WNC celebrates Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month; Celebrated actress, poet featured Monday
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Sat, 09/17/2016 - 1:23pm
Western Nevada College students and staff members celebrated the opening day of Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month and the beginning of Latin American Independence Days with music and savory cuisine this week at the Carson City campus.
Trio Bossanova of Reno (Benjamin Trujillo, Angel Rodriguez and Martin Hislop) provided mariachi music, while the Wildcat Den served delectable fajitas on Thursday. Brave students, Aztlan Carrillo, left, and Diana Gurrola, right, and WNC Student Life Coordinator Lilly Leon-Vicks even danced the Macarena. Trio Bossanova performed Friday night at Hussong’s Cantina in Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno.
In honor of Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month, WNC is honored to present dynamic spoken word poet, Gabriela Garcia Medina on Monday, Sept. 19, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Carson Nugget Hall in the Aspen Building, this event is free to students with a WNC ID and $3 without.
Gabriela Garcia Medina is a filmmaker, an actress, and writer. She has enjoyed a career as an accomplished writer, and Spoken Word Poet, since 2006. She has been writing professionally since 2005, and has performed her Spoken Word Poetry at Universities, and Colleges across the United States for over a decade. Her one-woman show was the biggest selling act in the National College market (2007-2011).
Gabriela has opened the stage for celebrities and bands such as the Black Eyed Peas and Pitbull. In 2012, her one-woman spoken word show about identity and culture enjoyed a run at the REDCAT Theater in Los Angeles. Her spoken word poetry has been featured on commercials for: Dove, Toyota (Yaris), Kasasa Banking, and more recently for Coca Cola. In 2014, Gabriela was nominated by writer/filmmaker Josefina Lopez (Real Women Have Curves) for The City of Los Angeles Poet Laureate Award.
Gabriela received a BFA (2005) from UCLA in Theater, with a double Minor in Chicano/a Studies, and African American Studies. In 2012, she returned to school, and attended California Institute of the Arts, where she pursued a dual MFA in Creative Writing and Acting, focusing her efforts on Shakespeare, Screenwriting, and Film.
During her time at CalArts she produced four short films, directed a short (Sam and Larry), wrote two feature screenplays, as well as a Young Adult novel. Her feature script The Kidnapping of Casimiro Coronado was a quarterfinalist at the Sundance Institute Writers Lab (2015); and her feature screenplay Little Con Lili (an adaptation of her YA novel) was also a quarterfinalist for the 2016 Sundance Institute Writers Lab.
As an actor, Gabriela holds a BFA in Acting from UCLA, and an MFA in Acting from California Institute of the Arts. She has performed at the National Theater in Havana, alongside Pablo Milanes, and Chucho Valdez. She has performed her one-woman show at the REDCAT Theater in Los Angeles. She was a member of the Los Angeles Latino Theater Company Lab (2004-2010) under the Direction of Jose Luis Valenzuela. Gabi loves Shakespeare; and enjoys meaty, non-stereotypical characters.
A true artist, Gabriela enjoys exploring the world through different mediums. Raising questions, and proposing answers, about emotional, and social conflicts through her art.
Learn more about Gabriela or purchase her books of poetry online HERE.
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