The Truth In This Art with the Founder & Creative Director of Tola's Room Christina Delgado

Welcome to the Truth in Us Art, your go to source for conversations at the crossroads of arts, culture, and community. I am your host, Rob Lee. And today, I'm excited to welcome back a returning guest for a special conversation. My guest is a Baltimore based photographer, curator, and the founder and creative director of Tola's Room, a Puerto Rican home museum and cultural space in Northeast Baltimore. This space is dedicated to celebrating and educating visitors about Puerto Rican and New York Rican culture and history with a special focus on Baltimore's local bariqua narrative.

Welcome back, Christina Delgado.

Thank you. Thanks so much for having me back again.

Absolutely. And it's been far far too long. It's what, 3 years, I think. Because I went up going through it. I was like, alright, I want to pin the meetings together.

1, I got to listen to it to make sure I don't sound like, like, dumb. Like, yo, did you ask the same question again? See if the answer is still the same.

That's so funny.

But it's truly a treat to have you back. And, so before we dive into, like, the larger, bigger questions, I want to give you a space to to introduce yourself in your own words. And I think more and more as I go through this podcast and inviting folks to do that, there's always some new crumbs that come out, some new details that come out that folks aren't sharing in the written bio. So I'm gonna give you that opportunity.

Yeah. Sure. So I'm Christina Delgado. I'm an artist educator, organizer, culture worker, curator, designer. I'm all the things.

I've been doing that for what, about 20 years now. And the thing that I think I'm most known for, is being the founder and owner, creative director of Tola's Room, which is a Puerto Rican home museum and culture space located in Northeast Baltimore in the Bel Air Edison community. The purpose of the space originally was this art therapy concept for me to kind of purge, my sadness after losing my father, but I was using my story as a Puerto Rican that migrated from Baltimore, the early I'm sorry, from New York to Baltimore in the early 2000s. You know, telling my story and then it eventually has evolved now into this, this means a way of sharing the the diaspora narrative, the narrative of Puerto Ricans, that are local to Baltimore.

That's great. That's great. And, you know, it's been a while, so I gotta make my way back over there. I I was there before, and I had, like, a great time, and, definitely, it it definitely got the cultural component and definitely and I and I always feel feel this sort of way, but, generally, it was right there feeling like I mean, like, a relative's place. Like, I it's like I feel feel at home in in in many ways.

Yeah. Definitely. Like, your Tia, your Abuela's house for sure. But, yeah, you gotta come check it out because when you came, it was just the first and basement floors, and now it's the whole space. So it's it's it's cool.

It's definitely cool. It's expanding.

I I will be back very soon. So in in going to this this sort of, like, secondary question, and I am curious about this, like, is there a memory, like, very vivid that that sticks out that kinda helped influence sort of your your your path? Because I I see, like, as you touched on, you do all of the things. So is there a memory that that pops up? They're like, oh, yeah.

This is something I definitely wanna include this in my work, or this is a a touch point within, the the the driving interest for my work.

You know, I really appreciate that question because, you know, I had to think about it for a second. I think I have a lot of, past memories. Some of them really fond and then others not so not so great, I think, from my childhood. But all of them, beautiful in a sense that it's really helped to to to develop the person that I am, you know. I think part of that sort of, experience.

So my parents divorced when I was young. So I was with my dad, as you know, as a single parent for a lot of my, childhood into, you know, young adulthood. And that in itself, I think from that experience really helped me to be more like culturally in tune. Right. So like knowing my own experience, but also just being around so many different people, like it wasn't just being in New York, but it was also like the friends that my dad had, or the friends that my family had, or even just my family in itself.

Right? Like all of the different shades, and experiences, and hair textures, and all of those things. Right? So I think also that is one of the things I think that really helped me to be more, able to adapt to communities, and have more compassion and empathy to all different types of people. Mhmm.

But, even thinking a little bit deeper, one of the fondest memories I have with my father was when he took me on, like, this culture walk. Like, we started from where we were living at the time, and, like, midtown Manhattan, and we went all the way downtown to, like, Lower East Side, Delancey Street, Canal Street. And throughout that experience, you know, first of all, it was like a forever walk. Like we started like in the morning and it didn't end until like the evening because we went also to Brooklyn. So we ended in my aunt's house in Bushwick.

But throughout this, you know, like we stopped and we did all of the New York things. We did the parks. We did, like, some of the stores and the shops. He also shared some of the places that, like, he remembered as a kid, you know, and just even crossing over the bridge, you know, I think it was the Manhattan Bridge that we crossed over. It was a fond memory.

Right? But I think that it's also, again, like this embedded connection to place and to people and to narrative and to story. And it's like, I think in a lot of my work as an artist or creative, I do it. It's almost, I guess, a subconscious thing initially. And then it's not until after the fact of, like, really processing the purpose or the meaning that I'm like, oh, like this is where, you know, like this is where it's coming from, or like this is how it happened or like this is the reason why it happened.

So, yeah, that I think is, my answer to that question.

It's it's a great answer. And thank you. When I think of when I'm doing this right, I keep going back to recently this this thing where I used to watch, like, really obscure movies. And I would talk to people, and it's like stuff that I'm not supposed to see. I'm talking about as a kid.

