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Shoes Can Be Your Allies Too

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Samantha Dong is here to prove that shoes can be your allies too. A hiking injury made her realize that most of the heels available out there were not designed with comfort in mind. In fact, wearing them hurt. She decided that wearing heels shouldn’t be a painful experience and set out to create ALLY Shoes, “an innovative fashion brand for women by women” that creates beautiful, fashionable, and pain-free heels

Samantha Dong, founder and CEO of ALLY Shoes

Samantha Dong, founder and CEO of ALLY Shoes

What is ALLY Shoes?

ALI C. VERÁSTEGUI – Tell us about yourself and the road to creating Ally Shoes. 

SAMANTHA DONG – A former management consultant, I always wore heels to work. Then I hurt my feet hiking and couldn’t wear heels without pain. That’s when it clicked – heels shouldn’t hurt. I made it my mission to find the best in the business to create pain-free heels for women. ALLY Shoes’ founding leadership team includes Podiatric Surgeon, Dr. Roxanne Clarke, and acclaimed shoe designer, Sarah Jaramillo. Our diverse backgrounds and varying professional experiences inspired the overall concept of our unique pain-free heels and shoe design. We each bring our expertise to the table and together we created a heel that can be a woman’s ally.

Work Friendships Matter

ACV – Ally Shoes has an inspiringly diverse founding team, tell us about how this alliance came to be.

SD – ALLY Shoes’ founding leadership and innovation team includes three, powerhouse women from three different continents. African American Podiatric Surgeon, Dr. Roxanne Clarke, South American Shoe Designer, Sarah Jaramillo, and myself, Founder and CEO, from Shanghai, China. Our diverse backgrounds and varying professional experiences inspired the overall concept of pain-free heels and shoe design.

Shoes can be your allies too. ALLY Shoes is set to prove it

Shoes can be your allies too. ALLY Shoes is set to prove it

Shoes can be your allies too

ACV – Can you tell us more about the science behind your one-of-a-kind Ally Shoes? Is there a specific consumer in mind?

SD – Professional women wear heels for a variety of reasons: style, confidence, or simply because it’s part of the corporate dress code. However, as research shows, foot pain has been a known issue that women have to endure for a long time. 71% of women suffer from heel pain, 88% wear sizes that don’t fit them, and 42% of women’s heels are worn once or less.

Our team re-engineered women’s dress shoes with:

1Patented Product (Utility Patent US Patent No. 11311075)

We’re the first to construct the entire upper part of a pump using stretch leather without losing the structured shape of the shoe. Our three-point insole support features a weight-balancing toe grip, elevated arch support, and deep heel cup. This ergonomic design by a podiatric surgeon re-balances weight distribution without making the shoe bulky, making a three-inch stiletto stable and supportive that feels like a sneaker. We implemented similar insole technology into our flats collection by adjusting pressure point support.

2Inclusive Sizing and Flexible Supply Chain

ALLY is trying to get the customer as close to custom fitted as possible while maintaining affordability. We optimize fit by offering half sizes ranging from US 4 to 12 and 4 different widths, powered by a quick-response (2-week) supply chain with no volume minimum. Hence, there is no need for excess inventory.

3Data- Driven Smart Fit

ALLY’s proprietary online fit-finder has an algorithm designed by Dr. Clarke, seeded with data from over 8,000 women. Our online fit finder allows customers to answer 10 simple questions and get their size right.

From Soft Skills to Power Skills
Register now for the October 28, 2022 Event, to increase your chances of winning a pair of ALLY Shoes!

Register now for the October 28, 2022 Event, to increase your chances of winning a pair of ALLY Shoes!

Red Shoes Allies

ACV – ALLY Shoes and Red Shoe Movement seem to be a match made in heaven, how was this partnership born?

SD – We were really excited when we heard from Mariela from the Red Shoe Movement. As a brand built on women empowerment, we instantly bonded over our shared passion and love for red shoes. The rest was history.

Register Now for the October 28 RSM Signature Event in NYC to increase your chances to get a pair of red Ally Shoes in your size! Because we truly believe shoes can be your allies too!

