In this episode, we met with  Camilo Villa (he, they), a Colombian interdisciplinary artist and Spanish language educator based in the Bay Area (San Francisco). Camilo explores the intersection of art, education, and social justice, with a focus on the liberation of Queer Latinx communities and the evolution of gender-inclusive Spanish language curriculum. Tune in as he shares how his work challenges traditional language norms and promotes inclusivity in linguistic representation.

CAMILO VILLA holds an M.A. in Education for Equity & Social Justice from San Francisco State University and a B.F.A. in Individualized Studies with a minor in Social Action & Public Forms from the California College of the Arts.

Their art practice and educational research addresses the liberation of Queer Latinx communities, the violent erasure of social leaders in his home country Colombia, and the journey of Latin American migrants crossing the US-Mexico Border.

Camilo’s work has been exhibited at Senator Scott Wiener’s Office as part of the We Belong-Pertenecemos exhibit and at the SFMOMA Artists Gallery as part of the Hispanic Heritage exhibit. Their work has been featured in magazines, such as Bay Area Reporter, Voyage LA , NEWAGE, and Latin:SF.

Camilo builds intersectional spaces for learning by incorporating culturally and queerly responsive pedagogical models in his teaching practice.

Most recently, he published his master’s thesis titled Teaching Gender Inclusive Spanish: Advancing Pedagogy Towards Gender Equity on ProQuest. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a gender-inclusive Spanish language curriculum developed for 3rd-5th grade Spanish classes that employs the letter "e" to desexualize the masculine generic form. Fundamental to this approach is how pre-colonial indigenous gender systems advance the now contested need to eradicate sexist expressions in the Spanish language that has increasingly gained momentum in Latin America for the past decade.

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Camilo's Website

Upcoming Art Show at the Intersection for the Arts

September 21st and 22nd

Intersection for The Arts, Instagram

Other Announcements:

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