.850 --> 15:24.490 align:start that there was a class going to Georgetown 15:24.490 --> 15:29.850 align:start as a continued education class that was offered and it was 15:29.850 --> 15:32.640 align:start for drawing and painting critique. 15:32.640 --> 15:35.050 align:start And so I joined this class just as an effort 15:35.050 --> 15:40.520 align:start to think things differently and I happened to have the great fortune 15:40.520 --> 15:41.940 align:start of meeting Bill Rock [assumed spelling], 15:41.940 --> 15:45.130 align:start who was the instructor of this class. 15:45.130 --> 15:48.510 align:start And we had wonderful conversations, and he learned a little bit more 15:48.510 --> 15:50.930 align:start about myself as I was learning about art. 15:50.930 --> 15:53.610 align:start I had never really taken art seriously. 15:53.610 --> 15:56.970 align:start As I was telling you, I thought everybody could draw. 15:56.970 --> 15:59.720 align:start And he finally said to me, well listen, 15:59.720 --> 16:01.880 align:start it seems like things are not working. 16:01.880 --> 16:04.020 align:start You need to change your visa. 16:04.020 --> 16:06.790 align:start Why do you insist on physical therapy? 16:06.790 --> 16:11.440 align:start Why don't we make a bet and you apply to art school and if you get 16:11.440 --> 16:14.220 align:start in you start art -- going to art school. 16:14.220 --> 16:19.100 align:start And I think I was despondent enough to say, okay, I'll give it a try. 16:19.100 --> 16:26.230 align:start And I applied to the Corcoran and received a scholarship and I said, 16:26.230 --> 16:28.940 align:start okay, I guess this is the route I'll take. 16:28.940 --> 16:33.520 align:start This had been after 2 1/2, almost 3 years, of being here in the U.S. 16:33.520 --> 16:37.430 align:start So I started at the Corcoran and I was incredibly happy 16:37.430 --> 16:41.990 align:start to encounter a whole lot of opportunities 16:41.990 --> 16:46.740 align:start that I would've never encountered otherwise. 16:46.740 --> 16:51.250 align:start Also, it guaranteed a student visa, which was a big relief. 16:51.250 --> 16:53.600 align:start This would ensure that as long as I was a student here 16:53.600 --> 16:56.500 align:start in the U.S. I would be okay. 16:56.500 --> 17:03.130 align:start But while I was there I realized that the graphic design program, 17:03.130 --> 17:10.200 align:start which is where I was, wasn't necessarily what I had in mind. 17:10.200 --> 17:16.360 align:start The program at the time was very corporate driven. 17:16.360 --> 17:19.190 align:start Things were done using a lot of computers, 17:19.190 --> 17:23.900 align:start and things were all about, you know, production of annual reports 17:23.900 --> 17:28.090 align:start and digital works, and I was like, oh, I want something more tangible, 17:28.090 --> 17:32.690 align:start and I want to get my hands dirty, and I want to explore more. 17:32.690 --> 17:36.250 align:start And while this was going through my mind I happened to sign 17:36.250 --> 17:38.710 align:start up for another drawing class, 17:38.710 --> 17:42.790 align:start in this case with the wonderful artist, Bill Christenberry. 17:42.790 --> 17:47.620 align:start And Bill, in a very gentle way, almost cornered me one day 17:47.620 --> 17:51.600 align:start and he said, young lady, you realize this is not a place for you. 17:51.600 --> 17:57.480 align:start And he said, you -- if the world was perfect where would you go? 17:57.480 --> 17:58.780 align:start And I said to him, well, 17:58.780 --> 18:00.160 align:start if the world was perfect I would go to RISD. 18:00.160 --> 18:03.910 align:start He said, well just apply, I'll write a letter of recommendation, 18:03.910 --> 18:08.010 align:start and then all of a sudden things started working very easily. 18:08.010 --> 18:11.400 align:start And the next semester I ended up at RISD. 18:11.400 --> 18:15.960 align:start It's not as easy as it sounds, but just for sake -- 18:15.960 --> 18:24.100 align:start for sake of time, yeah, it was -- it was still quite unexpected. 18:24.100 --> 18:28.100 align:start RISD was like being back at my grandmother's carpentry studio. 18:28.100 --> 18:32.820 align:start It was just a shop that extended throughout the city 18:32.820 --> 18:35.570 align:start where everybody was eager to learn something new, 18:35.570 --> 18:37.650 align:start where everybody was eager to explore, 18:37.650 --> 18:41.270 align:start where everybody was passionate and curious about the arts, 18:41.270 --> 18:44.450 align:start and this offered a wonderful platform for me 18:44.450 --> 18:49.460 align:start to reinvent myself in some way. 18:49.460 --> 18:53.450 align:start Also, at the time, and if any of you have gone to RISD, 18:53.450 --> 18:58.030 align:start there's a great amount of self-portrait that you have to do. 18:58.030 --> 19:02.120 align:start They insist on working on self-portraits and family trees 19:02.120 --> 19:07.810 align:start and exploring who you are, and that was a lot for me 19:07.810 --> 19:11.880 align:start to figure out at the time. 19:11.880 --> 19:17.170 align:start To add to that, I lost my grandparents. 19:17.170 --> 19:20.960 align:start And they -- as I said in the beginning, 19:20.960 --> 19:22.650 align:start they were incredible human beings. 19:22.650 --> 19:26.320 align:start They have -- had been great support network for me, 19:26.320 --> 19:29.050 align:start and losing them was incredibly hard. 19:29.050 --> 19:33.750 align:start One of the hardest things about losing them was something 19:33.750 --> 19:37.400 align:start that some Latinos here might have heard about, 19:37.400 --> 19:39.590 align:start and it's what some call [speaking foreign language], 19:39.590 --> 19:44.430 align:start or the golden cage, which is basically being in the U.S., 19:44.430 --> 19:47.260 align:start being able to take profit of so many opportunities, 19:47.260 --> 19:51.900 align:start and yet here we are locked and stuck here. 19:51.900 --> 19:56.820 align:start I could not leave the country even though I was perfectly legal 19:56.820 --> 20:01.530 align:start because I had asked for a visa while being in the U.S. 20:01.530 --> 20:04.310 align:start So the moment I left the United States I would have 20:04.310 --> 20:06.730 align:start to reapply for a visa. 20:06.730 --> 20:14.020 align:start The chances for a mid-20's woman, single, from Colombia, gay, 20:14.020 --> 20:16.440 align:start who happened to have her family in the U.S. 20:16.440 --> 20:19.950 align:start to get a visa to come back in, nil. 20:19.950 --> 20:23.920 align:start When the lawyer handed me that visa he said, if you go to Columbia, 20:23.920 --> 20:27.110 align:start or if you go out of the United States, I will not represent you. 20:27.110 --> 20:31.300 align:start So it was very clear for me that I couldn't manage to get 20:31.300 --> 20:34.020 align:start out and come back in again. 