ACV – You work closely with your clients to ensure a perfect fit, are there any especially memorable moments and designs you can share?

SD – Fit has always been essential in ensuring maximum comfort, which is why we offer size 4-12 in half sizes and four different toe-box width.

We used to be very offline-heavy when it comes to fit. That said, COVID-19 also effectively shut down half of our distribution channels including offline trunk shows, pop-ups, fitting room, and boutique store partners. With no clarity on how and when those channels will recover, we launched a new “at-home trial box” that allows customers to try different sizes before buying, aiming to re-create our fitting room experience in the comfort of their homes.  We are also adapting our product line by developing high quality footwear more suitable for walking outside, including lower kitten heels, block heels, and flats with arch support.

Women traveling solo post-pandemic

Making mistakes and staying resilient

ACV – Is there anything you know now that you wish you had known when you started working on ALLY Shoes?

SD – I wish I knew that developing an innovative product is just half the battle. If I were to start again, I would have honed in on branding and growth strategies in parallel with product development.

ACV – Any words of wisdom for young entrepreneurs?

SD – Run fast but pivot often. As entrepreneurs, we are often pressured with limited time, resources, and growing competition. As a result, it’s essential to be able to act quickly. However, we are also tackling brand new problems and often building something that has never been done before. Inherently, we will have to test directions with imperfect information and make mistakes. When things get hard, true resilience requires optimism based on clear analysis and openness to change, followed by rapid executions.

ACV – What are some other women-led businesses you’d recommend we keep an eye on?

SD – I’ve been a loyal customer of Rent the Runway (a platform to rent or buy designer items) for ten years now. I love how they allow me to have some fresh new looks every month in an economical and sustainable way.

Women traveling solo post-pandemic. What you need to know.

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I was one of the first women traveling solo and continued to be one of the few for many years. Now, gratefully a lot more women are venturing on their own and discovering themselves in the process. Here are my tips for women traveling solo post pandemic.

I didn’t always travel alone

Although I was lucky enough to travel a lot with my parents as a child, I started traveling with a friend when I was 19 years old. My first trip was to Greece, Italy and Switzerland. My friend —better described as a friend of my family— was ten years my senior and it was the only way that my parents let me take the trip in the first place. Needless to say that that first trip opened my eyes to very different cultures and to the wonders of traveling.

The travel adventures continued in the company of my ex-husband and then my ex-boyfriend, but I would say that I truly embraced the movement of women traveling alone around twenty years ago. First, I traveled with one of my girlfriends and eventually, as I traveled alone more and more for work, I decided to try traveling for leisure also on my own. And wow, what a completely different experience! I’m not saying it’s better or worse, I’m saying that when you travel by yourself you discover a whole new you. You really get to explore what you like and what you don’t. Your pace. Being with yourself while doing nothing. Making new friends. Solving all issues and making all decisions on your own.

Women traveling solo learn about themselves

Women traveling solo learn about themselves

Traveling before and after the pandemic

Needless to say that traveling has changed since the pandemic. What I used to take for granted, that I would be able to go anywhere I wanted whenever I wanted is no more. Now you plan and hope that all the stars align so your plans go through. To this element of uncertainty, there’s also an added amount of traveling anxiety pre-trip that I never had before. Whether it is around the Covid-related requirements of the country I’m traveling to and the U.S. upon return, to the health system of the country I’m visiting if I were to catch Covid there. Just like everyone, I have to consider a number of things I never had to consider before.  Yet, the joy of traveling again outweighs everything else.

5 tips for women traveling solo post-pandemic

1Get Covid insurance

Yes, that is my number one tip. I caught Covid when I was in Israel in 2021. At the time, Israel was the country with the largest percentage of vaccinated population and yet, that’s where I got it. Back then, I had to be locked in for 10 days at my hotel and I had to change my return flight because I wouldn’t be out of quarantine on time to fly back. And also, it messed up my trip, so I wanted to stay a few extra days to make up for it. Thankfully, my insurance covered my interrupted-trip and all medical costs I incurred. So, I didn’t have to add worrying about the cost of doctors coming to check on me to a situation that was already bad.