Like, yo,

this is

even rated r. This is, like, NC 17.

Yeah. Yeah. I've had

those. Yeah.

And and I

and I would be and I I would see just enough of it to be aware of the movie, but, you know, and I and I'm I'm talking to, like, my friends in middle school, and I'm almost, like, regaling them with the tale. I'm filling in these details, and I'm, like, you haven't seen that? You don't know nothing about that? Yeah. Why is it something about that sort of approach of essentially putting someone on to something that they may not be aware of is embedded in doing this?

Yeah.

A lot of times, it's and I was going back through sort of my bio and description of really what I'm doing, really checking in with myself, and I was just like, that's one of the things that's there. It's not just conversations with the biggest, the best, the brightest. It's conversations with, everyone, and I think my taste kinda dictates, like, who I think is interesting. But it's really coming from a position when I'm talking to people who've tried to put the podcast on to, I'm like, hey. You know about this person?

You know about Christina?

Yeah. I love that. You know, I think that's also the great thing about Baltimore too. You know, I think we've had this conversation in the past, but just the access, you know, the the cultural community. I think that that's really one of the most beautiful things about Baltimore.

And the fact that it's still prevalent and it's really very valuable and important to like how things happen. You know, a lot of it is underground, which I think I kind of appreciate because especially being in New York right now, as we were talking and seeing, you know, these places that have been so gentrified over so many, like, generations. Right? So it's not just like this one time, but like seeing how like these stores have come and gone and come again and all of these things, you know. So to still have this, like, underground culture of, like, creatives, like, really helping and supporting one another, I think, is really valuable and important.

So thanks for what you do.

Thank you. Mhmm.

And and the other thing with that gentrification, we we lose the $1 slice.

Mhmm. Oh, well, you know, there apparently I've seen a couple places pop up, but yes. It's just not it's not as prevalent anymore. You really have to seek it and find it. Yeah.

Agreed.

So talk a bit about where where your your all of the things sort of, like, intersect. And I'm saying it from from this position as of being being this person that is as I said a moment ago, of kinda helping to tell a story. Really, I'm trying to encourage someone to watch this movie, right, versus me saying, here's the beat by beat thing. And being able to take sort of this this understanding of sort of the creative experience and being able to talk to so many different people, I think that continually informs me as I do more and more interviews and and reach out and stretch. And then having this this this background in, like, audio engineering and so on, all of that kind of comes together in a little bit of the marketing background.

So for all of the things, and there are so many, it's almost countless how they intersect. Like, I I see the photography. I see the curation, but I I wanna give you that that space.

Yeah. I think, you know, art art community education has always been like this foundation, even as an educator and going to school and trying to grow, you know, as a teacher and as an administrator. That was always kind of my philosophy, and then it was just all of these things that always fell along, And then it was just all of these things that always fell along that same path where, because, you know, let's say for example, as an organizer, I understood the education system, so I could talk to a community partner stakeholder like a teacher or a principal or even to know that the best way to get to a school is not through the principal, it's through a teacher. Right? Like so that this way you're actually getting in, you're really getting access to like all of the information.

But I think, again, talking about these three things, you know, like art was a way that I helped to build trust in the community when I was doing organizing work, or it was that visionary mindset that allowed me to like think through, problem solving. Right? So like, let's say a community, you know, wants something and trying to like give them this, you know, trying to be accountable to them. Right? So that they're they're believing in what it is that I'm that I'm trying to like help them to do for themselves.

But giving something that's almost instantaneous as opposed to, like, where you'll see in a lot of nonprofit experience where it's just like, okay, we'll do that, but we've got to get the funding. Or, you know, it's going to take a couple of years before we see that happen. So again, using art as this way of, like, being creative. So, like, if I survey the community that they say that they want to have, you know, books as part of their, like, community space, then, you know, talking to either, like, you know, partners to, like, bring books or talking to the library to have, like, their their library pop up, you know, be accessible in this space. That sort of thing.

So yeah. You know, I think and even with with Tola's room, you know, it wasn't until I was the organizer and was used to doing all of these events and having these meetings and understanding, like, how easy how easy I can build relationships with partners to like kind of allow me this confidence to now not do it for someone else, but to do it for myself. Right? And so to take that leap and be like, you know, you know, like you know how to organize a party, you know how to organize a meeting, you've got enough people in your corner that you know that you can outreach to them and see, you know, see if they'll come and see what they'll enjoy. So I think that that's how it all intersect.

I don't know if I fully answered the question, but they can just kind of layers, you know, and and doing the things. It's funny because a lot of times I'll jokingly say, like, oh, if only I knew I was gonna do this when I was, you know, 23 years old. Right? But it's it's really that experience, you know, like, the the reality is it does take the age and the trial and error and like and all of these things to sort of kind of align, so that you can go into it with a level of confidence and understanding, and experience. So, yeah.

I don't I don't even say age. You know, I'll say the reps. I thought the reps out there, they're countering it, and and that's a really it's a really good point you're making there. You know, I I think in in doing this sort of like stretching it and not trying to because we have a we have a this next question. Well, the question after the next question, we have like similarity.

