Texas Folklife Convening 2026

Storyteller Alba Donajhi Sereno grew up in Mexico and the United States. With more than six generations of family stretched through northern Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, Sereno has kept the knowledge and stories of her family alive. Additionally, for over twenty years, Sereno has been a professional community organizer and worker; in this role, Sereno has often helped others tell their stories to drive systemic change. Within the last few years, Sereno has reflected on the importance of storytelling and says, “the art of storytelling has been perhaps the greatest tool in making change happen.”

PODCAST

Through the stories of community members from Houston’s East End, this episode explores how culture bearers have sustained relationships with the land through transnational plant-ways, affirming their identities in the face of colonization, migration, and neighborhood changes over time. Throughout, Alba Donajhi bears witness and synthesizes her own plant life in her accidental homeland. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2040172/episodes/19387029

Born: Juventino Rosas Guanajuato Mx.

I studied Visual Arts in México City.  For 38 years I have been dedicated to creating my own artwork, and at the same time designing costumes for documentaries and motion pictures in México, USA, and Canada. I have exhibited my artwork in solo exhibitions and collectively in México, Germany, Costa Rica, Spain, Chile Argentina and USA.

My passion and interest in natural dyes derived from plants, cochineal (insects), and fungi to dye natural fibers and the use of pigment in the artwork, has led me to investigate independently, attend international Symposiums in India, workshops and lectures in Canada, Spain and México. 

I also enjoy practicing the traditional Mexican Cartonería, with the intention of preserving this technique. 

Renowned flamenco singer Chayito Champion began singing at an early age, carrying on her family’s flamenco legacy. She was given the nickname ‘Gitana Americana’ by the late Antonio Montoya, El Farruco. Her recent engagements include: Repertorio Español, Thalia Theatre, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center in New York City. She is the singer for Jácome Flamenco and Carlota Santana Flamenco Vivo. She has toured the world with such artists as the late José Greco, Antonio Vargas, Teo Morca, Antonio Vargas and Pilar Rioja.

Veronica Castillo Hernandez was born in Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla, Mexico to a family of traditional Mexican folk artisans. With the guidance of her parents, Don Alforno Castillo Orta and Doña Soledad Martha Hernandez Baez, Castillo Hernandez learned the craft of traditional Mexican folk art. Now living in San Antonio, Castillo Hernandez has grown her expertise and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the NEA National Heritage Fellow award. Castillo Hernandez says of her traditional Mexican folk art practice: “From a young age, traditional Mexican folk art has been in my blood. I have learned how to create beautiful pieces of artwork that represent my community’s culture, history, and traditions.”

Virginia Grise is a storyteller from San Antonio, with Chinese-Mexican heritage. She recalls spending much of her childhood in Monterrey at her grandmother’s house, where she would learn the art of storytelling at the kitchen table. Grise says of her storytelling practice: “I believe in the power of telling our stories, that memory is in fact a political act and that valuing our stories teaches us that we are necessary in this world—that what we say, dream, believe matters.”

Adam Rosario is a music therapist (MT-BC), percussionist, and retired US Army infantryman based in Austin, Texas. A lifelong student of Puerto Rican folkloric music, he has shared these traditions with Central Texas communities through performance and education for nearly two decades.

PODCAST

Born in the working-class neighborhoods of Ponce, Puerto Rico, over a century ago, plena is a genre of music that continues to travel wherever Puerto Ricans gather and build community. Communal in nature, it is played at social gatherings of all sorts – celebrations, funerals, protests, and open jam sessions called “plenazos.” In this episode, we will identify the characteristics of plena as defined by practitioners in the Houston, DFW, San Antonio, and Austin areas, and explore how it has been connecting Puerto Rican communities across Texas.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2040172/episodes/19351420