20:34.020 --> 20:38.210 align:start This was one of the hardest things I had to do, and it was one 20:38.210 --> 20:40.260 align:start of the hardest decisions to make, 20:40.260 --> 20:47.870 align:start just keeping a very somewhat cold mind and letting my grandparents go 20:47.870 --> 20:53.370 align:start without being there for them in their last days. 20:53.370 --> 20:56.710 align:start And all these questions between self-portraits and family trees 20:56.710 --> 20:58.620 align:start and all the things that were going on, 20:58.620 --> 21:00.710 align:start people started asking me who are you? 21:00.710 --> 21:05.040 align:start Because I was clearly not the traditional New England student 21:05.040 --> 21:07.310 align:start at the Rhode Island School of Design. 21:07.310 --> 21:10.580 align:start And that made me ask, yeah, who am I? 21:10.580 --> 21:18.420 align:start Who am I? And I started thinking of self as an artist. 21:18.420 --> 21:20.690 align:start And I started thinking of self. 21:20.690 --> 21:28.540 align:start And the more I thought the more I realized the only way to solve this 21:28.540 --> 21:33.140 align:start or to find enlightenment in some kind of way would be 21:33.140 --> 21:38.660 align:start through exploration, because I clearly didn't have the answers. 21:38.660 --> 21:42.960 align:start So there was a lot of observation and exploration through the means 21:42.960 --> 21:47.020 align:start that were familiar to me, and that was drawing. 21:47.020 --> 21:50.990 align:start So I drew the things I missed about Columbia, like fruits organized 21:50.990 --> 21:56.530 align:start in the grocery store, or cars beeping horns, or fountains, 21:56.530 --> 22:01.510 align:start or coffee shops, and [inaudible], bus brakes screeching, 22:01.510 --> 22:05.190 align:start and the big windows, and the sun hitting the mountains almost 22:05.190 --> 22:07.760 align:start as if they could be split open. 22:07.760 --> 22:17.480 align:start And this -- memories started filling my journals and sketchbooks. 22:17.480 --> 22:23.540 align:start Then I moved on try to see the world from a different interpretation, 22:23.540 --> 22:26.550 align:start and that would be through Latin American literature. 22:26.550 --> 22:30.710 align:start And perhaps in a crazy attempt I decided to sign up for a class 22:30.710 --> 22:36.400 align:start that was called Magical Realism and South. 22:36.400 --> 22:39.460 align:start So it was the first time in my life I would attempt 22:39.460 --> 22:44.160 align:start to read Garcia Marquez in English surrounded by people 22:44.160 --> 22:48.970 align:start who knew very little about him, and to learn not just to reminisce 22:48.970 --> 22:52.860 align:start and to capture the essence of my culture from my perspective, 22:52.860 --> 22:55.420 align:start but also how others were perceiving it. 22:55.420 --> 22:58.850 align:start I remember an architecture student during class saying, 22:58.850 --> 23:00.260 align:start well this book is ridiculous. 23:00.260 --> 23:03.110 align:start I mean, they talk about people licking the walls. 23:03.110 --> 23:04.410 align:start Where would that happen? 23:04.410 --> 23:07.050 align:start And I would think, yeah, that happens in my country. 23:07.050 --> 23:10.900 align:start People do lick the walls because they have salt deficiency 23:10.900 --> 23:13.670 align:start and there's cal on the wall so they lick the walls. 23:13.670 --> 23:16.960 align:start But it's the understanding of a completely different world 23:16.960 --> 23:21.670 align:start and trying to find a way to bridge those differences. 23:21.670 --> 23:27.680 align:start So I started looking around me and collecting objects through visuals. 23:27.680 --> 23:30.390 align:start Everything was an opportunity to draw. 23:30.390 --> 23:33.970 align:start So my socks, a hat, a pen, a paper -- 23:33.970 --> 23:37.420 align:start a piece of paper, a car that passed by, 23:37.420 --> 23:41.910 align:start absolutely everything would be recorded in drawing form. 23:41.910 --> 23:43.750 align:start I sometimes wonder, if somebody saw these 23:43.750 --> 23:46.720 align:start without any explanation they would think I'm the most OCD person 23:46.720 --> 23:48.020 align:start in the world. 23:48.020 --> 23:50.200 align:start It's absolutely nuts to see this. 23:50.200 --> 23:56.130 align:start But at the same time, that was my possibility of exploring things 23:56.130 --> 23:58.840 align:start and observing objects that were familiar 23:58.840 --> 24:01.440 align:start and were foreign at the time. 24:01.440 --> 24:07.810 align:start It was basically changing my entire perspective on how to see the world, 24:07.810 --> 24:10.690 align:start or at least an attempt on doing so. 24:10.690 --> 24:14.740 align:start I tried to record the architecture around me very different 24:14.740 --> 24:20.680 align:start from the houses that I grew up seeing in Colombia. 24:20.680 --> 24:22.250 align:start These are roofs on Benefit [phonetic] Street 24:22.250 --> 24:24.360 align:start in Providence, Rhode Island. 24:24.360 --> 24:29.110 align:start I started recording the buildings that I walked past 24:29.110 --> 24:34.760 align:start and then reinterpreting them in my own way. 24:34.760 --> 24:36.360 align:start I would also record my dreams. 24:36.360 --> 24:40.480 align:start This was a dream of a crazy, big turnip that -- 24:40.480 --> 24:47.270 align:start I was in a farmer's community and in my dream they needed help to take it 24:47.270 --> 24:50.080 align:start out of the earth because it was so, so big, 24:50.080 --> 24:52.890 align:start and I still remember vividly the colors. 