COMMEMORATION OF THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF U.S.-MEXICO DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH A RECEPTION, PANEL DISCUSSION, POETRY, ART EXHIBIT AND FESTIBA MARIACHI CONCERT Saturday, March 4
Symposium Agenda 5:00 PM CST 5:20 PM CST Viewing of Art Exhibit National Anthems César L. De León Reading from his book speaking with grackles by soapberry trees (Flowersong Press 2021) Poetry 5:25 PM CST Miguel Aguirre - Mexican National Anthem Kassandra Juárez - United States National Anthem Welcome Dr. Walter Díaz, Dean, College of Liberal Arts, UTRGV Froylán Yesecas Cedillo, Consul Artists Rigoberto A. González Carlos Limas Rubén Lozano Nydia Salinas Angela V. Scardigno 5:15 PM CST
Q&A 6:40 PM CST Mariachi Concert Performing Arts Complex Price: $20 To purchase, call: (956) 665-3881 or (956) 882-8075. Pasado, Presente y Futuro Montserrat Garibay Hugo René Oliva Romero Erika Rendón Ramos, PhD José Antonio Segovia Montoya Francisco Samuel Martínez Jacob Stevens Moderator: Stephanie Alvarez, PhD Panel 5:40 PM CST 7:30 PM CST Symposium Agenda
Montserrat Garibay is the Acting Assistant Deputy Secretary & Director for the Office of English Language Acquisition and the Senior Advisor for Labor Relations, Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. She was the Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO. Previously, she served as Vice President for Certified Employees with Education Austin, a merged union local with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and the American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations. Garibay came to the U.S. from Mexico City as an undocumented immigrant and became a citizen 20 years later. A bilingual pre-kindergarten teacher for eight years and National Board-Certified Teacher. She is a graduate of the National Labor Leadership Initiative with the Worker Institute at Cornell University. Garibay is a University of Texas - Austin graduate with a Master of Education. served the Ministry Foreign Affairs since April, 1980, as Analyst, Department Chief, Assistant Director and Deputy Secretary for the North America Division. In 1991, he became Deputy Consul General of Mexico in Panama and was promoted to Second Secretary. After being named Third Secretary in 1994, he was appointed Deputy Consul General of Mexico in Calexico (California); on June 20th, 2006, he became Deputy Consul General in Austin (Texas) and Deputy Consul General in the Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix (Arizona) and was appointed to the Consulate General of Mexico in San Bernardino (California) afterwards. He is the current Deputy Consul General at the Consulate General of Mexico in McAllen (Texas). HUgo rené oliva romero erika rendón-ramos, PhD was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Southwestern University in History and Spanish and a Master's and PhD from Rice University in History. Rendón-Ramos is currently an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with the Mexican American Studies Program. Her research interests include Mexico, immigration, U.S. Southwest Borderlands, and gender and women's studies.
José Antonio Segovia montoya was born on June 27th, 1989 in Nogales (Sonora). He graduated as a civil engineer from the Technological Institute of Nogales and received his master's degree in Urbanism from the Technological Institute of Mexico Nogales campus. Segovia served the public sector as Resident of Public Works at the Urban Infrastructure and Public Works Division in Nogales, and worked as an instructor for the Department of Earth Sciences at the Technological Institute of Mexico Nogales campus. He became chief of the Cross-border Sanitation Department in Nogales, overseeing the Mexican Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC.) As the current Representative of the IBWC Mexican Section in Reynosa (Tamaulipas), he coordinates the operation and maintenance of the international storage dams of Falcon, Anzalduas and Retamal, addressing the issues of sanitation, stormwater management and international boundary demarcation in the Northern border of Tamaulipas, from Nueva Ciudad de Guerrero to the Gulf of Mexico. Francisco Samuel Martínez was born in McAllen (Texas) on August 25th, 1978. He graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the University of Texas – Pan American. For the past 19 years, he has served the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). He is the current Assistant Manager of Operations. The U.S. Section oversees the maintenance and operations of two international storage dams and diversion systems of the Rio Grande; additionally, he works with the three levels of government in coordinating water use efficiency and reticulation. Jacob stevens is the Political and Economic Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Matamoros. Prior to arriving in Matamoros, Jake served in Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ecuador. He has also served three tours in Washington, focusing mainly on economics. He is a lawyer and is originally from Portland, Oregon.