We're in a similar community and I'll touch on that in a moment. But, you know, sort of these these new opportunities that to stretch into, as the Aquarius saying, ride that wave. You know, I don't want to just sit here and only just do this podcast. It's not that it's easy, but it's like familiar. I've done a lot of these reps.

But being able to maybe do something that's more community focused, like, literally out there in the community, something that kind of stretches those boundaries, you're gonna get that confidence by those reps. Like Yeah. Gary, I know how to do a podcast. I know how to have a cogent conversation, but having that maybe degree of difficulty, you know, makes me a bit more confident of what I don't Yeah. One day, it's just like, oh, well, you did this.

You did a podcast on a boat, man. Yeah. You got it.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And also too, you know, like, when it's comfortable, I don't think that it's, I wanna say challenging, but when it's comfortable, it's just there's not a win there. You know, I think that when there's a challenge, that's really where the growth is.

And if you are, in fact trying to, like, develop and grow, whether it's your business or your ideas or your just your persona, like, you do have to push yourself. Like, even today, when I I took the ferry, you know, it's been like 30 years since I took the ferry, and I I get motion sickness very easily. So, like, waiting. I'm waiting for the ferry, and we're on, like, this dock, and so it's kind of moving. And I'm talking to my daughter, and she's like, well, then why did you do this, mama?

And I was like, because, baby, you have to challenge yourself sometimes. And you're like, you've gotta do this thing even if it might be a little scary or a little, like, uncertain for you because then, you know, who knows? It could have been your best experience, you know. And then afterwards, I always try to, like, ask her, like, what does she think about, you know, what was the best part of the trip or whatever. So I was asking her, I was like, well, what's the best part of what she did today?

And even though she was apprehensive, she was like, oh, the ferry ride, you know. So it's like we would have never had she would have never had that memory if I didn't push myself and challenge myself even. Right? You know? So that's an example I could give for something like that.

It's really good, and it's very timely too.

Yes. Yes.

So what you know, macroly speaking, right, we definitely go ahead and dive into your your 2024. This has been busy for you. We we got some questions for you. But On top. What do you enjoy most, you know, about your work?

What is the most enjoyable aspect? Is it the community engagement? Is it the, you know, being able to relive things? Is it being able to share your culture? What what's the most enjoyable part for you?

Honestly, it's all the things again when I was thinking about that question, it was like, well, what is it? For me, it's all the things I think, and it's also being a visionary, being a big idea sort of person, finally seeing. Right? Like so having this idea and then seeing it executed and come to fruition. Right?

Like that to me is like the most exciting. It never gets old. Like from the very first, you know, event that we had in Tola's room as this pilot concept to like all the way, in most recent times for the residency. You know, like, I remember when I purchased my home, and, I was wanting the basement space to always be something. And it's like for it to, like, just see so many iterations of, like, a jazz concert, a community dinner, a yoga, you know, it was a yoga room, you know, and then for it to then be a theater space, like an experimental theater space, you know, it's just like, wow.

Like, it's always like this awe. I don't know. Like, it's just like, wow. You know, like, it never ceases to amaze me. You know?

So I think for me, it's that. It's like having these ideas, like, literally scratching them down on a an envelope or a napkin. Right? And then and then whether whether it's 3 months or 6 months or a year later to, like, see it come to life, it's like, wow, you know, like, I did that or, like, this really happens because, you know, I was determined to make it happen.

I love that as as I'm gonna start giving myself the alias, the big idea, because I'm an idea person as well. Yeah. And, you know, definitely, I keep those notepads. I'll have, like, the, the ugly books. That's a sponsor.

I have ugly books or some notepad on hand, and I'm jotting down ideas. And in fact, you know, we're getting this right here in this current season, but I was gonna reach out to you for that next season because the next season of the podcast is the Run It Back season,

And I'm

connecting connecting with folks that I talk to early in the journey and just see where they're at, and that's sort of the the thinking. And I'm prepping that months months ahead of time just so hey. What does this look like? Who should I talk to? What's the angle?

And really, really thinking through that stuff, that's the part that's that's really enjoyable, getting to the conversation. All of the admin, I'll bucket that as it is.

All the

admin stuff and the promotion and all of that, that's not as enjoyable as being able to connect. You know, like, you know, as we were talking before we got started, it's like talking to an old friend, like, hey, you're gonna say

that. Mhmm.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, I mean, even for me, like, yeah, true.

The admin kind of sucks. And it is really invaluable and important to, like, to go through those logistics, you know, as you know. Because even with going through all of that, there is something that you're gonna still forget. You know what I mean? And so, like, to not be a person that doesn't do that, and then try to have something, it just won't flow the same way, you know?

So it's like, yeah, to be an expert in that way, there's definitely a lot of planning. You know, you're constantly living in almost a year later, you know? It's like your calendar's in to 2025, almost 2026 at some point, you know. So, like, yeah. Definitely.

Yes. And before we get to 2025 and 2026, we gotta talk about 2024, specifically. It's been a busy, like, summer for you, a busy year for you. So let's let's talk about it. So I see that, you know, you had your website launch in May.

