Haven by the River: Mindfulness workshop with Salvador de la Torre

The first session to kick off “Kiki’ing by the River” will be led by artist, educator and storyteller Salvador de la Torre. Join us for a reflective workshop of meditation, journaling and drawing along Paayme Paxaayt (LA River). De la Torre will guide the session to invite participants to find a haven by the river, and ponder the ways in which queerness can be found in nature and everywhere. The workshop will be followed by a conversation between de la Torre and curator Juan Silverio. Paper and pencils will be supplied at the start of the session, but participants are welcomed to bring their own sketchbooks and journals.

Check back at this page for more details coming soon!

An outdoor, artist-guided series along the LA River (Paayme Paxaayt), River Sessions 2025 celebrates queer resilience and community activism through public art and creative engagement. Each month, regional LGBTQIA2S+ artists and Indigenous culture bearers will create commissioned works—ranging from performance and sound to multimedia installations—that reclaim urban space and spark dialogue on nature, control, and liberation. Co-curated by Tiffany Naiman and Juan Silverio, this transformative initiative forges deep community connections while documenting each activation for broader audiences. Join us in supporting this vibrant convergence of art, activism, and community, and help amplify the voices and creativity of our diverse, resilient queer communities.

About the artist

Salvador de la Torre is a Mexican-born Texas-raised artist, educator and storyteller based in Southern California. Their drawing and performance work invoke the power of personal experience and family history to create artworks that exist at the intersection of activism, art production and praxes of self-acceptance.

Their work engages politics of migration, memory, queerness, and gender in ways that remind us of the power and solidarity that can exist in quotidian gestures.

De la Torre’s production opens channels for theorizing vulnerability, intimacy, and proximity as radical undertakings in the space of the borderlands and beyond. In doing so, their work forges complex narratives of joy, struggle, adaptability, exhaustion and tenderness, as counternarratives that assert the wholeness, nuance, and humanity of immigrant communities, and queer subjectivities.

Salvador earned an MFA from California State University, Fullerton and a BA from Texas A&M International University.

IMPORTANT DETAILS:

• This is an outdoor event that will occur rain or shine.
• Maps/Directions and more details will be sent to participants after registration.
• All tours include a 5% Land Usage Fee. Funds from this fee cover compensation for a Tribal Elder or Culture Bearer to accompany most walks. Information about Land Usage Fees.
• Refunds are available as credit for an alternate tour.
• By attending a LA River Arts event, you accept our terms of service.
• Visit www.LARiverArts.org for more details and stay tuned for surprises along the LA River's winding path.

River Sessions are guided site visits and walks to experience art, culture, and place along the 51 miles of the LA River. In the spirit of Hyonaayn’ar--a Tongva word that means both teacher and student--participants will learn about the River’s ephemeral histories and imagine it’s ecological futures, all while exploring diverse and dynamic cultural responses to the watershed.

Watch this 10min documentary featuring our three Indigenous Advisors whose artist residency on the River culminated with:

Each month we conduct creative field research with artists, Indigenous Culture Bearers and local experts. Look for surprises around the bend!

SUPPORT LARA!!!

_________________________

I wish you would

walk with me here

more often—

--Lewis MacAdams, The River: Book One

Host or Publisher LA River Public Art Project