24:52.890 --> 24:55.280 align:start I don't think I was able to -- 24:55.280 --> 24:59.350 align:start I can tell I wasn't able to portray exactly what I saw in my dream, 24:59.350 --> 25:04.330 align:start which was absolutely surreal, but still, this was my attempt. 25:04.330 --> 25:06.220 align:start So it all took practice. 25:06.220 --> 25:10.580 align:start It took a lot of practice just drawing, playing with humor. 25:10.580 --> 25:14.170 align:start This is a sneeze. 25:14.170 --> 25:19.980 align:start Doing more serious things in the classroom and studio. 25:19.980 --> 25:25.180 align:start Recording buildings, rerecording them using different media 25:25.180 --> 25:29.110 align:start and trying to explore what this meant for me. 25:29.110 --> 25:31.530 align:start What is the influence of this over me? 25:31.530 --> 25:37.420 align:start Or how can I possibly influence it by drawing it somehow. 25:37.420 --> 25:41.510 align:start Of course failure was also a great part of this, and it's something 25:41.510 --> 25:46.770 align:start that in the arts and being creative there's no way to escape. 25:46.770 --> 25:51.480 align:start But one thing was very clear, and it was that drama should stay away 25:51.480 --> 25:52.950 align:start from all these explorations. 25:52.950 --> 25:55.460 align:start It was simply failing and starting again 25:55.460 --> 25:58.440 align:start but not letting myself just lose my mind simply 25:58.440 --> 26:02.600 align:start because I couldn't register things how I intended to. 26:02.600 --> 26:06.240 align:start And this also was filtering into my life obviously. 26:06.240 --> 26:09.550 align:start It was not just about a very serious exploration on drawing, 26:09.550 --> 26:13.090 align:start but instead just trying to externalize all the questions 26:13.090 --> 26:17.210 align:start and all the anguish that was going inside. 26:17.210 --> 26:21.680 align:start And then the other essential part for me became iterations. 26:21.680 --> 26:27.580 align:start This is a big bad wolf on a retake on Little Red Riding Hood, 26:27.580 --> 26:32.900 align:start and I decided to tell the story from -- with a little bit of a spinoff. 26:32.900 --> 26:36.470 align:start I don't know if you can see clearly from there, 26:36.470 --> 26:40.420 align:start but Red Riding Hood is walking, she's all of a sudden attacked 26:40.420 --> 26:45.390 align:start by the wolf, but not to eat her or eat her treats or anything, 26:45.390 --> 26:47.430 align:start but all he wanted was the cape. 26:47.430 --> 26:51.480 align:start And so he's dancing and prancing and then at the end he flies. 26:51.480 --> 26:53.550 align:start So that's one interpretation. 26:53.550 --> 26:59.330 align:start Then I drew another interpretation where the -- instead of -- 26:59.330 --> 27:03.750 align:start instead of the, you know, story that we had before, 27:03.750 --> 27:08.780 align:start or with the super flying wolf, I just decided 27:08.780 --> 27:12.790 align:start to have little red riding hood say, okay, enough of this. 27:12.790 --> 27:17.270 align:start I need my cape back and then on they went. 27:17.270 --> 27:21.600 align:start The other great factor besides observation, 27:21.600 --> 27:26.700 align:start iteration, failing, was process. 27:26.700 --> 27:31.590 align:start And I just have one single example of process here, 27:31.590 --> 27:35.360 align:start and it's just documenting the buildup of an illustration 27:35.360 --> 27:39.130 align:start that was later used for a documentary through PBS. 27:39.130 --> 27:45.130 align:start It was about a -- the story of two Colombian women, 27:45.130 --> 27:47.140 align:start two very brave Colombian women. 27:47.140 --> 27:50.930 align:start One of them, the mother, who was kidnapped for seven years. 27:50.930 --> 27:52.840 align:start The other, the daughter, who happened to be 27:52.840 --> 27:55.240 align:start in D.C. while her mother was kidnapped in the jungle 27:55.240 --> 27:59.470 align:start of Columbia for a number of years. 27:59.470 --> 28:03.600 align:start So I wanted to have both worlds come together somehow. 28:03.600 --> 28:08.200 align:start So you can see to the -- to the left Washington, D.C., 28:08.200 --> 28:11.810 align:start and you might find some of those buildings a little bit familiar. 28:11.810 --> 28:15.800 align:start And then towards the right the jungle. 28:15.800 --> 28:18.850 align:start So here's a close-up of Washington, 28:18.850 --> 28:24.550 align:start D.C. And in the animation I made the, you know, the little red lights 28:24.550 --> 28:29.490 align:start at the top of the George Washington Monument flicker and the lights 28:29.490 --> 28:33.850 align:start in the -- in the Kennedy Center move around a little bit, and so on. 28:33.850 --> 28:38.020 align:start So detail was, of course, imperative. 28:38.020 --> 28:42.010 align:start The other thing I decided to take on was to take great leaps, 28:42.010 --> 28:46.990 align:start and these were unexpected leaps, but in a way it was just learning 28:46.990 --> 28:51.860 align:start to say yes to projects that came my way. 28:51.860 --> 28:56.410 align:start And I applied all of these things, as I was saying, observation, 28:56.410 --> 29:00.770 align:start exploration, iteration, failure, process, 29:00.770 --> 29:05.950 align:start and not only to work or life, but to play. 29:05.950 --> 29:11.000 align:start And this allowed for me to have a much easier platform to navigate. 29:11.000 --> 29:13.770 align:start And whenever I was asked by then, who are you? 29:13.770 --> 29:17.770 align:start At least I could, you know, come up with an answer just based 29:17.770 --> 29:19.330 align:start on what I had been working on. 29:19.330 --> 29:21.470 align:start Not everything was done on my own. 29:21.470 --> 29:25.000 align:start I was also very lucky to find wonderful mentors 29:25.000 --> 29:30.150 align:start who offered extraordinary examples to follow. 29:30.150 --> 29:34.880 align:start And they also made sure to point out examples not to follow, 29:34.880 --> 29:37.670 align:start and for that I'm tremendously grateful. 