So how has it enhanced museum visits, events? What's the impact of sort of, what it what is what am I reading? B More Bariqua, project?

B More Bariqua. Uh-huh. B More Bariqua. So to be honest, when when we launched the website so the website took a lot longer than we imagined. At first, I gotta give big ups to my manager, web manager, and web developer, Tamika Anderson, because she's just an amazing person.

She, like, sat with me because this was in planning phases for many for for a long time, right, the idea of having one for a long time. But we had started it in in January. Right? And just, like, going through the iterations, going through, like, the the, the surveying, like, you know, test marketing to, like, friends and local people so that this way they could just give us the feedback before we officially launched it. So but when we did put it out there, there was so much stuff that was coming, like, behind, you know, this launch that we haven't really been able to sit in it other than for it to just be this place where, like, which is, which has been really beautiful, like to just be able to like have our events listed, to be able to have ticket purchases, you know, run through the website.

So that that gives us like a lot of analytics and things like that. Donations, that sort of thing. So we've kind of been using for a base in the sense of like event promotion, marketing, ticket sales, also, just like information. So like if we're wanting to just promote what we do, and who we are, it's it's just like a go to place for that. Though the future for this website, now that things have sort of quieted down a bit, will be really to, like, market, you know, like, to find different ways to kind of market the website, market the form that we have on there for the Be More Bodegaqua project.

So, like, the Be More Bold Eequa project for for your listeners that don't know is this, this archiving project that we started in 2021 with just a simple form. It was just an idea of like, I had interviewed a friend. Long story short, I interviewed a friend who was born and raised in Baltimore, Puerto Rican. She's, like, in her mid seventies now. So she was the one that opens up my eyes to realize that there were lots of Puerto Ricans here in Baltimore historically.

And so I was just like, well, where did they all go? And so, you know, after, using my story, it was like, no. Now I wanna know these other stories, but trying to find that research was really hard. So, like, going into the archives with no, like, names of people because of how we were recorded, incorrectly, as you know, like people of color are never recorded correctly, by race, by names. And so, really what we're doing is using like this current narrative to give us bits and pieces of information to then dig into the the archive databases, so that we can, further further along the research, if that makes sense.

I don't know if I'm making sense. So

You don't. You're right.

We have a form on our website where people that are of Puerto Rican descent, local to Baltimore can fill out, to, just give us some preliminary information. And then we're hopeful that they would be want to be contacted again. And then we'll have like more of a recorded information. But we're also using it as an opportunity to collect artworks from local Puerto Ricans as as this archive process, oral stories, and we actually were recently funded through, in partnership with May Santiago, who is a film, creator, and documentarian local to Baltimore through the GRIT Fund to actually start our document, or to document a film. To create our documentary film, on this process.

So really excited about that. But that's basically what the Be More Poricua project is, and to answer your question and to close full circle, the idea is to use this website, to to to help launch that. So to again, so for it to be this constant source of information to keep up with the things that we're doing.

That's that's great. And thank you. It's, truly, like, I hate the term game changer, but it's it's truly sort of something very supportive of, I can say when, you know, having having, like, a podcast and just it being

out there, but not having, like, a website, having a way for people to, you know,

stay on point of, oh, you're doing this live having a way for people to, you know, stay on point of, oh, you're doing this live show? Yes. Here's the dates. Here's the information. Right.

When they email me, here's the information.

Thanks to that. Got it.

To really capture

it

and document it, build out a newsletter, it knows different things. And especially when it's sort of what I was hearing of connecting community, like folks that were not getting sort of, you know, their, I guess, acknowledgment, not being counted as you you touched on, not being, like, counted accurately and things of that nature. It's giving folks a space and opportunity to come in. No pressure. Hey.

It's immunity.

Yeah. Yeah. And then and that's the thing too. You know? I think that some people when they do this work, it's really for, like, their own personal notoriety.

It's for, like, you know, like, their own kind of gain. And for me, this has always been organic, you know. And I think that as a young adult, I was fortunate to learn that life is organic, you know, like you can plan all day and I'm a planner. I'm, you know, like so I know how important planning is, but I think that, you know, understanding that things you can have a plan, but also being really open to how things can kind of unfold is really helpful and intentional, for my processes, especially when it comes to being creative. And so, yeah.

So I'm I'm excited to see, what this what this does, you know, for the diaspora, for,

Puerto Rican voices, for the community, for

the history of for Puerto Rican voices, for the community, for the history of Puerto Ricans, in Baltimore.

It's great. It's important. I mean, look, I it's connecting, connecting, connecting is so important in my head.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

Because I because I I think it even in doing this, like, I remember it was, it was a, I did an interview with, artist audio, and she had an approach around, like, the Brazilian community in Baltimore. And it's like, I think she'd asked me. She's like, so Rob, have you interviewed, like, all 5 of the Brazilian artists in Baltimore? I was like, there are more than 5, aren't there? She's like, I don't know.

Let's find out.

Yeah.

It's it's something about it, just folks are, like, right there, and I'm definitely supportive of of that work and of your works.

Thank you.

So next, I have Mi casa su casa?

