Previous Curators

The La Descolonización del Arte: A Celebration of Our Raíces’ previous curatorial team is still recognized because they worked with the Lead Co-Curator for Las Raíces Jovenes of Tomorrow, Leticia Arellano,l for brainstorming the exhibition title and logo, and each title for the art exhibition series. Their exhibition vision is that roots will be acknowledged, celebrated, examined, and shared through diverse experiences with multiple identities, multiculturalism, multilingualism, migration, class, gender, mobility, and more. The previous curators are Roberto Sandoval, Carmen King, Norma Morán, and Nicholas Sánchez. Their unique curatorial work experience along with their lived experiences with roots from Latin America and the Caribbean made them great candidates in bringing this exhibition into fruition.

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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: Lead 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 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 - 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 (NTID) which featured the artwork of Latine/Latinx/Latina/Latino/Hispanic 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.

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[Image description: A brown-skinned Salvadoreña with dark wavy hair and a pair of gray glasses is smiling slightly next to a red brick wall. A tree is behind her. She is wearing a white woven huipil with intricate bold green and purple embroidered top.]

Name: Norma Morán
Role: Curator 
Nationality/Ethnicity: Salvadoreña
Residence: Washington D.C. Metro Area
Pronouns: She/Her/Ella

Norma Morán was born in El Salvador when the country was beginning its slide into a brutal civil war. Her mother believed the United States could give Norma more opportunities, so they walked their way north and crossed over borders into this country. Her mother was correct as Norma thrived and went on to obtain undergraduate and graduate degrees from Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) and American University (Washington, D.C.). Currently, she is a state-appointed member of the Maryland Advisory Council of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing for Maryland and a board member of the Maryland/Washington DC Chapter of Hands and Voices. Norma has given numerous presentations for a wide variety of organizations and institutions. Fun fact: Norma is a bookworm and a museum aficionado!

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[Image description: A smiling brown-skinned Peruvian-Mexican with shaved black hair and dark red lipstick. She dons two colorful hoop earrings, a hot pink evil eye pendant necklace, and a white eyelet blouse. A gray wall is behind her.]

Name: Carmen King
Role: Curator
Nationality/Ethnicity: Peruvian-Mexican
Residence: Queens, New York
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Carmen King was born in Querétaro, México and used to be a nomad growing up. Now, she has become a true New Yorker. She studied Graphic Design and graduated from National Institute of Technical for the Deaf and Rochester Institute of Technology. She worked as a Greeter for the Whitney Museum for more than 10 years. From 2003-2004, King worked as docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. As an art gallery and museum devotee, she continues to visit many art exhibitions when travelling. Fun facts about Carmen: A walk in nature is where she gets her forest therapy and she’s a spicy hot chocolate connoisseur.

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[Image description: A brown-skinned Peruvian-Mexican in a brown fedora, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses and an olive shirt. He is smiling and looking to the right of the image.]

Name: Nicholas Sánchez
Role: Curator
Nationality/Ethnicity: Peruvian-Mexican
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Pronouns: He/Him/His

Nicholas Sánchez was born in Redwood City and raised in San Mateo (San Francisco, Bay Area), California. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in Interior Design in 2019. He is half Peruvian and half Mexican. Nicholas went to mainstream schools since he was a little kid. He has been sharing his skills, experiences, and his challenges through 11 years of college. He is focused on growing through his challenges, educating, motivating, and inspiring the Deaf community he is part of. He was a Master of Ceremonies (MC) for the Los Angeles DeaFestival 2018; Vice President for Student Club Organization 2017 at CSUN; and committee workshop presenter at the National Center on Deafness Summer Institute in 2017. Fun fact about Nicholas: He has been a CrossFit member since 2013 and he never stops working out because he loves it! It is the greatest lifelong project he will ever work on that keeps his mental health well.