29:37.670 --> 29:41.470 align:start As I noticed through their work, and the work I was doing, 29:41.470 --> 29:43.500 align:start and how I was encountering the world, 29:43.500 --> 29:48.520 align:start I recognized that one very important thing was to be kind, 29:48.520 --> 29:52.440 align:start that kindness goes a really, really long way. 29:52.440 --> 29:58.490 align:start The other thing I realized is that working hard does help a lot. 29:58.490 --> 30:03.080 align:start And being an immigrant, it's not just hard, it's hard. 30:03.080 --> 30:07.260 align:start And because of that hard work and to keep a balance in life 30:07.260 --> 30:11.000 align:start and to not go bitter about all the work that was being done, 30:11.000 --> 30:12.940 align:start it was important to have fun. 30:12.940 --> 30:18.190 align:start And so I decided to keep these three rules for whatever I was doing, 30:18.190 --> 30:20.170 align:start and I still try to keep them. 30:20.170 --> 30:27.470 align:start Now following rules is not easy, but I certainly try. 30:27.470 --> 30:31.360 align:start Being an immigrant makes things even harder. 30:31.360 --> 30:35.430 align:start The level of uncertainty makes it very difficult, 30:35.430 --> 30:39.460 align:start so as graduation got closer and closer, 30:39.460 --> 30:42.330 align:start there I was hunting again for a visa. 30:42.330 --> 30:43.630 align:start So what next? 30:43.630 --> 30:47.410 align:start What could I do after all the effort that I had been putting into my work 30:47.410 --> 30:51.750 align:start and considering myself a creative person? 30:51.750 --> 30:55.910 align:start I noticed that many of my characteristics were considered 30:55.910 --> 31:00.730 align:start by society as disadvantages, and I realized that I couldn't put it 31:00.730 --> 31:04.480 align:start in their shoulders to turn those disadvantages into advantages, 31:04.480 --> 31:07.180 align:start that it was completely up to me. 31:07.180 --> 31:10.180 align:start And I thought if it is up to me I won't turn them only 31:10.180 --> 31:14.460 align:start into advantages, but big advantages and make sure 31:14.460 --> 31:17.940 align:start that I would become indispensable. 31:17.940 --> 31:20.830 align:start I don't know how to do absolutely extraordinary things 31:20.830 --> 31:25.240 align:start that will save humanity, that is not the way I become indispensable, 31:25.240 --> 31:28.970 align:start but in the work I do and how I do it, that's how I could keep 31:28.970 --> 31:34.300 align:start on working hard, being kind, and having fun, and making things 31:34.300 --> 31:37.050 align:start as seemingly indispensable as possible. 31:37.050 --> 31:42.690 align:start In one of those efforts I became a VIP guide for RISD. 31:42.690 --> 31:46.890 align:start And what this meant was I was touring all the VIP visitors 31:46.890 --> 31:51.040 align:start that came to RISD, showing them the buildings 31:51.040 --> 31:53.220 align:start and what was going on around the school. 31:53.220 --> 31:58.160 align:start And this allowed for absolutely fantastic conversations, 31:58.160 --> 32:02.060 align:start and most of them would say to me, what do you want to do? 32:02.060 --> 32:04.000 align:start What is it that you want to do? 32:04.000 --> 32:09.350 align:start And I would say, I just want to tell stories. 32:09.350 --> 32:15.420 align:start And these incredible men and women would be very kind until I would say 32:15.420 --> 32:17.850 align:start that and then they would say, you can't do that, 32:17.850 --> 32:20.280 align:start you have to do something more than just tell stories. 32:20.280 --> 32:22.790 align:start It's not -- I mean, are you going to tell stories? 32:22.790 --> 32:24.090 align:start Are you going to write books? 32:24.090 --> 32:25.390 align:start Are you going to make movies? 32:25.390 --> 32:26.690 align:start What are you going to do? 32:26.690 --> 32:30.570 align:start And I would say, stories, that's what I really want to do. 32:30.570 --> 32:32.740 align:start No, not a possibility. 32:32.740 --> 32:36.600 align:start So I just said, okay, I'll do it on my own. 32:36.600 --> 32:40.110 align:start I kept on working hard and harder and harder. 32:40.110 --> 32:45.160 align:start And I got, again, very lucky and while I was trying 32:45.160 --> 32:48.680 align:start to figure [inaudible] visa would come after being a student, 32:48.680 --> 32:52.260 align:start I happened to meet Eileen Morrison. 32:52.260 --> 32:56.670 align:start Eileen Morrison is not only a fantastic immigration lawyer, 32:56.670 --> 32:58.730 align:start but an extraordinary human being. 32:58.730 --> 33:01.660 align:start And where many had said to me, there's no option, 33:01.660 --> 33:04.930 align:start perhaps if you find somebody to get married, or do something that, 33:04.930 --> 33:08.430 align:start you know, is perhaps not the most Orthodox option, 33:08.430 --> 33:10.740 align:start they would say, there's no possibility. 33:10.740 --> 33:13.180 align:start Eileen instead looked at all my work and she said, 33:13.180 --> 33:15.850 align:start let's try, let's give this a try. 33:15.850 --> 33:20.310 align:start And she didn't give up and she very sharply took everything I had. 33:20.310 --> 33:23.290 align:start She didn't make any promises she couldn't, 33:23.290 --> 33:25.580 align:start but she put in her best work, 33:25.580 --> 33:29.820 align:start and this was the most inspiring thing I have seen when I was 33:29.820 --> 33:33.060 align:start in a very, very dire situation. 33:33.060 --> 33:37.830 align:start So I said before, you know, how I had decided to take these rules 33:37.830 --> 33:40.710 align:start of being kind, of working hard, and having fun, 33:40.710 --> 33:44.030 align:start but this took it to a whole new level. 