Images by Michelle Gutierrez (Lightstalkers)

Images by Michelle Gutierrez (Lightstalkers) http://www.lightstalkers.org/michellegutierrez My Grandmother’s immigration to the United States from Colombia 40 years ago is the biggest inspiration in my artwork. Mercedes Cortes’s humble hard work to give her family a better life and the opportunity to make our dreams real - motivates me above everything. I want to take advantage of this opportunity she has given me and reflect the possibility back to others, that dreams can come true. What concerns me, are those who are not able to create what they want-dreams or even basic needs. With my artwork I hope to celebrate those making a difference for themselves and in the lives of others.  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #666666; FONT-FAMILY: "Verdana Ref"; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Born in San Francisco, Michelle Gutierrez dedicates her energy to Latino education at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, El Tecolote Community Newspaper, La Casa Cultural Colombiana, Global Exchange, The Red Poppy Art House, UW’a Defense Organization, The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Fellowship Of Reconcilliation Colombia (FOR ), and the Salgado Instituto Terra.<span style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: #666666; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> en-us Temporarily Unavailable Image feeds are temporarily unavailable due to heavy load on the Lightstalkers servers. Please consider making a donation today so that we can afford to upgrade this service. Tue, 21 May 2013 16:34:01 -0700 http://www.pledgie.com/campaigns/1888