I spent 10 days locked up in a hotel in Israel. Thankfully, my travel insurance covered my medical and trip interruption expenses.I spent 10 days locked up in a hotel in Israel. Thankfully, my travel insurance covered my medical and trip interruption expenses.

I spent 10 days locked up in a hotel in Israel. Thankfully, my travel insurance covered my medical and trip interruption expenses. Make sure yours does too before you travel.

2Be your own Dr. Fauci

With rules and requirements changing daily in different countries, and with most places having dropped their masks requirements, it’s all up to you. You need to use your common sense to protect yourself during your trip. I was just in Paris for a month and nobody was wearing masks in restaurants, stores, museums, etc. On top of that, during my stay, they lifted the requirement to wear masks on public transportation.

Now, given that May is a very tourist heavy month in Paris, the subways and buses were super crowded, and overnight nobody is wearing masks? My boyfriend and I did. All the time. Not only in public transport but also on the street in very crowded places and whenever we went into the supermarket, galleries, museums, and on the flight back home. People may have thought we hadn’t received the Memo, but we didn’t care. Better safe than sorry.

Make reservations ahead of time

Make reservations ahead of time

3Give yourself a cushion if you’re traveling for an event

If you’re traveling to attend a specific event, a wedding, a concert, whatever, plan on arriving a couple of days ahead of time. With the ongoing staff issues that the airlines are experiencing plus the increase in world travel post pandemic, many airlines are cancelling flights and not rebooking you.

That’s exactly what just happened to us. United cancelled our return flight and told us to rebook it on our own. But there weren’t any flights available the same day and very few seats available on the next-day flight. And of course, they didn’t pay for the extra night we had to stay in Paris. So make sure you have a cushion if you need to be at a certain place on a specific date.

 

Finding a woman guide or an Airbnb experience led by a woman can be great for women traveling solo

Finding a woman guide or an Airbnb experience led by a woman can be great for women traveling solo. This experience of visiting Covered Passages in Paris, is an example of that.

4Stay at an Airbnb room rather than a hotel or entire apartment

When I first started as part of the few women traveling solo, I rented a car in Barcelona and drove by myself all the way to Monaco, France. This was pre-GPS days, so I had to print my itinerary and look at it while driving and reading signs in French. To top it off, I had dropped by Blackberry inside the toilet of the first museum I visited on the trip, the Dali Museum in Figueres, so I had no way of even calling anyone for help. Talk about nerve-wracking!

But the one good thing I did on that first trip on my own, was to rent a bedroom and bathroom in several homes whose owners were women. I planned it on purpose like that so that I would have someone to talk to at night when I came back from my sight-seeing. Someone who could suggest what I should see in their hometown.

It was one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had traveling solo. I met some incredible women who were trying to make some extra income by renting a room in their home. They were artists, and furniture designers, and olive oil manufacturers, and photographers… It was also a wonderful way to learn about how other people live.

This is how I learned all those years ago, that there’s a lot of joy to be had outside working all the time, which is what I had been doing in New York since I had first moved here.

So, if you’re a woman traveling alone, you should consider staying in another woman’s house. And always carefully read the reviews before you book anywhere.

5Find a local woman guide

Ali Verástegui recently interviewed Vanessa Karel for this blog. She’s the founder of Greether, a new App that connects women traveling solo to a local woman guide. I find the concept fascinating as it helps women explore new places in a way they feel safe.

But if you don’t happen to find a Greeter through Greether, you should try to connect with local guides that offer free visits to the city you’re visiting. They are usually people who love their towns and are full of valuable insights. Also, look for Airbnb experiences led by women.

You get to decide what to do all the time

You get to decide what to do all the time

Bonus track

For anyone traveling at this time, I highly suggest you make reservations way ahead of time. For tickets to events, to dinner at the restaurants you’d like to try and Airbnb experiences. As I said before, there are a lot more people traveling than a year or two ago and as there is a shortage of personnel, there may be limited seating, limited hours and a host of other things to take into consideration.

Finally, before you venture out again if you haven’t traveled since the pandemic hit, build your patience and resilience. People in the tourist industry are overwhelmed and short-staffed so things may be glitchy and slower than you were used to.