Uh-huh. Yeah.

Let's let's talk about that. Can you describe that to the fine folks out there? And I have a second bullet point, but I wanna give you that space.

Sure, Mikasa. Sukasa is my house, your house. The idea was so it, it stems from this annual event that we do every year, a sort of a fundraiser. You know, when we did our first pilot event, we did it in June, and we intentionally chose that month because it's a a month of celebration for the diasporican community. So the diaspora on the mainland, not so much on the islands, but it's a month of celebration, but it's also my father's, birthday month.

And so it was very intentional to choose that time. And so we've had now this we've done it 4 times. So this 4th annual one we just have had, this past June. And the idea, for everyone is kind of themed differently, but this one was intentional to literally say, like, I'm opening my house to like to the others. Right?

And so, again, in this light of this be more boricua sort of concept to, intentionally highlight, Puerto Rican creatives local to Baltimore, but also Puerto Ricans that are, you know, in the the DMV area. Because I'm finding that as much as I'm focusing my attention in Baltimore that it's naturally spilling out in into other other spaces and even onto the island, which is actually really beautiful. And so, you know, we didn't have much money, as as you know is always the case when it comes to like finances and sponsorships and all the things. So I was like, well how can I make this happen? And so, you know, I just put it out there to artists.

I was like, hey, I can pay the stipend, you'll get some food, you'll be able to like expose your work, and if, you know, if we get get anything from this, like as a financial, opportunity, the barter would be that in October, you'll be able to use our space completely free. My services as an organizer, as a planner completely free for them to design an event that they want to do, to charge whatever they'd like to charge, and kind of into gain that that financial income, or that income, and experience. So, the idea was really just again to like give, a new exposure to creatives here in Baltimore. You know, to give a twist or a change for the events for those that are regular that come back every year. To to raise funds for for, for us, for the year, for the workshops and the things that we do.

And again, so like continue adding to this this Be More Boricua concept. So some of the artists that were there are local to Baltimore. So Ram Sueno, for example, who I'm sure you're familiar with. He's, he's local, Puerto Rican artist. Dina Tillman, who, also owns Hello Bonita Salon, but she's also a creative and artist.

Again, local, she was part of the Palmiente exhibition as well. Anthony Perdue, he actually lives I think in the PG County area, but an amazing painter artist, and also very, you know, still local, like, went to Towson, does a lot of things in the city, that sort of thing. Sergio Neptuna is not Puerto Rican. He was like, does it mean that I have to be Puerto Rican to be part? I was like, no.

But you know, he was really open to the idea of like just being a part, an amazing digital artist. And so, you know, it's just been exciting. Exciting to meet new people, to expose, you know, artists to to to, different communities. And yeah, and to just grow the capacity again, making those connections.

That was empowering. Connections are are important. It's the name of the game here. I mean, frankly, you know Yeah. And so, you know, I've we've we've gotten May.

We've gotten June. So we have to talk about a little bit more June and a little bit of July. So let's talk about the residency a bit. I believe that there's a cohort with UMBC. That's where our mutual connection is at, I believe.

Yeah. Yeah. So the UMBC cohort, the colab cohort, experience actually happened in June as well. So again, it's just like that's why I was getting to really promote the website, because it's just like back to back to back. But that was, with professor Maria, Serieli.

I always I feel like I messed up her last name. She is, Latina, like, women's studies, like, activist, works at UMBC, knew that this thing was coming up, had already seen and experienced Tola's room and was like, hey, would you like to be a part of this thing? And so we were just like brainstorming for a good minute about what we wanted to do. And then we came up with the idea. So the virtual tour which we already had, the link had expired.

And so I was like, well, this would be a perfect opportunity for me to just have a little bit more of a say and spin on, like, how it goes. And so yeah. So her team, for, amazing young women, that's, you know, helped out, to create a virtual tour experience. And so now we have that on our website. So that's a great opportunity, for the for the website to, I'm sorry, for the museum to be accessible.

One of the things that kind of hurts my heart that I can't change right away, is making the museum accessible to folks that, you know, wheelchair accessible or just really hard for them to go up and down steps. Like even my mom, my mom has MS and it's it's a struggle for her to come up and down the steps. And so like, I'm like, what can I do in the immediate, right? Like this visionary creative sort of mindset of like, what can I do in the immediate instead of wishing and hoping for an elevator or wishing and hoping for funding to create some kind of access? So the the virtual tour, is the the closest thing that I could come up with right now.

And so to have, that experience was really cool. So that that was, the the end of what was the whole month of June? And it was cool. Like, it you know, they just to see them be so connected and passionate about my story and, like, my experience was was really was really nice. And then July, the residency, that was a whirlwind.

So, 2 artists, Anna and Maria, who are actually local to Puerto Rico. But Anna, is also has lived in Baltimore for a very long time. They were a part of the Palmiente exhibition. And when they visited during that time, you know, I was just selling them. I was, like, you know, I'm I'm interested in in piloting this residency concept.

Not sure when it's gonna happen, because again, funding is always, you know, this question. And and then it came up. They've actually came to me. They were, like, hey, like, are you down to like try this? And I'm like, are you serious?

