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Making History
A Year in Review
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‘City of Roses'
Read back issues of the Portland Observer at www.portlandobserver.com
Established ¡n 1970
Volume XXXXI, Number 52
Wednesday • December 28, 2011 Committed to Cultural Diversity •^community service
Sharing
Cultures
through
Social justice group
builds community
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
To ensure immigrant artists both preserve
and share their cultures, one Portland non­
profit is on a mission to create a community
filled with inter-cultural learning through art,
which they believe is a vital part of commu­
nity, heritage and family.
Founded in 2008, Colored Pencils Art and
Culture collective empowers and supports
residents who just moved to the city, often
from overseas, to continue to celebrate their
backgrounds, despite the challenges often
faced when moving to a new country.
“Colored Pencils found the need for a
platform for newcomers to showcase their art
and tell their stories,” said Nim Xuto, co­
founder of the volunteer run organization
based out of downtown Portland. “And these
stories need to be heard.”
Xuto, who has lived in the metro area for
25-years, was bom in Thailand, where her
father taught her art as a young child. “I think
photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
Nim Xuto promotes community, heritage and families as co-founder of the no-profit Colored Pencils Art and Culture collective.
art sustains us as human beings,” she said.
Although talking with someone can re­
veal a lot about a person, she said you can’t
really know who an individual is until you
hear their story about where they came from,
and what happened to their homeland.
“These people never had a stage before,”
she said. “And now, with the help of the
organization, they have been invited to per­
form their work in many places.”
According to Xuto, more than 200 people
each month share their stories through po­
etry, paintings, dance and musical perfor­
mances at their monthly events, which more
than 3,000 individuals have been a part of
since the creation of the volunteer run non­
profit.
Although each artist is unique with their
own story, the organization works diligently
as a community and brings together artists
from all different walks of life under one roof.
“We are a community building process,”
she said. “The events are intended to have
as many racial and nationality groups as
december 29, 2011
thru
january 4, 2012
PO ST HOLIDAY O
continued
on page 18
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According to Ronault (Polo) Catalani,
Xuto’s husband and fellow co-founder of
the organization, the ‘new world,’ including
the United States, often perceives the role of
the artist differently than in other countries.
He said new arrivals to the United States
often feel they have to give up their histories,
families and cultures to come here, which can
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