Be prepared to have a good dose of disappointments (cancellations, closures, being unable to go where you planned to) and remember that you always catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a gallon of vinegar.

Treat people gently, give them the benefit of the doubt and be grateful that you get to experience the outside world once again even if it doesn’t look or feel like it did before.

Meet #WingsOfCourage Artist Colette Miller

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Behind the Red Shoe Movement’s #WingsOfCourage initiative is a partnership with renowned artist Colette Miller, a visual artist with multiple talents. Find out who she is and the amazing world she created!

Ten years ago Colette began The Global Angel Wings Project – those impressive colorful wings you have probably spotted all over Instagram and other social media, or around your town. Through her murals, Colette hopes to remind humanity that “we are the angels of this Earth.” A message with which she has already traveled far and wide and which she continues to share through new installations around the world.

Colette Miller and Mariela Dabbah pose with #WingsOfCourage

Colette Miller and Mariela Dabbah pose with #WingsOfCourage

This year, for the Red Shoe Movement’s 10th anniversary we partnered with Colette to create the #WingsOfCourage initiative. We unveiled our first set of wings at Spotify’s offices for Women’s History Month. The installation showcases Colette’s trademark wings specifically designed in the Red Shoe Movement palette. They fly on the 72nd floor of an iconic skyscraper on 4 World Trade Center in New York City, facing the Freedom Tower. They welcome a hybrid workforce back to their workplace with a vibrant message of hope.

#WingsOfCourage

ALINE CERDAN VERASTEGUI – You are best known for the Global Angel Wings Project. Can you tell us a little about what inspired this viral collection of colorful angel wings? How did it become a global project? 

COLETTE MILLER – I would describe it as a type of vision. I was in Los Angeles, City of Angels, around the beginning of 2012 or the end of 2011. I had been meditating a lot about humanity, our collective experience and the “divine” in all of us – our higher natures. Wings came into my mind as I drove. Big angelic type wings.  I would imagine them on the walls of the buildings. I decided to act on the idea and make them human sized for people to wear them. To remind humanity that We Are the Angels of this Earth. I didn’t expect anything, I was surprised when people suddenly started to take photos. I was just giving something to the world pro bono on the street that I thought would be good for people to see.  A glimmer of hope. A reminder of our Higher Nature.

ACV – You collaborated with Red Shoe Movement to create their #WingsOfCourage initiative, can you tell us about it? How is this initiative different from what you usually do?

CM – It’s special because it’s on the top floor of 4 World Trade Center, overlooking the Freedom Tower in one of the most enigmatic cities in the world –and one of my favorites. The red palette matches the Red Shoe Movement’s colors. Mariela Dabbah and Gustavo Carvajal contacted me and secured the location. We are using their tag #WingsOfCourage, to promote just that: Giving women’s dreams flight through courage. I don’t normally hashtag directly on murals, but I had to embrace this specific cause for Red Shoe Movement and their initiative.

Colette Miller's wings- Photo Credit @alainaballerina

Colette Miller’s wings- Photo Credit @alainaballerina

Women of Courage and Other Angels

ACV – Who are some of the Women of Courage who have inspired you along the way? 

CM – Amelia Earnhardt hits immediately, maybe because she flew. But so many others, like animal lover /environmentalist Jane Goodall, Marie Curie, Mother Theresa, Joan of Arc, artist Mary Cassatt. I’m inspired by traits like bravery, kindness, faith, creativity, intelligence and independence.

ACV– Tell us about your journey as an artist and what it has been like to experiment with different mediums, such as music, poetry, and street art. What struggles have you encountered as a woman in these environments? 

CM – When you collaborate in projects like a band, you learn to deal with different personalities, some of which are more complex than others. Sometimes, you feel like you need a degree in psychotherapy. As for more independent forms of creativity, such as painting, one must have the courage to listen to our own voice. Sometimes it takes a lifetime, if ever. If I really sit with myself quietly, I may get to the divine comedy of humanity and hopefully the kind part of humankind. But we are all complex stories with a past and none of us is perfect. We all have baggage, me included.

