First generation Americans are the flowers that bloom after generations of harvest. 

—EL SUEÑO Director Alicia Mullikin 

How can we use community art-making as a way to learn from and honor our ancestors, while also mapping paths for our personal and collective futures? All ages are welcome to join choreographer and dancer Alicia Mullikin, along with her dance company EL SUEÑO, for an early evening of discussion and creative exercises around the themes of harvest and bloom, which will include instruction on making Mexican paper flowers. These flowers will be used to construct a mural at the Henry Art Gallery as part of our next community exhibition, EL SUEÑO: THE FLOWERS THAT BLOOM, opening in November in the museum’s lobby. 

This ArtVenture will take place off-site at Nod Theatre in Capitol Hill. Participants ages 12 and up will be asked to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Mask requirements will be in place, regardless of vaccination status. 

Alicia Mullikin is a first generation Mexican-American and Native American who uses her identity to inform her work as a contemporary dance artist. As an artist, Mullikin believes that physical embodiment and representation of diverse cultural experiences can be used as a form of empowerment and healing for historically marginalized communities. Through her work, she strives to bring visibility to the stories and experiences of women of color. As an educator she engages in community dialogue and curriculum development to create more culturally relevant and equitable educational systems. For more about her work visit aliciamullikin.com

EL SUEÑO is a dance company founded by Alicia Mullikin. Its mission is to use dance as a platform for community engagement, healing, and empowerment of marginalized communities. EL SUEÑO actively weaponizes dance against cultural erasure and systematically deconstructs harmful narratives about brown bodies in hopes of providing representation, cultural restoration, and nurturing environments for the next generation of dance artists.