Appoint Joaquin Lopez and Leila Haile as Creative Laureates for terms to expire June 30, 2023

As Arts Commissioner, I request Council confirmation to appoint Joaquin Lopez and Leila Haile as our City's next Creative Laureates. They will serve a two year term starting July 1, 2021 and ending on June 30, 2023. Respectfully submitted, Carmen Rubio Commissioner As Mayor and Commissioner of Finance & Administration, I request Council confirmation of the following appointments as our City's next Creative Laureates: Appointment Term ­­­____ Joaquin Lopez June 30, 2023 Leila Haile June 30, 2023 Respectfully submitted, Ted Wheeler Mayor Joaquin Lopez Statement: I am excited to be one of the next Creative Laureates for the City of Portland to promote creative expression, new ideas, and community healing. To accomplish this, I will integrate my lived experiences as an artist, entrepreneur, non-profit manager, and mental health counselor to call forth inspiration. This role will allow me to follow in the footsteps of Creative Laureates, Subashini Ganesan and Julie Keefe, to continue to broaden the conversation about the arts, social change, and culture in our city. Most importantly, as a gay Latino male who found solace in the arts and who forged his identity through creative expression, I want to inspire Portland’s elder, middle aged, and young artists to express themselves and to follow their dreams. To transform a community, we must support, trust, and rely on the authentic expression of the artists who live in it. We, the people, have the power to develop new works of art, new ideas to share, and new products to fuel an economic and cultural exchange. As the Creative Laureate, I would like to reach out to our cultural storytellers and to our elders and youth. I believe we have a great deal to learn from listening to those who have walked before us, who stand to inherit our earth, who hold our stories, and who have paved the way. Bio: Joaquin Lopez is a counselor and performing artist whose work is grounded in personal transformation, self-expression, and Latino Queer identity. He holds a passion for producing cultural events that honor Latin American heritage and Latino Gay culture. In June of 2019, he released UNIVERSO, an electro-pop album that pays homage to his coming-of-age as a gay man. He is the oldest son of the Lopez family who for twenty years has run La Bonita Mexican restaurants in the Alberta Arts District, Overlook Neighborhood, and SE Division Neighborhood. Joaquin runs a counseling private practice specializing in men’s issues, personal development, and the bicultural Latino experience. When not at the office, Joaquin spends time reading, walking, playing the guitar, singing, and writing poetry. He enjoys time with friends and family, especially his nieces and nephews who keep his spirit young. Leila Haile Statement: Art is our most powerful tool for disrupting the dominant hegemony responsible for driving oppression, this is why a strong, anti-racist cultural ecosystem is absolutely necessary for achieving equity, my driving motivation as an artist and the impetus behind my application. Having lived in Portland for the last 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of building creative communities across identity, practice and ability. As Co-founder and Co-Director for Ori Gallery, I’ve spent the last 4 years curating space for Black, Indigenous, Communities of Color, Queer and Trans communities to host exhibitions, arts programming, political education and direct action. As a Black Queer and Trans tattoo artist focusing on communities excluded from tattooing because of colonization, white supremacy, misogynoir and ableism I have a unique perspective on what Portland's creative landscape is like for marginalized artists and activists. I know that with increased access to resources, community outreach and institutional support, I will continue and build upon the work of previous laureates to connect, uplift and mobilize folks on our community towards a more equitable city. Bio: Leila is a community educator, organizer, dancer, and tattoo artist who has been in Portland for the last 15 years and spent the last four curating space for Queer, and Trans communities effected by white supremacy to host exhibitions, art programming, political education, and direct action through Ori Gallery. From their work with the All African People's Revolutionary Party to the Independent Publishing Resource Center, PNCA, Reed College, PSU, the City of Portland, Disability Arts and Culture Project among others, they have organized across disciplines and ideologies to merge the liberatory with the creative. After running an independent tattoo practice for the past 6 years, they joined Constellation Tattoo Collective in the summer of 2020, focusing on communities excluded from tattooing because of colonization, misogynoir, and ableism.