33:44.030 --> 33:49.690 align:start Yeah, over three years of waiting, of jumping at any project I could, 33:49.690 --> 33:54.020 align:start of still trying to keep my life together, and it wasn't easy. 33:54.020 --> 33:56.130 align:start It wasn't easy at all. 33:56.130 --> 33:59.610 align:start The uncertainty was despair inducing 33:59.610 --> 34:03.490 align:start because it affects every single inch of your life. 34:03.490 --> 34:05.540 align:start Do I buy this book I love? 34:05.540 --> 34:09.640 align:start But if I have to leave the country in 30 days why would I buy it? 34:09.640 --> 34:13.350 align:start Do I really want to make this incredible friendship or what seems 34:13.350 --> 34:16.030 align:start like -- well, I might be gone. 34:16.030 --> 34:19.880 align:start Any conversation, it just seeps in 34:19.880 --> 34:23.360 align:start and it's incredibly hard to shake it off. 34:23.360 --> 34:25.550 align:start Decision-making is hard, as I said, you know. 34:25.550 --> 34:29.290 align:start Do I take a new phone plan even though my flip phone is broken 34:29.290 --> 34:31.530 align:start and it's partly working? 34:31.530 --> 34:34.070 align:start Well, you don't want to get into a contract if you are going 34:34.070 --> 34:36.780 align:start to need to leave in no time. 34:36.780 --> 34:43.120 align:start Uncertainty could easily drive anybody insane. 34:43.120 --> 34:46.850 align:start And, finally, before losing it, I decided, okay, 34:46.850 --> 34:48.370 align:start what is under my control? 34:48.370 --> 34:52.840 align:start What can I change to make things easier for myself? 34:52.840 --> 34:57.170 align:start So I decided to reach out and to share my personal story, 34:57.170 --> 35:00.430 align:start something I wasn't adamant to do earlier. 35:00.430 --> 35:03.580 align:start It was just, no, work will do it, work will do it, and that's it. 35:03.580 --> 35:07.880 align:start And I started realizing that sharing my story allowed for empathy 35:07.880 --> 35:10.650 align:start to start building, and then people would have references, 35:10.650 --> 35:14.570 align:start or people to point me to, and things would start changing. 35:14.570 --> 35:16.810 align:start And I allowed for others to elevate me 35:16.810 --> 35:20.580 align:start and to think of things differently. 35:20.580 --> 35:25.310 align:start So taking on those personal challenges and continuing 35:25.310 --> 35:28.080 align:start to create was imperative throughout that time. 35:28.080 --> 35:33.560 align:start I also tried my best to aim high and turn every disadvantage 35:33.560 --> 35:36.050 align:start into an advantage, to make sure 35:36.050 --> 35:41.110 align:start that the uncertainty would be countered by adaptability. 35:41.110 --> 35:43.530 align:start I don't know if there are many Colombians here, 35:43.530 --> 35:44.830 align:start but -- or [inaudible]. 35:44.830 --> 35:49.840 align:start In Columbia, in Bogata there's a market called San Andresito. 35:49.840 --> 35:52.850 align:start And San Andresito, whenever you go there you can you can find anything 35:52.850 --> 35:54.150 align:start you're looking for. 35:54.150 --> 35:56.850 align:start And if you don't find what you're looking for, they'll tell you all, 35:56.850 --> 35:59.880 align:start oh, I don't have this, but I have this, and I don't -- 35:59.880 --> 36:02.550 align:start and, you know, they'll figure it out until you end 36:02.550 --> 36:05.830 align:start up buying whatever it is. 36:05.830 --> 36:08.880 align:start And I thought -- I never thought I would find wisdom 36:08.880 --> 36:11.320 align:start in San Andresito, but there I was. 36:11.320 --> 36:13.680 align:start They would call, Juana, will you do this annual report? 36:13.680 --> 36:16.310 align:start Yes. Will you do this animation? 36:16.310 --> 36:18.000 align:start Yes. Will you do whatever it was? 36:18.000 --> 36:20.100 align:start Yes, I'll do it, it doesn't matter. 36:20.100 --> 36:23.580 align:start Of course, I was collapsing out of all the work I was taking on, 36:23.580 --> 36:27.210 align:start but it just meant a possibility and an opportunity. 36:27.210 --> 36:30.050 align:start Meanwhile, Eileen kept on working on making sure 36:30.050 --> 36:33.590 align:start that I could get a visa as an artist. 36:33.590 --> 36:37.730 align:start And then I got a denial, and it was as hard 36:37.730 --> 36:39.980 align:start as a breakup, or even harder. 36:39.980 --> 36:46.190 align:start It -- just the idea of, you know, yeah, you're good but not that good. 36:46.190 --> 36:51.030 align:start It was basically what that eight page letter was telling me. 36:51.030 --> 36:54.820 align:start So I was losing it. 36:54.820 --> 37:00.720 align:start Moreover, this process was very expensive and I didn't have a lot 37:00.720 --> 37:03.790 align:start of money just to keep on going and spending. 37:03.790 --> 37:09.030 align:start But I knew I needed to stay here and that there was no reason 37:09.030 --> 37:14.070 align:start after all those years of hard work to go back to Columbia and give up. 37:14.070 --> 37:15.560 align:start Throughout the time, of course, 37:15.560 --> 37:18.380 align:start there were ongoing conversations with my mother. 37:18.380 --> 37:23.430 align:start And one day in particular she pointed out to me, Juana, 37:23.430 --> 37:28.660 align:start this is very much like swimming 1500 meters. 37:28.660 --> 37:31.490 align:start One thing I didn't tell you early on in an attempt 37:31.490 --> 37:35.300 align:start to make the story shorter, was that I was a swimmer 37:35.300 --> 37:38.320 align:start for a very long time, a competitive swimmer, and believe it 37:38.320 --> 37:41.890 align:start or not I would swim 1500 meters as -- 37:41.890 --> 37:47.760 align:start that was what I would compete on most at my meets. 37:47.760 --> 37:52.540 align:start And 1500 meters is a long, long swim. 37:52.540 --> 37:56.310 align:start And your head feels like it's bursting, your eyes 37:56.310 --> 38:00.320 align:start and the goggles feel like they're going to bulge out of your head. 38:00.320 --> 38:04.190 align:start You barely have the physical stamina, 38:04.190 --> 38:07.180 align:start even though I was training four hours a day, 38:07.180 --> 38:10.970 align:start going an hour to the gym, it's very, very hard to do. 38:10.970 --> 38:16.320 align:start And the moment my mom said this it was clear to me that I had 38:16.320 --> 38:19.560 align:start within me the tools to keep on swimming and to keep 38:19.560 --> 38:22.150 align:start on going forward, and to treat things basically 38:22.150 --> 38:25.960 align:start as if it was a 1500 meter meet. 38:25.960 --> 38:28.870 align:start There I am. 38:28.870 --> 38:33.270 align:start I'm [inaudible] but, you know, just try. 38:33.270 --> 38:38.010 align:start So onward, and I kept being persistent. 