ACV – What is it about street art that you love? Do you think it conveys something that can’t be conveyed in other mediums?  

CM – Street art is available and immediate to the public. It’s often self-authorized by the inspired artist and their urgency to put it out there. I’m curious about the intent behind it, but I also wonder and am concerned about desecration and disregard for public property. Street art can also easily be ruined because of its vulnerability on the street, but that impermanence itself might be part of its great value. The ephemeral. The temporary. I want my murals to last as long as possible, especially those that have been commissioned. I take great care with varnishes and other protective measures. I’ve done a lot of research over the years.

Global Angel Wings Project in Cuba- Photo Credit @ColetteMillerWings

Global Angel Wings Project in Cuba- Photo Credit @ColetteMillerWings

Empowering People Around the World

ACV – You have taken the Global Angel Wings Project around the world, are there any locations that hold a special place in your heart? 

CM – Well, that’s a difficult question because each location I have painted the wings has been a unique experience. I remember doing a pair at an orphanage outside Jiaxing, in China, and the children embraced me without prejudice or second thought. It was chilly inside and some of the children had disabilities, but their innocence and welcoming nature was a beautiful thing. It was an amazing day. Outside Nairobi, in Kenya, in an old courtyard where some kids camped out on the ground. They started a boxing sports club named after the wings, the Koyalre Wings Miller Boxing Club. There’s one in Juarez, in Mexico, motivated by the drug cartel violence the city faces. I installed it in 2015 to inspire some healing through a group called Juarez es Resiliente. I slept with my scissors under my pillow while I was there because I was a bit tense.

ACV – How has seeing the project grow and evolve into other endeavors like #WingsOfCourage changed you or the way you see your own project?

CM – I appreciate the right collaboration with people and projects I align with. I immediately felt that way with Mariela when I met her, she was a natural friend. Global Angel Wings Project has an uplifting universal appeal and so does #WingsOfCourage initiative and the Red Shoe Movement, which is empowering women and anyone else who chooses to embrace gender equity worldwide.

Global Angel Wings in LA-Photo Credit- @ColetteMillerWings-

Global Angel Wings in LA-Photo Credit- @ColetteMillerWings-

ACV – What do you think it is about your work that resonates with so many regardless of geography? Have people reached out to you with special stories involving the Global Angel Wings Project?  

CM – I think it touches on the Universal.  It’s simple, but striking and strong. That’s what my father says about ideas: Simple, striking, strong.  The way I paint wings too, they are big and free. From the heart.

I have had people who have lost someone, often tragically, contact me with their photos and it catches my breath because these people are going through such grief. And suddenly I’m connected with them through the art and a moment in time with their loved one. It’s humbling, and I can understand sudden grief myself, so I can empathize. Others have reached out to tell me about the lift they felt when they found them in a remote area or even a high-profile area like the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world (for now).  I’m often amazed at the creativity of the photos, like the NYC ballerinas under a bridge in East Harlem with the wings. I put those wings up (which the city now helps protect) in the early days, during the winter. The paint froze as I was installing them, as did my fingers. But I have seen some beautiful photos and have felt like bowing my head in gratitude.

8 Lessons Working Women Learned from the Pandemic

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Wisdom often comes with adversity. And while we’re all still figuring out what work and business will look like a few years from now, there are certain key lessons working women learned from the pandemic.

Lessons working women learned- Photo Credit- Fauxels--Pexels

Lessons working women learned- Photo Credit- Fauxels–Pexels

It’s true that Covid-19 changed things for women in business everywhere. For many, it represented an opportunity for a new beginning or to rethink strategies. For team leaders, it was a year full of adjustments, changes, and unprecedented challenges.

It’s been no walk in the park, but it’s also probably fair to say that the things learned will stick with us for a long time. Maybe even leave some working women, their teams and colleagues slightly better prepared for the kind of crises that can make or break a business.

