Nuestra Loteria

In collaboration with Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, Corazón del Pueblo worked with Ethnic & Gender Studies (EGS) teachers to develop and implement a rigorous art project involving students from Santa Maria, and Ernest Righetti High Schools.

EGS teachers Patricia Villalobos, Fernando Aguila, Trent Udlock, and Mr. Vergara worked with local artists to lead students through a critical examination and reconstruction of the traditional game of Loteria. Students collectively created a new and uniquely youth-centered version of the Loteria game anchored on the notions of social justice, empowerment, and resistance.

Thank you Santa Maria Joint Union High School District for supporting this project.

How the Project Started

The Nuestra Loteria program is an annual program developed in 2021 by the Cultural and Creative Arts Center of the Santa Maria Valley (Corazon del Pueblo), Santa Maria Joint Union High School District teachers Patricia Villalobos, Roxana Maldonado and Elizabeth Cortez, as well as local Disney artist Ruben Espinoza. The program helps students critically analyze the traditional game of Loteria and develop their own Loteria cards as paintings. The program helps students highlight issues that are important to them through art, and is anchored on the notions of social justice, cultural preservation and community empowerment.

Mrs. Elizabeth Cortez at SMHS began the project a year prior to our collaboration in 2019. After the first year doing the project with her English classes, she reached out to other Ethnic and Gender Studies educators in the district to make it an interdisciplinary project. During the 2019-2020 school year, Mrs. Cortez, Mrs. Roxana Maldonado from PVHS, and Patricia Villalobos from ERHS met weekly to discuss the components of the project, research the history of the game, develop curriculum in Spanish and English, create assignments, rubrics, supply lists, a timeline, and establish expectations for the collaboration with Corazón del Pueblo. This was all possible because of the support they received from Mr. Molina through funding and access to resources.

This year teachers Patricia Villalobos, Fernando Aguila, and Trent Udlock worked with art mentors from Corazon del Pueblo to lead over 300 students through a critical examination and reconstruction of the traditional game of Loteria. Students collectively created a new and uniquely youth-centered version of the game that highlights their voices on critical contemporary social issues. At the end of every program cycle, we host a community gallery event, inviting students, their families and the wider community to celebrate our youth, their voices and their artistic talents.

This academic project has significantly impacted numerous students in various ways. Its primary objective is to educate students, their peers, and the community about the societal implications of social issues. The Loteria Project Overview handout offers comprehensive information about this initiative.

"What inspired you to create this project?"

712dd1_47284745bf4946a59a7416769b28a443~mv2.avif

The project first started with one teacher and one class of 35 students. Over 5 years it has grown to be a district-wide project with teachers from every comprehensive site and over 350 students participating. The first year I did this, I had to fundraise for the art supplies, had no technical assistance from an artist (I was an English teacher), and my art exhibit consisted of a couple of tables outside of my class in between classes. I am grateful for the collaboration with other teachers like Patricia Villalobos and Roxanna Maldonado who really helped elevate this project for students and make it a truly interdisciplinary project. Our partnership with Corazon del Pueblo has brought local artists to the classroom so that students receive expert guidance and support through the artistic components of the project, but so that students can not also see art as a viable career. We've come a long way in a very short amount of time."