Like do you wanna do this? And they're like, yeah. And I was like, alright. So you know, just you know fast pedaled and you know sat down, met with them a few times, and then actually was really fortunate to have, Maggie Villegas, who was part she, her business now, The Conjur, like, but offering a lot of operational support, to really help me think through, like, a lot of the forms and the streamlining and that sort of thing to really help it be more of a success. Yeah.

Yeah. And it was great. You know? They, they did 2 DJ sets. So they did one at the compound, one at Royal Blue.

They had they offered some community workshops, but the attendance wasn't that great for the workshops. But they also, you know, in this space really worked on their music, really worked on their theater, really worked on their photography, because they themselves were creating, like, a film concept. So they were doing a lot of stuff within the house, but also within Baltimore. They had some artists, come into town, some from local areas, but also some from, like, New York. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, it was a lot. It was it was great. It was a lot. But it was it was amazing because it was it was, you know, there were a lot of beautiful things from it.

A lot of learning opportunities, a lot of data and information. So I'm really using this as a way to get us to the 2025 year with hopefully hosting 2 additional artists, in the space.

That's great, you know, and I'm just really happy for all the work and all of the good things coming your way. And I want to touch back on the UMBC connection. Right. So, it's it's weird. It's weird.

I love you on this. I love the connection that that's there. I did some work for with with Baltimore by Baltimore in the first two installments of it. And with that, it was just like a really cool opportunity to take a course, the digital storytelling course to community learners and all of that, last year. So January 2023.

So, you know, they reach out, Sally, who's like running this this program with Joby, and, they reach out and he said, would you be interested in teaching a version of this course specifically for podcasting? And I'm like, so I would be in the class 1 year, then the following year, I'm teaching the class. Like, oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That's that's just your ego stroke. Just pat it on the back. So, you know, that relationship with with them and really being able to, as I touched on earlier, being able to stretch, you know, reading that that, like, the cohort opportunity just feels like it's just good people there, especially that's connecting with folks doing interesting work in the community, and it's about connecting community. So, you know, in this podcast class that I did, which was during the summer, it was one of those things. I always try to find ways to fit, and I definitely got a question about this for you.

It was only a 4 week class, but it was like marathon classes

Yeah.

And trying to figure it out. But I saw in the class, I had one person that I interviewed, another person that we were getting the interview together, and we were able to get it rescheduled. I'm, like, not only were you a part of this series, but now you're one of my students.

Yeah. Full circle.

This is wild.

This is

Full circle. Yeah.

I'm like,

why am I even here? Here, you know. Yeah. And I and I think the way that I was able to have it fit with sort of the day job podcast schedule, After my last class, like, 11th hour, I got asked to do Artscape, so I've not had a break in, like, 2 months. And it's but I haven't been put out a bunch of podcasts.

I've just been working on all of this other stuff. So as a planner, this is where connection comes. As a planner, how do you keep it all together? What is that tool for you? Like, is it the notepad you were talking about?

Is it having that look. If it's not on the calendar, I don't know.

Yeah. Yeah. So it's, it's it's definitely timelines. Right? So, like, sitting down and deciding what the next 6 months to year generally is gonna kind of look like.

It's it's a lot of of of trial and error, you know, of knowing that, you know, you gotta give yourself at least 2 months, because if you don't, like, it's gonna be a mess, you know, like, personally. Right? Like, maybe some people can squeeze that out of their their butts, but I I can't Because I just get too anxious about it. You know? Like, I need that extra time.

Like, even now, like, even in my life, it's like, I am making sure I'm giving myself, like, 45 minutes to an hour in between things. I'm not setting scheduling things, like, too back to back because I just as I get older, it's just like too much. You know? Like, it's just too much to, like, take on. But, yeah, I think, you know, it's just I think it's it's giving grace.

It's giving space. It's also knowing that, like, like, you know. Right? Like, on screen, on film, coming up front, it's people don't know what they're seeing. Right?

So, like, it's all ultimately, it's something in your mind. So if it doesn't come out exactly the way you envision, that in itself is part of the process, you know, and if it's something that's really powerful and impactful then just trying it again and and seeing how to like re, you know, reconfigure it to make it stronger and better than the next go rounds. Yeah. So, you know, the other thing I do is old school. I I keep a paper calendar and I don't connect my phone, to, anything related to my schedule.

And I guess that's like, it's a it's a, it's a kind of thing where like if I lose my calendar, I'm done. But it helps to give like some separation between like personal and business because as you know, working for yourself, you can easily get lost in hours and hours of doing stuff because passion, right? It's things something that you really wants to do, and sometimes you have to make sure that you're, you're giving yourself that space. So, I think that's, I think it's my newest thing is like, you know, yeah, definitely, you know, thinking ahead, planning ahead, but also planning for breaks and, you know, mental space and time with my family and, you know, a vacation if needed. So that this way, you know, it's it's it has meaning.

It's not all about living for the future. It's also living in that present time.

100%. I I had to come to that realization because I'll be 40 in January and

Oh, you're a baby.

As my gray hairs start to creep out. I'm gonna clean up my Dominican barber, make sure I'm looking crisp with the hides all up. It's like, keep that razor working, Poppy. That's it.

