Curators and Editor

The Dyer Arts Center is offering a virtual viewing of the La Descolonizacion del Arte: A Celebration of Our Raíces introducing part two of the exhibition series: Deconstructing Our Raíces. This virtual exhibition was curated by Leticia Arellano, Curator, and Roberto Sandoval, Curator. The Curators spent a lot of time planning this exhibition. They recruited artists, determined the art theme, selected artworks, planned the virtual exhibition design, wrote texts, and organized event programs. Leticia and Roberto had the opportunity to experience the many aspects of curatorial work. This exhibition wouldn't been possible without the support from their editor, Francisco Arias. Editing and proofreading are essential parts of the writing process. The Editor also works on each image description that the DeafBlind audience can access the information of the all images on the virtual exhibition. This celebration will be entirely virtual thus more accessible to the community within this border and beyond.

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[Image description: A smiling, brown-skinned Chicano with short black hair looking towards the camera. He is wearing a black sweater with a vertical, grey argyle pattern down the middle and black long sleeves. The background is an outdoor scene with cement blocks holding up a wooden vase of cactus.]

Name: Roberto “Robs” Sandoval
Role: Curator
Nationality/Ethnicity: Chicano
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Pronouns: He/Him/Our

Roberto Sandoval is a Deaf native of San Diego who is currently living in Los Angeles, California. He has served on numerous Latine/Latinx Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Hard of Hearing, and Late-Deafened (DDBDDHHLD) committees and boards. Roberto also works with sign language interpreter organizations such as Mano a Mano (MaM) which is a national and professional ASL/Spanish/English trilingual interpreter organization. Roberto was the first Deaf Board member on the MaM Executive Board. His participation on the MaM Board marked the beginning of many collaborations between Deaf and hearing interpreters who work in Spanish-influenced settings. From 2011 to 2017, he had served three consecutive times in the Council de Manos Conference Planning Committee.

In 2017, Roberto was the curator for the Dyer Arts Center at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf which featured the artwork of Latine/Latinx DDBDDHHLD artists during the Arte del Corazón exhibit. The Deaf Arts Jubilee brings together Deaf high school students from across Southern California for a day full of exposure to arts and culture. In 2018 and 2019, Roberto was one of the Deaf Arts Jubilee presenters teaching Mexican Arts.

Fun facts about Robs: He loves reading, learning histories, and traveling to attractions and historical sites.

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[Image description: A smiling brown-skinned Mexican with long black and silver hair; wearing a pair of colorful earrings, a blue blouse, a heart-shaped necklace, and a pair of white-framed glasses with black speckles. She is standing behind a light blue wall.]

Name: Leticia Arellano
Role: Curator
Nationality/Ethnicity: Mexican-Mixtec
Residence: Washington, D.C.
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Leticia Arellano was born in Ciudad Juárez, México, and later moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where she obtained her formal education at the New Mexico School for the Deaf. Leticia was always fascinated by the colorful, cultural, and indigenous art of Mexico and New Mexico. From an early age, she was always eager to immerse herself in art by visiting museums, art galleries, and various art installations--an undying fascination that continues to this day. Leticia attended NTID/RIT and Gallaudet at a much later time where she was the first in her family to receive a bachelor’s degree. She then continued her education at Western Maryland College (now McDaniel) for her master’s degree in Deaf Education. She traveled to Japan to live with Eiichi and Nariko Mitsui who are deaf Kutani porcelain painters in Komatsu and was immediately influenced by their work. Arellano was a curator for the Arte del Corazón exhibition at the Dyer Arts Center in 2017 and is currently a board member. Leticia loves to travel and has a passion for collecting deaf artwork from all over the world.

Fun fact about Leticia: She has countless pairs of eyeglasses!




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[Image description: Cisco is light-skinned with medium-length hair, full beard, and he is smiling, looking towards the camera. He is wearing a light-blue, band-collared, long-sleeve buttoned shirt with small white spots. The background is filled with swirls of grey, white, black and teal colors.]

Name: Francisco “Cisco” Arias
Role: Editor
Nationality/Ethnicity: Chicano
Location: Long Beach, California
Pronouns: He/His/Him

Cisco was born in Long Beach, California and became the first person in his first-generation Mexican family to graduate with two degrees: an Associate of Arts in Political Science from Cerritos College in 2012 and a Bachelor of Arts in Deaf Studies from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in 2014. During his time at CSUN, he was a Political Action Committee Chair for Deaf CSUNians. He was a volunteer editor for California Manos del Corazón (CMC), and contributed to the official launch of the organization’s website.

Fun facts about Cisco: hungry foodie, comic book reader, loves collecting movies!