8 key lessons working women learned

1Know Your Priorities

During the pandemic, working women learned to prioritize at work and home. With so many taking on housekeeping and teaching duties on top of their work responsibilities, choosing the non-negotiable aspects of each area helped make things a little more manageable throughout the day. Knowing the aspects that are non-negotiable can make it easier to distinguish the ones that can wait or maybe even be handled by someone else. The pandemic made it impossible for many working women to keep up the same pace and hours they had in a world without interruptions. Many adjusted – which in turn made them realize nothing will crumble if they, say, take a personal day or sign off for a few hours for a little family time while working from home.

4 Simple Actions to Improve Your Self-Confidence

2The Magic of Saying ‘No’

Being a “yes person” is generally regarded as a quality, but while there are aspects in which a constant willingness to go the extra mile is a definite asset, sometimes knowing when to say ‘no’ can be equally important. In fact, one of the key lessons working women have learned from the pandemic is that agreeing to a workload or responsibilities they’re not sure they can keep up with can ultimately harm their career and mental health. Feeling overwhelmed can harm your work quality. Avoiding that can be as simple as knowing when you’re taking on too much. So again, know your priorities and don’t be afraid to set healthy boundaries at work – and to encourage others to do the same if you’re in a leading position. Allowing yourself to say ‘no’ when necessary, will also let your team know it’s okay to be human, and it’ll also make it easier for them to acknowledge when they’re taking on too much. 

3Delegating Responsibility Isn’t a Disaster

You can’t control it all, that’s (hopefully) while you’ve got a team to ensure deadlines are met and the quality of your work is sustained. Just like many realized nothing would happen if they said ‘no’ when feeling overwhelmed by work during the pandemic, working women learned that being able to delegate responsibility is not a disaster. Furthermore, delegating is quite helpful and often the best way to move things along. This is just another way in which knowing your team and their individual strengths will make you a better leader and team member, helping you identify who’ll handle what best.

4Listen to Your Team and Their Needs

In many ways, Zoom and Team meetings allowed even the quietest to be heard and seen on a screen. This made many realize that people who were perhaps  too shy to speak in formal meetings had a lot to say when given a smaller and more intimate space. The importance of diversifying the workplace and making sure that all voices are heard was one of the key lessons working women learned from the pandemic. Everyone has specific situations and needs and it’s important to understand that these things affect their work, so make time for them. Speak up for those who aren’t being heard and reach out to those who seem isolated. It helps to feel heard and supported at work, and the pandemic has made it easier for some leaders to see that loving your workplace is a great motivator to keep up the good work. That an empathetic “velvet hammer” often works far better than an unforgiving “iron fist”.

5Creating Community is Invaluable

Building community in the workplace can positively affect a team’s performance in different ways. And while this might not be specifically a lesson that came with the pandemic, it was reinforced by the very strange situation we suddenly found ourselves in worldwide. One that often made us aware of aspects of our coworker’s lives that we might not have been privy to before. A sense of community at work can foster productivity making employees more likely to speak up, ask questions, help promote transparency within the company, build meaningful connections, and create a sense of belonging that will ultimately benefit the whole team. Diverse and inclusive workplaces nurture camaraderie and create a work culture where people are valued as individuals and become far more proficient as a community.

6Seek Advice When Needed

A mentor can be an invaluable asset in times of crisis.  Another key lesson working women learned from the pandemic is that no woman (no person) is an island, and it’s okay to ask for help. That just as you’ll have to listen and will, ideally, be an uplifting voice for coworkers and employees, you’ll sometimes need to be heard. You can’t be expected to have all the answers. So, people you trust can help you sort out through the white noise in your head. Whether in need of a little reassurance or some help making a complicated choice, working women have found the value of having someone to go to when they need guidance.

Overcoming Impostor Syndrome and Building Confidence

7Make Time for Yourself

The importance of mental health and carving out time in the day for self-care is one of the greatest lessons working women have learned from the pandemic. Watching a show, taking up a new weekend class, going out with friends, a long uninterrupted bath, gym time, talking to a therapist, are all good ways to pamper and reward yourself for all your hard work. And the thing is, taking breaks, staying healthy and feeling good about ourselves makes us likelier to take joy in our everyday tasks. Burnout is real and after a year in which something as simple as lunch with friends seemed impossible, taking a moment to pause and enjoy these things should probably be listed among our priorities.