That's a Dominican barber. Oh my god. Hilarious.

The lady Julio. He's like, but,

you know, it's it's one of those things where you're you're really you're really on point when it comes to sort of, like earlier in this podcast, series, I was doing a bunch back to back to back, no gaps, no breaks, really. And, you know, and I was enjoying all of that stuff, but really not stopping and and smelling the roses and almost as I'll say, and I say this with all love and respect as a person that identifies as a fat kid. It was always that sort of, like, I gotta do extra. Like, I need to, like, run extra on this track, lift extra weights because I'm compensating in that way.

Uh-huh.

And I would put in sort of that that extra activity, not because I felt purely that I needed to do it because I'm lacking in some way, but it's just like I need to show out, so effort is how I do it. And coming to that realization at a point and someone pointed that out to me, they're like, yeah, when are you gonna take a break? Some a little self care.

Yes, right.

I make sure when I have that calendar, I try to book it, try to plan it out, but does this make sense, being a little bit more oriented around saying no.

Yeah.

And and being very specific as to this fits in this way, And, also, not not tracking people down because, you know, as as we touched on, doing many of the things, not just the host, but the booker, the the the executive producer, all of that stuff. I'm not tracking adults down. That's not a thing.

Yeah. And

earlier on, it was a thing. It's like, man, I really need to get this interview because I gotta show my value and worth, and that's not as important anymore. And and lastly, I'll I'll say making some time. Like, I am so jealous that you were able to get up there in New York briefly, and I'm feeling the same sort of like I need to circle around and do just different things. Sometimes it's just going down to DC.

Yep.

Yeah. I had

this sure. Yeah. I had this period back in May where, you know, I was feeling, like, a little, like, creatively, like, stifled, and I want them to m y and saw 3 of my friends. 1 was coming from out of the country. It's the first time we ever met.

Oh, my gosh.

And I was and we had, like, the same birthday, shout out to Martine, and, you know, we were able to meet for a brief coffee. It was so, like, haphazard at the last second, but did it in that trip. Oh, it was, like, 3 days, but I felt like I got a lot of culture. I felt like people dug seeing me, they were happy to see me, and it kinda refilled the vessel.

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, you know, I think I've always known this even as a teacher, but just this constant reminder that the process is just as important as the product. Right?

So as a creative, especially sometimes the way that it it ends isn't how you wanted it, but really taking value and account for like how you got to that place is also, like, really, really important too, really valuable. So yeah.

100%. So I got 2 more real questions, and I have a few rapid fire questions for you. They don't come as well. Okay. So we we got through a lot of this summer, and, again, just shout out to you and all of the efforts because it's not just it doesn't just happen.

You know what I mean? It's effort, time, energy, sweat equity, all of the stuff.

All of the things.

So there's a presentation series, Anne Arundel County, libraries coming up in October. So let's talk about that a little bit. What what's what's in store? How do you hope to engage audiences in these different discussions, themes, topics? Let's talk about it.

Yeah. They they actually reached out to me. I was current at a time I was working in South Baltimore, for a non profit and, again just in partnership and building, I met, some of the the people at the library system there. And, they reached out to me. You know, they they really, thought what I was doing for Atola's room was an important aspect, that they wanted to to highlight and share.

And so they just asked me to, kind of do like a speaking series, but to have some sort of interaction in that process. So I'm still thinking through exactly what that's gonna look like, but I think, as I've done in the past, definitely bring some elements, from the museum, like some of the books, the library, that we have there is pretty extensive, and it's pretty valuable from a cultural, historical sense. Some like music elements, definitely some interactive piece, possibly even a friend of mine, Anna Ortiz. She's a artist, a historian, and scientist. She works at the Walters.

She created this, Taino stamp activity. She actually did a workshop at this space, in, in I think it was March. And I might even ask to borrow her stamp kit and, and use that there too, you know, as a way to like talk about some of the Taino history, but also an interaction. So, yeah, just a way again, another way, another avenue of like promoting the work that we do in other parts of Maryland, getting recognition for the work that we do, and just getting people excited, you know, like getting them excited about the culture, if in fact they're Puerto Rican gaining their information to be a part of the narrative and the story that we're trying to tell. So, yeah, that's what it's about.

Love it. Yeah. So here's the last one. Yeah. Last question here.

So, you know, again, going back to the planning theme here because, you know, like I said, I'm working on my production for next season. So for you and, you know, that that 6 months from now, right, what are you looking forward to? What do you have kinda like alright. What do you have on the hopper? What's like on the boil, if you will?

What are you super excited for going into, you know, next year? Going into 2025?

Yeah. So, I mean, to close out this year, what I'm really excited for is we received free fall the free fall Baltimore, funding. So, and we're gonna be doing a Vegante, mask workshop, with that funding. Very excited about that. That culturally is so valuable and important to Puerto Rico, to Puerto Rican history.