38:38.010 --> 38:40.720 align:start And I had to be very, very pragmatic, 38:40.720 --> 38:44.570 align:start which as a Colombian wasn't part -- wasn't easy to do. 38:44.570 --> 38:48.100 align:start So I had to think of myself as a phone battery 38:48.100 --> 38:52.300 align:start and having 15% of battery left. 38:52.300 --> 38:57.440 align:start If you have a 15% battery left you don't check Facebook. 38:57.440 --> 39:00.610 align:start You don't waste time, you know, 39:00.610 --> 39:04.420 align:start chatting with somebody really don't feel like chatting, or doing things 39:04.420 --> 39:06.900 align:start that are unnecessary, because you have to save that battery. 39:06.900 --> 39:09.950 align:start And I felt that I had that -- 39:09.950 --> 39:14.840 align:start a lot of energy and I could not lose it being tremendously dramatic 39:14.840 --> 39:18.240 align:start or petty or crying about things, and instead I had 39:18.240 --> 39:22.460 align:start to keep a mentality of, okay, that denial was very hard. 39:22.460 --> 39:23.760 align:start Now what next? 39:23.760 --> 39:25.660 align:start How can we overcome this? 39:25.660 --> 39:31.100 align:start So, fortunately enough, we had done a second filing of a visa 39:31.100 --> 39:34.790 align:start and just kept on going hoping for that to go well. 39:34.790 --> 39:40.180 align:start And then when pragmatism doesn't work, there's optimism, and of that, 39:40.180 --> 39:43.550 align:start fortunately as Colombian, I did have my fair share. 39:43.550 --> 39:48.560 align:start Thank goodness by the -- by mid-December in 2012 I received one 39:48.560 --> 39:51.200 align:start of the most delightful calls I've received. 39:51.200 --> 39:57.520 align:start Eileen, my lawyer, called to say that my visa had been approved. 39:57.520 --> 39:59.100 align:start We both cried on the phone. 39:59.100 --> 40:00.400 align:start We both celebrated. 40:00.400 --> 40:01.920 align:start I still can't get over it. 40:01.920 --> 40:06.990 align:start And that night of the 12th I slept like I hadn't in years. 40:06.990 --> 40:12.630 align:start For those of you who have waited for a visa, you know what that means. 40:12.630 --> 40:17.010 align:start Shortly after I got a book deal that made me feel 40:17.010 --> 40:20.090 align:start like the effort was entirely worth it. 40:20.090 --> 40:23.660 align:start I have been showing some of the illustrations of the book 40:23.660 --> 40:24.960 align:start within this presentation. 40:24.960 --> 40:29.550 align:start That book is called Juana and Lucas and it's back there. 40:29.550 --> 40:34.510 align:start And this validated a lot of the work that I had been doing. 40:34.510 --> 40:38.130 align:start Moreover, I happened to meet Sally, my partner, 40:38.130 --> 40:42.400 align:start and this was within a span of three months, and I thought, oh my gosh, 40:42.400 --> 40:46.130 align:start is this whole year going to go this way? 40:46.130 --> 40:51.300 align:start So it was in a way a new life and a way to see 40:51.300 --> 40:54.150 align:start that hard work had paid off, 40:54.150 --> 40:57.640 align:start that there was definitely a certain amount of luck, 40:57.640 --> 41:01.760 align:start but a lot of it had been that persistence, that pragmatism, 41:01.760 --> 41:06.930 align:start that optimism just in the right dose to make things happen. 41:06.930 --> 41:09.930 align:start So is now everything perfect? 41:09.930 --> 41:20.820 align:start No, but darn close, and for that I think it's worth saying 41:20.820 --> 41:26.920 align:start that the journey was humbling, very reassuring, fortunately, 41:26.920 --> 41:29.190 align:start and tremendously inspiring. 41:29.190 --> 41:31.090 align:start And for that I'm grateful. 41:31.090 --> 41:32.890 align:start Thank you very much. 41:32.890 --> 41:44.370 align:start [ Applause ] 41:44.370 --> 41:45.670 align:start >> Catalina Gomez: Thank you so much, Juana, 41:45.670 --> 41:47.800 align:start for this beautiful, beautiful presentation. 41:47.800 --> 41:49.920 align:start Again, we're selling the books in the back. 41:49.920 --> 41:51.220 align:start And also I wanted to announce 41:51.220 --> 41:54.290 align:start that we have this little survey close to the exit here. 41:54.290 --> 41:57.320 align:start They're from our office of communications. 41:57.320 --> 41:59.910 align:start If you have a second to fill those out we would really appreciate it. 41:59.910 --> 42:02.130 align:start Thank you again for coming. 42:02.130 --> 42:03.430 align:start >> Can I ask you a question? 42:03.430 --> 42:04.730 align:start >> Juana Medina: Sure, yeah. 42:04.730 --> 42:06.030 align:start >> Catalina Gomez: Questions, yeah, we have questions. 42:06.030 --> 42:07.540 align:start We're speechless, I'm speechless. 42:07.540 --> 42:08.840 align:start >> Juana Medina: Yes [inaudible]? 42:08.840 --> 42:12.950 align:start >> When you're doing the illustrations with the food, 42:12.950 --> 42:19.440 align:start do you have any set way of designing the illustrating first, 42:19.440 --> 42:23.440 align:start or do you see a piece of food and -- 42:23.440 --> 42:27.660 align:start >> Juana Medina: It's mostly the food first, and that does help. 42:27.660 --> 42:33.100 align:start With the latest series of books that I've been working with food, 42:33.100 --> 42:39.870 align:start there has been some theme set up beforehand so that I have an idea 42:39.870 --> 42:43.760 align:start of what I have to -- you know, the parameters I have to work within. 42:43.760 --> 42:48.220 align:start But if it's just for fun I'll look at a carrot and see, 42:48.220 --> 42:50.960 align:start you know, what ends up happening. 42:50.960 --> 42:54.960 align:start So it's not necessarily prescribed, yeah. 42:54.960 --> 42:57.510 align:start >> Like the radish that you showed a minute ago. 42:57.510 --> 42:58.810 align:start >> Juana Medina: Yeah. 42:58.810 --> 43:01.380 align:start >> Do you draw from a photograph or [inaudible] like that? 43:01.380 --> 43:05.090 align:start [inaudible] on paper and then you put the food there, 43:05.090 --> 43:07.720 align:start but that's not possible. 