Art We There Yet
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Art We There Yet
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      A Mural Celebrating Heritage

      January 21, 2023

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      A Mural Celebrating the Sea

      December 19, 2022

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      A Mural of Affirmations

      November 29, 2022

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      A Mural Celebrating Mentorship

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      A Mural Celebrating Teamwork

      April 17, 2022

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      The Story Behind “I Am The River”

      October 30, 2022

      MUSIC

      The Story Behind “Chan Chan”

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      The Story Behind “Wanderer”

      January 31, 2022

      MUSIC

      The Story Behind “Here We Listen”

      January 30, 2022

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      A Song from the Bonneville Salt Flats

      February 10, 2021

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      A Song Celebrating Patience

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      WORKSHOPS

      A Mural Celebrating a Way of Life

      February 27, 2022

      WORKSHOPS

      A Song Celebrating Growth

      February 20, 2022

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      A Song Celebrating Inner Strength

      February 6, 2022

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      A Song Celebrating Healing

      March 24, 2020

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      NOLA from the Streets | A Short Film

      May 13, 2020

      FILM

      The Himalaya | A Short Film

      March 1, 2018

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      January 22, 2023

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      Adiós to Scraggy House

      January 15, 2023

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      December 25, 2022

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      A Winter Wonderland

      December 11, 2022

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      Lessons of the Abandoned

      November 13, 2022

  • BEFORE THE AMERICAS
    • Before the Americas Project

      Our Story Before the Americas

      July 24, 2022

      Before the Americas Project

      The Story Behind “Emotion”

      November 1, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      A Mural Celebrating Perspective

      June 10, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      The Story Behind “Be”

      May 27, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      The Story Behind “Paso A Paso”

      May 7, 2018

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MURALS

A Mural Celebrating the World

by Art We There Yet? December 18, 2020
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The classroom mural at Driggs Elementary

We didn’t mean to do this project in secret. But now that we look back, we realize we did kind of stealth-paint this classroom mural at Driggs Elementary School.

The world map was painted in Driggs Elementary’s Dual Language Classroom, where students participate in an invaluable dual language program. If only every school had a program like this!

Once again, it was one of those amazing above-and-beyond teachers that brought us in and connected us with the school. Claire runs the dual language program at Driggs Elementary, and she reached out to us about painting the world map in the classroom.

We said yes for so many reasons! First, the Driggs community brought us in like family over summer 2020, and this felt like a perfect way to say thank you. Second, we both have a connection to world maps that affected us greatly when we were growing up…

Why painting a world map was so meaningful

For José…

José loves to tell the story of the first time he saw a world map.

He was about seven, and somehow he had made his way to the principal’s office. While he was waiting for the principal, he noticed a globe on the principal’s desk. He picked it up and scoured it to find Nicaragua. In his words:

“When I found Nicaragua, I couldn’t believe how small my country was compared to the rest of the world. My mind was blown. I realized that the world is such a huge place. That was when my desire to travel and see the world started.“

The elementary school José attended, Centro Escolar Rubén Darío (photo courtesy of Centro Escolar Rubén Darío)

For Cora…

For me, I have a special connection to world maps in Spanish classrooms.

My high school Spanish teacher, Señora Fox, was a force of nature. A no-nonsense gal, she shot from the hip and expected hard work from all her students. I loved her.

Her classroom was a little sanctuary for us Spanish nerds. It was decorated top-to-bottom with colorful fiesta banners and trinkets from markets across Central America. And a giant floor-to-ceiling map of the world. She encouraged us to travel, see the world, and broaden our horizons every chance she got. She’d point to the map and say,

“Look at it! Look at all the things to see and experience! All the different ways of understanding things. Seriously, you guys, when you graduate, get the heck out of here and go see it all!”

The amazing thing? Señora Fox was from Nicaragua, and she fled the same conflict that also brought the Vilchez family to the USA. She passed away nine months before I met José. And oh how she would have loved him! It makes my heart ache every time I think of it. Her encouragement and outlook had such a deep impact in my life, it is amazing how profound that influence went.

So when the opportunity came up to paint a world map in a Spanish classroom, you bet we said yes.


art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel

Did you know?

The AWTY Patreon Family is the beating heart behind the Art We There Yet project.

Patrons pitch in $1.50/mth to help cover project costs…

…And they get a mountain of goodies in return!

40+ unreleased demos from Cora
90+ photographs from Jose
Untold stories straight from Cora’s journals
Early access to all new videos & songs
Downloads of new Cora Rose albums
Credits in the final film and book

Get Access
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A Mural Celebrating the Sea

A Mural Celebrating Action

A Mural Celebrating the Mountains

About The Project

About The Project

Art We There Yet is a project to create art and music inspired by the Americas, celebrating our shared humanity and giving back to communities along the way. Aboard a school bus converted into an art and recording studio, we are traveling 30,000 miles across 23 countries of North, Central, and South America.

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