And so to be able to offer that for the first time here in Baltimore is very exciting for us. We're actually also going to be doing, a small exhibition, around the work so far or thus far that we've that we've collected, through the Be More Bodiqa projects, because a lot of people have been asking about that. And so last year, it was a Palma Gente exhibition, kind of like this, like, sort of opening taste of that. But, we're hoping to have something small as a opening, to kind of give people sort of that premise of what we've been doing for the past 2 years. And then the film, you know, the film is really important.

So, building on the capacity for that, to see where that, lands next year. And then, with the hopes of getting some additional funding, really being able to ho host 2 additional Puerto Rican artists, in our space. The residency is a month long, the people the artists are paid a stipend. The ideas for them to be a part of, like, community, some sort of community representation, but also making their mark on the museum. So again, really growing the space outside of my narrative, but, like, allowing it to be the space where other creative people can now make it, a part of their their history and their narrative.

Love it. Community, community, bigger and better things. Well, bigger things. Not even better because it's all going going very well. So shout out to you.

Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.

Hey, guys. Rob Lee here. And before we get back to this conversation, especially the rapid fire portion, I want to remind you to leave a review for this podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Five stars will be great, but anything you feel that this podcast deserves, definitely leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Now back to the show.

Alright. Now all of the cool stuff, all of the professional Rob is gone. I'm gonna take this fake tie off and go into my rapid fire questions because they tend to get weird, or or goofy, more goofy than weird.

Okay.

So here here's the first one. And you you've you've been on here before, so you know how this goes. Yeah. What, what does home mean to you? Like, the concept

of home? Home is, people, community, place, space, comforts, you know, smells, food. That's home to me. I think that, like I said, you know, I've always been this transient sort of person constantly moving in so many places. If it wasn't for my daughter, I don't think that I would have stayed in Baltimore as long just because I'm always kind of moving.

So anywhere where I can just find familiarity, you know, people like minded this. Right? Definitely city, city vibes, you know, diversity. That's really big for me, but that's home.

Yeah. Favorite favorite song?

Oh, That's so hard.

I know. And it was the question was walk I'm a big baseball fan. Right? So I was like, what's your what's your walk up song? And I have, like, 4 of them, but it's not just one song.

So I know how hard it is. Right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Let me look.

Let me look at my my Spotify because what the the artists that were here, amazing people. They're just such amazing creative people, but they know music. They're so young, and they know they know music so well. And house music, I think I've shared this with you, is my favorite. So Earth is a Place is probably one of my favorite songs right now.

Love Dancing is another one of my favorite songs right now, and those are all, like, kind of older sort of like clubhouse, music songs.

I'll I'll share something very embarrassing before I move into the next question.

Uh-huh.

I filtered my Spotify, right, to sort of dance oriented songs, and 5 songs in a row were TKA songs. Literally. So I'm in the gym, like, lifting weights, and I'm, like, singing scars of love, and someone comes up there. I'm by myself. Right?

Someone comes up there on the top floor where the track is at, and they're like, yo, bro. You good? I was

like, I am. I'm very good.

I'm great. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.

Let's let's no. That's that's culture. That's culture for sure.

Look. I'm out here. Alright. This is the last one. This is the last one for you.

And this is like because you're you're you're you're from what I'm gathering, you you know what you're you know what you wanna do. You're you're a producer. You're a planner. You have structure, so I gotta ask this one.

Sometimes. Sometimes. Well

If there were was a movie about you, what would the genre be?

So my favorite genre, and it's so embarrassing to say, is like rom com, because I'm just like it's a cheesy TV. But it would it would be like documentary. It would be like documentary with a little bit of like dramedy. I don't know. Like it would because there has to be an element of like laughter because my my life is sometimes like it's ironic in so many ways, you know.

So there has to be like this not serious element to it, but there has to be, like, a level of truth, but then some sappiness to it. So I don't know. I didn't I don't know if I fully answered the question, but,

I think that that would be my my genre. It'd be,

like, 3 meshed in 1.

No. I'm I'm here for it. It's it's unique. It sounds it sounds about right. I I get the I get the dramedy thing.

I get the doc I get it. I get it.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mine's an action comedy. I'm just trying to find ways to

I feel that.

To get into, like, podcast fights. It's like getting to arguments with other podcasters. We'll throw a microphone at each other. It'd be great.

No. Yeah. I like that. I can't wait to listen to see that in the at the parkway.

Look. I'm gonna play myself in it. It's it's gonna be great. I sort of lost this weight. So with that, I wanna give you, I wanna give you, again, your your snaps, your kudos, follow the great work that you're doing.

And

Same.

Thank you. And, I wanna thank you for, again, for coming on and spending some time with me, and I wanna give you the opportunity to telephine folks where to to check you out, Tola's Room. All of the details website, of course, of course, yours.

Yeah. Thank you. So, yeah, Tola's Room on, Instagram and Facebook. We have a Linktree. If you just Google us, you'll be able to find it almost immediately.

And then, of course, our website which is tolazroom.com. Definitely check us out, share, and if you know of any investors or millionaires, single men, you know, Put it out there, please.

That's great. There you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Christina Delgado from Tola's Room for coming on and spending some time and coming back on a podcast. And I'm Rob Lee saying that there is art, culture, and community in and around your neck of the woods. You've just gotta look for it.