Stephanie alvarez, PhD is Associate Professor of Mexican American Studies and Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at University of Texas Río Grande Valley. She has been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching as the U.S. Professor of the Year, the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education with the Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Ed award, and the University of Texas System Board of Regents with the Outstanding Teaching Award. She is the founding Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas Pan-American and has assisted over a dozen Latinx students in reaching their goal of gaining entrance to a PhD program. She is the author of multiple essays on the intersections of education, race, gender, language, identity, and culture. You can find her most recently co-authored essay in the Harvard Educational Review. Alvarez is also the recipient of a 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities Faculty Awards Fellowship for her research on contemporary Chicana feminists in the Río Grande Valley. Her work is motivated by her students and her lived experiences as a Latina student, educator, and mother of three. césar l. de león is the author of speaking with grackles by soapberry trees (FlowerSong 2021). He is winner of the Texas Institute of letters John A. Robertson award for the best first book of poetry (2021) and the Philosophical Society of Texas Best Book of Poetry award (2022). He is an educator and one of four poet-organizers for Poets Against Walls, a grass-roots collective of poets and educators dedicated to centering and elevating Borderland narratives and work by writers, artists, and activists affected by borders and divisions of all kinds. His work has appeared in Queen Mob’s Tea House, Pilgrimage, The Acentos Review, La Bloga, Zocalo Public Square, and anthologies like Asina is How We Talk, Pulse/Pulso: In Remembrance of Orlando, Imaniman: Poets Writing in the Anzaldúan Borderlands, and Dreaming: A Tribute to Selena Quintanilla-Perez, among others. is Attorney at Law from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), has a Diploma in North American Law from the University of Georgetown. Within his professional experience, he emphasizes his work with civil society organizations. He was deputy director of Citizen Participation in the Benito Juarez Delegation. Since November 14th, is Consul in this Consulate of Mexico in McAllen, Texas. FROYLÁN YESCAS
ENTRE PALABRAS Tengo sed de palabras Con olor a tierra mojada Y sabor a rio Palabras refrescantes Como el agua en los cantaros de barro de mi abuela Como el agua de norias antiguas Palabras que me empapen la frente Con ilusiones Y me revivan el alma. Tengo hambre de voces calcinantes Como el sol de mediodía Voces que me cieguen con su resplandor Que me hagan sudar Que me tuesten la piel Que me quemen el corazón y las entrañas Quiero volar entre versos de mil colores Que broten de bocas vivas Como nubes de mariposas Como parvadas de Quetzales Como cascadas de estrellas En un amanecer perpetuo Pintado por lenguas tornasol Quiero emborracharme Con verbos infinitos y enloquecidos Endulzados con miel de agave Y ritmos hipnóticos Que me hagan alucinar Que me hagan delirar Que me transporten a laberintos espirales De metáforas eternas Y descubrir entre sus sombras azules Palabras prohibidas Que me hagan temblar en éxtasis Que me hagan vibrar desde mi centro cósmico Quiero quedarme dormido Al son de cantos ancestrales Entrelazados con lenguas hibridas Y palabras futuristas Que me hagan soñar Que me revelen un futuro sin fronteras Plasmado en un poema universal e infinito Quiero morir de poesía Y renacer en un firmamento de palabras. CésarL.DeLeón