Lessons working women learned during the pandemic- Photo Credit- Mikhail Nilov--Pexels

Lessons working women learned during the pandemic- Photo Credit- Mikhail Nilov–Pexels

The greatest lesson working women learned from the pandemic

8You are stronger thank you think

But perhaps the greatest lesson that many working women seem to have learned from the pandemic is one about strength and resilience. The mental and physical challenges of this historical time made many realize that they are stronger and far more capable than some of them believed. It’s not weird for career women to become their own worst enemies, but the fact that there are more top female leaders than ever before says something about our abilities to inspire, communicate, collaborate  and create in times of crisis. And beyond.

The Art of Inclusion: Scherezade Garcia, visual artist

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Scherezade Garcia was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, into an artistic, socially and politically aware family. It’s easy to see that they inspired the art of inclusion she practices.

Her family nurtured her natural talents and encouraged her to experience a world full of diversity in race, languages, ideologies, and beliefs – all of which are connected by a rich and sometimes ignored history that becomes an integral part of her multi-layered art and the stories she tells.

The interdisciplinary artist is based in New York City. She sits on the Advisory Board of No Longer Empty, an organization dedicated to curating site-responsive pieces that encourage conversations within communities and create unique and inclusive platforms for upcoming New York artists. García also co-founded the Dominican York Proyecto Gráfica, a printmaking collective involving 12 artists of Dominican descent. In New York she’s represented by Praxis Art Gallery.

Scherezade Garcia has consistently strived to defy the norms and address the contradictions of a world that is full of them, as well as the many experiences we share. She approaches them through a lens that brings focus to history, religion, migration in search of “a new land” and a better life. Her pieces are intricate stories that layer medium, that aim to encourage dialogue and, more importantly, inspire action and resistance.

This year, the Red Shoe Movement commissioned her the limited-edition collection of 20/20 Bells that the company features in its Ring the Bell on the 7 Seas initiative.

Scherezade Garcia and the collection of bells commissioned for the Ring the Bell on the 7 Seas. A great example of the art of inclusion.

Scherezade Garcia and the collection of bells commissioned for the Ring the Bell on the 7 Seas. A great example of the art of inclusion.

Aline Cerdán – Can you tell us a little bit about how you got started as an artist? What was your family’s role in your journey to finding a multi-cultural voice?

Scherezade Garcia – I like to say that I come from my childhood, and indeed I do! I was born into a family where storytelling, music, visual art and political awareness were important. Many early memories are connected to our visits to exhibitions, to the theater, and to explore our country. We used to go on road trips to see the country and visit famous historical sites. The conversations about the natives (Tainos,) the Spaniards (Criollos,) the Africans, the French, and the English, our relationship to our sister nation Haiti, and the USA occupations were part of our conversations. It helped me shape my sense of the Caribbean. It unveiled to me the complexity of being from this side of the “Atlantico.”  I was always drawing, and my mother registered me in art classes, then my sister joined me. Many of my Dominican artists’ friends attended those classes as well.

I also had the opportunity of traveling to the USA and Europe at a young age, and those experiences fascinated me! Without realizing at the time, I was curious, outraged, and intrigued (all at once) by our world. It is that collective experience that we all share, the richness of different points of view, the fantastic possibility to experience new flavors, to understand that we are somehow all connected, helped to established in me the importance of family, and then a broader community.

For Scherezade Garcia de Atlantic has a special meaning

For Scherezade Garcia de Atlantic has a special meaning

Scherezade Garcia, book author

AC – Tell us a little about ’Scherezade García: From This Side of the Atlantic’ and what it was like to exhibit your work with your sister iliana emilia.

SG – The books “Scherezade Garcia: From This Side of the Atlantic” and “iliana emilia: The Reason, The Object, The Word,” both edited by Olga U. Herrera, accompany our mid-career survey exhibition “Visual Memory: Home + Place.” The books are about our artistic trajectory, and the chronologies, interviews, and essays portrait our creative lives from a young age to now. The title of my book conveys my fascination with the history of Las Americas. I am fascinated with the experience of Las Americas and the crossing of the Atlantic. My work intends to unveil the many ongoing cultural encounters that continually shape, reshape how we view, perceive, and color Las Americas.