43:07.720 --> 43:09.020 align:start >> Juana Medina: Right. 43:09.020 --> 43:12.880 align:start Yeah, so initially I did start drawing with pen and ink 43:12.880 --> 43:15.890 align:start around the fruit that I was using, and then I realized 43:15.890 --> 43:19.240 align:start that it's a lot easier to just photograph the food 43:19.240 --> 43:21.430 align:start because it has such a short lifespan. 43:21.430 --> 43:26.120 align:start So just to photograph the food, take it into Photoshop and try all sorts 43:26.120 --> 43:28.140 align:start of iterations, so that guaranteed 43:28.140 --> 43:31.940 align:start that I could play a lot more with it. 43:31.940 --> 43:36.060 align:start So, yeah, this is Photoshop. 43:36.060 --> 43:42.620 align:start And then I can use it, you know, for however many times I want, yeah. 43:42.620 --> 43:45.510 align:start Yes? 43:45.510 --> 43:59.040 align:start [ Inaudible ] 43:59.040 --> 44:01.870 align:start >> Absolutely, yes. 44:01.870 --> 44:03.780 align:start There have been many influences. 44:03.780 --> 44:07.570 align:start I think being a child, Quentin Blake, 44:07.570 --> 44:10.070 align:start Jules Feiffer, Kino [phonetic]. 44:10.070 --> 44:18.190 align:start I'm blanking right now but, you know, there were so -- 44:18.190 --> 44:20.550 align:start yeah, Cheryl Steinberg [assumed spelling], 44:20.550 --> 44:23.150 align:start were of great inspiration. 44:23.150 --> 44:28.370 align:start And then I started learning a whole new amount of illustrators 44:28.370 --> 44:37.170 align:start and cartoonists and that definitely was humbling and so inspiring. 44:37.170 --> 44:41.040 align:start Moreover, and thanks for your question, as Catalina was saying, 44:41.040 --> 44:45.050 align:start winning the National Cartoonist Society J. Kennedy Memorial 44:45.050 --> 44:51.550 align:start Scholarship was a wonderful way of connecting with many cartoonists, 44:51.550 --> 44:55.490 align:start and that guaranteed that I could learn from them, 44:55.490 --> 45:00.050 align:start not just about their work, but their personal experience with art, 45:00.050 --> 45:07.510 align:start and that was a -- you know, just a great privilege really, yeah. 45:07.510 --> 45:19.530 align:start [ Inaudible ] 45:19.530 --> 45:20.830 align:start That's a really good question. 45:20.830 --> 45:25.670 align:start So with Juana and Lucas, the story was very clear from the beginning. 45:25.670 --> 45:27.600 align:start I'll just tell you very briefly. 45:27.600 --> 45:30.990 align:start What happened was my mom picked me up at school and I was fuming 45:30.990 --> 45:33.770 align:start and furious, and she asked what was going on. 45:33.770 --> 45:37.030 align:start And I said, well they want me to learn something called the English. 45:37.030 --> 45:39.270 align:start I really don't want to learn this. 45:39.270 --> 45:42.010 align:start And she said, well, we're going to Disney World 45:42.010 --> 45:46.050 align:start and Mickey Mouse only speaks English so you might want to give it a try. 45:46.050 --> 45:49.320 align:start And that kind of solved it. 45:49.320 --> 45:52.310 align:start So the structure of the story was there 45:52.310 --> 45:56.740 align:start and it was very clear what I wanted to do. 45:56.740 --> 46:00.690 align:start And when I started presenting the pitch for the story 46:00.690 --> 46:03.930 align:start to different publishing houses I got all sorts of answers. 46:03.930 --> 46:06.600 align:start Within those answers there were some that said, 46:06.600 --> 46:08.210 align:start you know, Bogata is too remote. 46:08.210 --> 46:10.080 align:start Nobody really knows about Columbia. 46:10.080 --> 46:12.930 align:start Why we should kids in the U.S. learn about Columbia? 46:12.930 --> 46:14.390 align:start That's not interesting. 46:14.390 --> 46:17.400 align:start Some were saying, well, this is very exciting. 46:17.400 --> 46:18.700 align:start The character is very cute. 46:18.700 --> 46:20.450 align:start Why don't we make them Mexican, 46:20.450 --> 46:24.070 align:start and instead of a dog we give her a burro, and instead of -- 46:24.070 --> 46:26.600 align:start you know, oh she would be so cute with a sombrero. 46:26.600 --> 46:27.900 align:start And I was like, Jesus, 46:27.900 --> 46:31.550 align:start do they realize how offensive this is just, you know? 46:31.550 --> 46:34.680 align:start And moreover, unfortunately, I've never been to Mexico 46:34.680 --> 46:36.290 align:start so how could I tell the story. 46:36.290 --> 46:38.860 align:start And so it was really interesting. 46:38.860 --> 46:42.330 align:start Or turning her -- the character into an immigrant 46:42.330 --> 46:43.650 align:start and being at Jackson Heights. 46:43.650 --> 46:46.790 align:start And I thought that's perfectly valid, but it's not my experience. 46:46.790 --> 46:48.370 align:start I can't really speak of that. 46:48.370 --> 46:53.880 align:start So that was a point where instead of yes, I had to very kindly decline 46:53.880 --> 46:56.980 align:start and say no, and know exactly what I wanted to do. 46:56.980 --> 46:59.750 align:start And that's hard, especially after saying yes so many times 46:59.750 --> 47:03.630 align:start to everything, and not knowing if that no is going 47:03.630 --> 47:07.710 align:start to cut my opportunities that are lying ahead. 47:07.710 --> 47:10.200 align:start Yeah. Yes? 47:10.200 --> 47:20.440 align:start >> Speaking of Columbia, how does [inaudible] is that tomorrow? 47:20.440 --> 47:23.540 align:start >> Juana Medina: It's -- the voting is next week. 47:23.540 --> 47:25.810 align:start I'm so moved. 47:25.810 --> 47:31.020 align:start I am so moved to think that after so, so many years we are going 47:31.020 --> 47:32.820 align:start to see peace in our lifetime. 47:32.820 --> 47:36.590 align:start That is the most exciting thing I can think of. 47:36.590 --> 47:42.590 align:start And I truly hope that all of us Colombians will be able to see 47:42.590 --> 47:43.960 align:start that in some kind of way. 47:43.960 --> 47:45.810 align:start Is this peace treaty perfect? 