General admission for children 17 years and under is always free
VISITING STUDIO ARTIST MAY 2022
As a response to the Museum’s permanent collection, Visiting Studio Artist Veronica Robles created a mask-making Studio project where visitors took inspiration from different objects in the Museum to make their own unique paper mask.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Veronica Robles is a multi talented Mexican artist; She is a Mariachi singer, and musician by trade and the founder of Boston's First All Women Mariachi Band. She is a folkloric dancer and choreographer; this discipline helps her empower the youth by employing them and teaching them about their roots and cultures through dance and music classes and performances.
She has effectively utilized the power of the arts and culture to bring the communities together by raising awareness on the importance of diversity through producing, and curating small and large events. Although Veronica was raised (Cartoneria), cardboard and papier-mâché masks and sculptures that are a traditional handcraft in Mexico it was until 2002 that she started practicing this discipline as a way to relax and meditate. Later on she brought this tradition to her community at the Veronica Robles Cultural Center (VROCC), a non-profit organization based in East Boston that inspires community action for social change and supports economic growth by offering jobs for youth and local artists in the arts and culture fields. VROCC offers a wide range of cultural responsive programming focused on traditional arts from various countries of Latin America.
Ms. Robles has received countless awards including the Ohtli Award; this Award is one of the highest and very limited distinctions given by the Government of Mexico. This acknowledgment honors people who have dedicated most of their lives and careers to “blazing a trail” abroad for younger generations as they strive to achieve their dreams. Ohtli is a Nahuatl word that means “pathway”, or camino in Spanish.
Veronica is a Neighborhood Salon Luminary at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and she is a Celebrity Series of Boston Neighborhood Arts program artists.