In 2007, Maria Guerrero founded Woman in the Arts Inc and the Orlando Public Library has offered advise and guidance along the way. Her daughter Natalia Guerrero has helped her every step pf the way and on this journey they both discovered that they are artists at heart.
Women in the Arts, Inc. is a 501(c)3
non-profit organization founded to recognize the work of women artists
and bring art education to the greater community. The organization’s
defining statements, “Art heals by giving voice to the soul,” and “Celebrating the genius of women,”
underline its mission to advance art education for people of all ages,
especially the youth, and raise public awareness of women’s
contributions to the arts.
As Maria said,
“The
decision to establish Women in the Arts was my response to a spiritual
call to serve by bringing recognition to the talent and work of women artists and
to provide access to free art education, especially to children. There
are different kinds of poverty and the lack of access and exposure to
the arts constitutes a form of intellectual poverty which Women in the
Arts seeks to address.
It was heart warming to see Natalia working so closely with her mom on a project that they both are passionate about. Natalie is a TESS Objects of Interest Manager and Communications Lead at MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. So besides her interest in Women in the Arts, she is exploring the final frontier. They both approached me after the interview to see what I had sketched. They both smiled broadly at my crude interpretation of the brief interview. It is enthusiasm like theirs that is helping keep the arts alive in Central Florida.