Bloom After Dark, Volume 7: Roots & Remembrance

Join us for Bloom After Dark: Volume 7, an intimate evening celebrating art, ancestry, cultural identity, and community Join us for Bloom After Dark: Volume 7, an intimate evening celebrating art, ancestry, cultural identity, and community through the work of Mónica Olivo. Mónica explores Indigenous wisdom, ancestral journeys, and cultural identity, drawing from their Caribbean and Dominican roots to reflect on the diasporic experience. Working primarily through painting, Mónica blends ancestral symbolism with surrealist elements to explore the natural world and the connections that bind us across cultures and generations. Their work honors Taíno roots while questioning the systems that can distance us from our subconscious, intuition, and inner selves. Through ancestral memory and storytelling, Mónica considers the ways that culture, land, and spirit shape who we are. The Experience At the heart of this body of work is the powerful symbolism of women’s hair—a visual language carrying stories of wisdom, ancestry, strength, identity, and cultural inheritance. Hair becomes more than an element within the paintings; it becomes a thread connecting generations and preserving stories passed down through time. The evening will explore these themes through art, conversation, and interactive community experiences, including: • Hair Braiding Activation — An immersive experience inspired by the cultural significance of hair and the passing down of knowledge through generations. • Indigenous Community Collaborations — Opportunities to connect with Indigenous organizations and incorporate community-centered perspectives into the programming. • Pastel Workshop — A hands-on creative experience inspired by Mónica’s artistic language, inviting guests to explore symbolism, color, memory, and storytelling through oil pastels. • Ancestral Storytelling & Dialogue — Conversations centered around identity, heritage, cultural memory, and the wisdom carried from one generation to the next. • Community Healing Through Art — A space for reflection, connection, and meaningful dialogue around the ways art can help us reconnect with ourselves, our histories, and one another. This volume of Bloom After Dark invites us to look beyond the canvas and consider what we carry with us—stories, traditions, memories, strength, and wisdom—and how those things continue to shape who we become. Come experience an evening where art becomes a bridge between generations, cultures, and the inner self.