Tongva Stories Reimagined: An Artistic Encounter With LA's First People

Tina Calderon is a Tongva culture bearer and storyteller, Jessica Gudiel is a visual artist who is inspired by traditional shadow puppetry. The two collaborated to create a magical experience as Tina told a creation story and Jessica animated it. Their collaboration will be shown and discussed, Jessica’s artwork will be on display, and Tina will tell more Tongva stories for this afternoon of ancient lore brought to life.

Tina is a Culture Bearer, traditional singer & dancer, storyteller & poet who strives to honor her ancestors and inspire others to respect the lands, water, sacred elements and environment. After retiring from a Career as Operations Manager in the Manufacturing Industry, Tina began focusing on her culture and traditional languages. Tina is a member of the Tongva Language Committee and is also a student learning the Šmuwič dialog of Chumash. To date she has composed over a dozen songs in her ancestral languages, new expressions of a living language and culture.

Jessica was born in Los Angeles and is stiull based here, where she is an interventionist artist. She’s worked to develop the art of designing and installing native and vegetable gardens and designing and performing her shadow art. In the midst of the 2020 pandemic she received her Community Teaching Artist certificate from Cal State LA. In 2021 she’s focused on developing her shadow puppetry for the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus community. She recently completed a shadow art piece titled, ‘Paviinokre; We Flow’, a collaboration with Tina Calderon, Tongva Culture Bearer.

Please note: In accordance with Health Department guidelines, audience members should show vaccination cards on entry and remain masked during the performance.

Host or Publisher Collage: A Place For Art and Culture