47:45.810 --> 47:48.150 align:start No, but no peace is going to be perfect. 47:48.150 --> 47:53.510 align:start It's -- there's been so much pain and so many violations of everything 47:53.510 --> 47:56.400 align:start that it's impossible to think of a way 47:56.400 --> 48:01.990 align:start that would erase the problematic entirely, but I truly, 48:01.990 --> 48:05.640 align:start truly hope for a yes and that people will see the value 48:05.640 --> 48:08.880 align:start of what has been done in Cuba in all the talks. 48:08.880 --> 48:10.180 align:start Yeah. Yeah. 48:10.180 --> 48:11.480 align:start Yes? 48:11.480 --> 48:17.620 align:start >> How much of a culture shock was [inaudible]? 48:17.620 --> 48:19.980 align:start >> Juana Medina: Oh, it was interesting 48:19.980 --> 48:25.750 align:start because my grandparents lived in Boston for a while, so I had grown 48:25.750 --> 48:29.830 align:start up hearing a lot of stories about Boston and I -- we had visited. 48:29.830 --> 48:32.830 align:start So it wasn't a tremendous shock, 48:32.830 --> 48:35.620 align:start until conversations started to come forward. 48:35.620 --> 48:39.840 align:start I remember in particular talking to somebody for about half an hour 48:39.840 --> 48:41.850 align:start and she must have been completely absent-minded and all 48:41.850 --> 48:44.100 align:start of a sudden she turns to me and she says, you know, 48:44.100 --> 48:47.940 align:start I just realized this is the first person, I talked to a brown person. 48:47.940 --> 48:54.330 align:start And I couldn't even think of what to say. 48:54.330 --> 48:58.410 align:start So, yeah, there have been interesting things, 48:58.410 --> 49:01.080 align:start but not all of them have happened in New England. 49:01.080 --> 49:02.380 align:start I love New England. 49:02.380 --> 49:06.350 align:start I'll be there in a week or so, and I love it. 49:06.350 --> 49:08.140 align:start But it was interesting. 49:08.140 --> 49:11.560 align:start D.C. also has -- I mean, I remember I was volunteering 49:11.560 --> 49:13.580 align:start at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 49:13.580 --> 49:17.490 align:start and on my first day this very kind woman was guiding me 49:17.490 --> 49:20.430 align:start through the hospital, which is huge. 49:20.430 --> 49:22.960 align:start This was at the prior location. 49:22.960 --> 49:24.930 align:start And all of a sudden she said, wait hold on, 49:24.930 --> 49:26.710 align:start I need to show you something, 49:26.710 --> 49:29.950 align:start because I had told her I was Colombian 49:29.950 --> 49:31.800 align:start and I had just arrived and all these things. 49:31.800 --> 49:36.670 align:start And she said, let me show you, this is an elevator. 49:36.670 --> 49:39.230 align:start If you press this button you go up. 49:39.230 --> 49:40.900 align:start If you press this button you go down. 49:40.900 --> 49:45.420 align:start And I was like, wow, you know, we don't have those in the jungle. 49:45.420 --> 49:48.030 align:start I mean, it's just like, oh my God. 49:48.030 --> 49:53.570 align:start I mean, how do you even -- so I just said, 49:53.570 --> 49:55.070 align:start thank you, thank you very much. 49:55.070 --> 49:59.570 align:start And then later on -- because I think people most 49:59.570 --> 50:01.360 align:start of the time do it out of kindness. 50:01.360 --> 50:04.470 align:start And there's some nervousness and simply not knowing. 50:04.470 --> 50:09.010 align:start And I'm sure I have said awful, awful things to people, 50:09.010 --> 50:10.790 align:start you know, in many situations. 50:10.790 --> 50:12.860 align:start So it was hard. 50:12.860 --> 50:17.440 align:start At the end of the, you know, just a few minutes later we were standing 50:17.440 --> 50:20.080 align:start in line and she said, so how is the cultural shock? 50:20.080 --> 50:22.770 align:start You know, how hard has it been to adapt to the city? 50:22.770 --> 50:25.340 align:start And I said, you know, I feel like I'm in a small town. 50:25.340 --> 50:28.160 align:start It feels so tiny and the buildings are so short. 50:28.160 --> 50:30.150 align:start And she was like, really? 50:30.150 --> 50:38.880 align:start Really? So, yeah, I think, again, kindness goes a long way, yeah. 50:38.880 --> 50:42.170 align:start >> I hear that you're going to participate 50:42.170 --> 50:43.470 align:start in a project with [inaudible]. 50:43.470 --> 50:48.550 align:start Can you comment a little about this? 50:48.550 --> 50:50.640 align:start >> Juana Medina: You heard right, yes. 50:50.640 --> 50:54.310 align:start I can barely contain myself about this project. 50:54.310 --> 50:56.260 align:start I'm so excited. 50:56.260 --> 50:59.680 align:start Can I say the name? 50:59.680 --> 51:05.280 align:start Catalina [inaudible] will be joining many young readers 51:05.280 --> 51:08.400 align:start through her Technicolor Adventures. 51:08.400 --> 51:15.070 align:start And the poet laureate has been writing absolutely fantastic, 51:15.070 --> 51:18.910 align:start just such beautiful versus for this project. 51:18.910 --> 51:20.390 align:start And we'll be collaborating. 51:20.390 --> 51:21.690 align:start He will be writing. 51:21.690 --> 51:22.990 align:start I will be illustrating. 51:22.990 --> 51:24.290 align:start And there's a whole team behind us guaranteeing 51:24.290 --> 51:28.940 align:start that everything will turn out as well as it can go. 51:28.940 --> 51:34.380 align:start And it'll be a great collaboration with second graders. 51:34.380 --> 51:36.100 align:start >> Second and third graders. 51:36.100 --> 51:37.640 align:start >> Second and third graders, 51:37.640 --> 51:42.010 align:start so we can't wait [inaudible] come up with, yeah. 51:42.010 --> 51:43.310 align:start Yeah? That was your question? 51:43.310 --> 51:45.970 align:start Oh great. Good. 51:45.970 --> 51:47.910 align:start All right. 51:47.910 --> 51:49.420 align:start Well, thank you very much. 51:49.420 --> 51:55.020 align:start Thank you [applause]. 51:55.020 --> 51:58.720 align:start >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. 51:58.720 --> 52:01.100 align:start Visit us at loc.gove.