carlos limas has a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from the Instituto Profesional de Arte y Diseño in Monterrey, México, and a Bachelor’s in Studio Art by l’Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles in Belgium, and completed a Master’s in Fine Arts from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Tx. He has a residency in Conceptual Art at the Accademia di Brera in Milan, Italy. Limas works in painting, video, and photography and has exhibited in group and solo art exhibitions internationally. He has served as the Chair of the School of Art at CONARTE in Monterrey, México from 2006 to 2011, creating multiple projects for the art community. Limas is the Program Coordinator at the UTRGV Center for Latin American Arts in Edinburg, covering events in México, Perú, and the United States, and also has teach Digital and Analog Photography at the UTRGV School of Art and Design, and at South Texas College, in McAllen, Texas. graduated with her Bachelor in Arts as a Graphic Designer from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2006. While she attended the University, she took classes in several art workshops taught by masters such as Lautaro Fiszman, Aníbal Cedrón, and Carlos Terribili. In 2010, she moved to the United States, where she completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2019. Scardigno has exhibited throughout the Rio Grande Valley, Argentina, and México, and her work was published in magazines such as Studio Visit (2018), Kolaj (2020), and Contemporary Collage (2022). She currently works at the UTRGV Center for Latin American Arts as a Program Specialist. Scardigno lives and works in McAllen, Texas. angela v. scardigno carloslimas.com @carloslimas70
Rubén lozano was born in Houston, Tx on March 5th, 1992. He was raised in his tia’s house in Raymondville, Tx, which helped him experience the wondrous views of landscape. He was told stories of his grandfather, a native Maya from Tampico, Mexico who traveled to America to seek a better life. He spent his entire childhood drawing, later developing his figure drawing and sketching in high school and college. Later, he attended UTRGV for his Bachelors of Art, and was taught by Riboberto Gonzalez. Through his education he became motivated to create landscapes that signify the issues that affect the community. He makes landscapes for political talking points, and to embrace and reflect his cultural heritage. Nydia Salinas Rigoberto a. González born in 1973 in Reynosa Tamaulipas, Mexico, Rigoberto lives in Edinburg, Texas He holds a B.F.A. from The University of Texas at Pan America in 1999 and an M.F.A. from the New York Academy of Art in 2004. He currently teaches drawing and painting at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Gonzalez’s work has been exhibited at theSmithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC,theKonsthallen Bohuslan Museum, Uddevalla, Sweden, TheMuseum of Contemporary Art Branch of the National Museum in Wrocław, Poland, The Guildhall Art Gallery, London, England. Rigoberto has participated in artist residencies at the Roswell Artist Residency, Roswell, New Mexico and at the Santa Fe Art Institute Artist Residency Program, Santa Fe, New Mexico. is a visual artist who was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2020. Salinas recently participated in an International Artist Residency: Arquetopia (2021) on Pre-Columbian Ceramics in Puebla, Mexico thanks to the support of the Guadalupe el Torrero Foundation (GeT). Salinas explores the dialect of the Rio Grande Valley and encourages her community to embrace their tongue and reject the idea of a “standard English language.” The dynamic of her upbringing - and the community she has encountered - is what inspired her journey in sharing the lived experiences of the people living on forced borderlands.
Art Exhibit Adelita ceramic 21"x14"x14" Nydia Salinas
Art Exhibit Escape Underground collage 14"x14" collage, 14"x14" Angela V. Scardigno Old Plane Park infrared photography 16"x16" infrared photography 16"x16" Carlos Limas
Art Exhibit Landscape 1 on the Rio Grande Landscape 2 on the Rio Grande oil on canvas 18" x 24" oil on canvas 18" x 24" Rubén Lozano Hawk Crotalus graphite drawing, 36"x40" oil on canvas, 36"x32" Rigoberto González
Special Performance
With Special ThanksTo Dulce Mata Taylor Seaver De La Fuente Abigail Chapa Garza Joy Esquierdo Dania López García Emmy Pérez Tesoro’s Fine Cuisine LUCHA-Mexican American Studies Club UTRGV Office of Translation & Interpretation (TiO) Sodexo Acknowledgements UTRGV wishes to thank the following individuals and organizations for their support. Planning Committee Stephanie Alvarez Verónica De La Garza Walter Díaz Karen Dorado Dahlia Guerra Samantha López Hugo René Oliva Romero Oliva Rubio Katherine McAllen
EVENT SPONSORS