Engage with Ana Mendieta’s video work Fundamendo de Palo Monte: Silueta Series (Gunpowder Works) in a deeper way in this free workshop exploring themes of home, belonging, and one’s relationship to the earth and land. Participants will start by viewing Fundamento de Palo Monte together and will then be led through yoga exercises to synchronize the mind and body before proceeding into a story-circle discussion facilitated by teaching artists and Museum educators. The discussion will be guided by prompts relating to Mendieta’s work and ideas of home, land, and belonging.

Finally, participants will create their own siluetas and create tracings of their bodies on paper and infuse them with their reflections on Fundamendo de Palo Monte and the following conversations by drawing, collaging, and weaving materials into their tracings. Throughout the program, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between art, mental health, and wellness while practicing mindfulness techniques from a trauma-informed perspective.

Reserve your place for Sunday, June 15, HERE.

Reserve your place for Sunday, July 13: HERE.

Meet the Facilitators:

Karen Vasquez

Karen Vasquez: Karen is a Mexican American pro liberation community yoga teacher, certified sound therapy practitioner, and nature lover. Her practice is inspired by nature, honoring indigenous wisdom, and looking to the cycles and rhythms of the earth to guide our healing journeys. She brings a holistic approach to her classes fostering collective wellness through intention, breath, meditation, movement, and sound.

Erica Simmons

Erica Simmons (The Mindful Child Initiative): Erica is a native of the Lehigh Valley and has been practicing yoga and mindfulness for more than 20 years and became a RYT 200 about five years ago. She is also a school counselor in the Allentown School District and is currently at Sheridan Elementary School. Erica has seen firsthand the power of mindfulness in the schools.

Alicen Arnold

Alicen Arnold (The Mindful Child Initiative): Alicen is a Licensed Professional Counselor, certified 500-hour yoga teacher, and mindfulness educator with over 20 years of experience in mental health. She holds a master’s degree in Education from the University of Pittsburgh and has trained extensively with the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy. Her teaching blends modern psychology, yoga philosophy, movement, mindfulness, and meditation in a way that’s both powerful and approachable. Alicen enjoys creating customized programs for different groups and settings. Her goal is to help people of all ages find calm and balance—even in challenging times—through breath, awareness, and gentle movement.

Nia Watson

Nia Watson: Mama, artist, grower, and community educator. Student to life and the earth. Nia has been offering diverse classes to the valley for the past decade. She brings a unique variety of teaching techniques weaving together early childhood, yoga, and mindfulness. More recently, she has been sharing from her studies of herbalism and traditional birth work. She looks forward to meeting you and sharing stories!

Rei Ukon

Rei Ukon (Allentown Art Museum): Rei Ukon is a multidisciplinary artist based in Bethlehem, PA, on unceded Lenape land. Their work explores memory, emotion, and nostalgia through family archives, history, and childhood experiences split between New York and Yokohama, Japan. Rei focuses on themes like home, community, belonging, and resistance, drawing connections between cultures and shared human experiences. As a teaching artist, Rei creates spaces where people can connect, reflect, and express themselves through art. They are passionate about art’s role in community care, healing, and resilience.

About our collaborating organizations:

The Mindful Child Initiative: The Mindful Child Initiative (MCI) provides high-quality mindfulness programs promoting the mental and emotional health of children, and the adults who support them, across the Lehigh Valley. We provide mindfulness education to the K-5 students and staff of the Allentown School District throughout the school year, at no cost to the school district. We also provide reasonably priced mindfulness and yoga services to those beyond ASD.

Ripple Community Inc: RCI is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was established in 2015. We are guided by our vision of Allentown as a community where everyone has a role to play, a diverse network of social support, and a connection to the place they call home. Our programs serve over 150 Allentown residents, including people experiencing homelessness or housing instability, people who are socially isolated, people living with significant histories of trauma and mental illness, and the working poor. For our neighbors living with challenges like these, RCI is a source of friendship, support, and community.

SELF! Lehigh Valley: SELF! provides vital programs and services for women re-entering the community after incarceration and other traumatic circumstances. SELF!’s objective is to coach women in achieving and maintaining a safe and productive lifestyle, contribute to their communities economically, and cultivate a mindset that allows for all women to flourish as they continue to become their true SELF.