 

My sister and I shared our family, our upbringing, and our values. We usually don’t collaborate, but since we were young, we were always a team. My mother always celebrated our differences, and that was very effective for the success of our sisterhood team!! We overlap in many interests, but the way we interpret, represent, and relate to our world is different. That’s our forte! It is a smooth sail to work with my sister because we complement each other, and we don’t even have to discuss it, it is an organic process. I usually note that she approaches her work from the inside, the personal, intimate; while I approach it through a collective lens.

AC –You’ve talked about a balance between old times and new, how often do you find history repeating itself while working on something new? Are we learning from our past?

SG –As an artist, I aspire to beauty and truth. Such search takes me to a territory “in-between”, searching for balance, and far away from “absolute truth.” I wish I could say with confidence that we learn from the past; the events of our current state of affairs scream about our lack of respect for the history that we all share.

AC – Your work is inclusive, multi-layered and often interdisciplinary, can you tell us how that’s a reflection of your personal history and why layers are important in your pieces?  

SG – As a Caribbean woman, I intrigued and enamored by the many colors residing in my skin, and the presence of many communities coming afloat in my language. It is a landscape of extremes, nothing speaks of balance in the multifarious outcome of this “new land,” the consequences of so many encounters. I see it as totally minimalist or baroque. I approach it in a neo-baroque voice. My neo-baroque view is that more is more, and everything goes. I can be super optimistic and super pessimistic at once. Faith and divinity are also part of the recipe.

Scherezade Garcia inspirational quote

Scherezade Garcia is a key contributor to the action inspired by the RSM 20/20 collection of bells she painted

The art of inclusion

AC – You’ve described the cinnamon shade as an “action of inclusion”, can you tell us about the use of this mix of colors and the importance of the art of inclusion?

SG –The cinnamon figure is a constant in my work since 1996. Mixing all the colors in a palette is an inclusive action, the outcome of such activity is cinnamon color. The new race represented by my ever-present cinnamon figure states the creation of a new aesthetic where “our/everybody’s” history is told. It is all about collective memory, a narrative of union!

AC –Pink has also been used in past pieces to defy color-gender norms and the concepts it has been associated with, what are some other ways in which gender inclusion is showcased in you work?

SG – I like to defy norms by creating visual narratives imbedded in contradiction, for example, I created my oversized pink life vests, challenging the given fragility/sweetness/ of no consequence/girlie of the color pink, to engage in a conversation of survival, migration, of people crossing the sea in search of a better life. What it seems, it is not what it is.

AC –Can you tell us a little about the work you’ve done with Red Shoe Movement for Ring the Bell on the 7 Seas? We know you were commissioned to turn this musical instrument into a work of art and you created a painting called Chromatic Current as part of your Liquid Highway Series.

SG – The sea is the liquid highway and the keeper of our ancestral memory. It carries our stories, our DNA, our memories, and our history. The sea is always in motion carrying every community’s roots. With this project, through painting the bells and dressing them up of sea, I aim to imply the universal connection, the community called by the sound of the bell, and the fluidity of our identities and lives.

AC –You seem determined to tear down barriers; blend lines between countries, race, ideologies, gender, religion, language, aesthetic planes and artistic styles. Do you think art has a responsibility to create conversations?

SG – If artists are the voices of our times, we have the responsibility to provoke thought, engage in conversation and inspire action. It is the most powerful and effective way of resistance.

AC –What was the inspiration behind your installation ‘Liquid Highway’? What it is about water that’s as vital as the land it surrounds?

SG – The Atlantic, this blue liquid road and profound obstacle provokes my imagination. The blue sea represents the way out and the frontier. It maps stories about freedom, slavery and survival; it carries our DNA and it’s an endless source of stories, evolving continuously, reminding us of the fluidity of our identity, our collective memory. Resistance through beauty and joy.

Scherezade Garcia created Chromatic Current as part of her Liquid Highway series

Scherezade Garcia created Chromatic Current as part of her Liquid Highway series