Maria Patricia Tinajero

Maria Patricia Tinajero was born next to an imaginary line, the 0⁰0’0’’ parallel also known as the Equator. This line divides the earth into two halves, a northern and southern hemisphere. In much the same way, Patricia’s artistic world thrives at a place of intersection, in this case the intersection between reality and imagination – actuality and potentiality. It is here in this place that she cultivates and attends to both her artistic and academic work.

Mercedes Falk

Mercedes Falk is the Director of Puentes/Bridges, a non-profit in Western Wisconsin that works to increase cultural understanding between the community that immigrates to work here and the rural and farming community. She facilitates communication between dairy farmers and farmworkers from Mexico and helps them understand each other on a deeper level.

In 2024, I will walk along the DTour route as part of a creative, socially engaged art practice with Mercedes Falk, Director of Puentes/Bridges. The walk will offer a chance to move slowly through the rural landscape of Sauk County, taking in the beauty of the land and reflecting on how art can shape conversations around mobility, agriculture, and soil health. We will carry two paper suitcases made from fermented fibers sourced in Sauk County. These suitcases hold the stories of individuals who have journeyed from Mexico and Ecuador to the United States. Through their stories, we aim to explore the connections between land, soil, and people within the broader agricultural system of the rural Midwest.”

Working sketch for Walking/Talking, mixed media collage on paper, 2024 by Patricia Tinajero