Sachaqa Centro De Arte

Stepping into Sachaqa was an expansive experience for me as an artist. The magic and mystery of the Amazon rainforest is ever-present here, and Trina is an incredible connector – of people, plants, spirits, and beyond. She was a gracious host, nurturing my creativity and introducing me to my teachers in San Roque. I am so grateful to her and the community for welcoming me and being a source of inspiration. I highly recommend this residency to any artists who are excited about being immersed in nature and Amazonian whimsy. The opportunity to be in a community like this one is priceless, and I already want to return!

Spending time at Sachaca was a journey outside of my usual life and routine as well as a reconnecting with some of my core ways of being. Going to a village in the jungle from the hustle of New York City was a welcome change. I loved meeting the other artists that I shared time with at Sachaca and members of the village and surrounding community. I learned so much from these connections! Though much was new and unknown to me, being able to move through my days at Sachaca in a less scheduled way allowed me to better feel and act on what I needed from the experience- time and space to explore, reflect, and create. Being there felt like a return to myself. I really appreciate how Trina supported this process with logistical support, facilitating learning opportunities, like ceramics with Patrona and hiking in the area. We had plenty of interesting conversations along the way as well! Even as time seemed to move more slowly than usual, I did so many things and was able to make a lot of new work. I grew ideas that I arrived with and discovered new threads to follow. I’ll be unpacking this experience for some time to come!

I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate in this program, and I took away valuable experiences that helped me grow artistically and personally. At the same time, I felt like people were oversimplified and our complexities were not really honored—which is so important in an artist space. Too often we weren’t truly listened to, and that led to misunderstandings and limited our processes. I also noticed that Trina at times spoke poorly about other artists in ways that simplified or reduced them, which contributed to this dynamic of not honoring people fully. In my case, I shared vulnerably that I never felt at home in the U.S. and had taken a leap of faith to leave, yet later an image was edited to put a U.S. flag on my body without my consent. When I expressed discomfort and asked for it to be removed, my messages were ignored. I also shared that I am extremely allergic to cats and was assured they would not be in the space. When they were present near my house, instead of my allergy being taken seriously, I was told to “just hiss at them,” and my needs were reframed as a nervous system issue. Since exposure can cause anaphylaxis for me, this left me feeling unsafe and dismissed. On a practical level, I also found the program unreliable at times. We were told we would have certain support—such as someone to translate or scheduled activities—and then these would simply not happen, with no explanation. This made it harder to plan and fully engage in the work. Overall, I value what I gained, but I believe the program needs to grow by truly listening to participants, honoring their full complexity, respecting their identities, taking health and safety concerns seriously, and providing reliable support.