Bio

Raquel’s research explores socially-engaged creative practices and the distinct place-based logics that guide community arts organizations. This interest is reflected in her dissertation, “Taking Up Space: Youth Culture and Creative Resistance in a Gentrifying City,” an ethnographic study that examines how youth engage with public artmaking strategies to resist gentrification, while investigating how community arts education structures this process. Raquel teaches courses on art and culture at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and designs participatory community arts programs at the intersection of art, education, and cultural organizing. Her work has been supported by the Ford Foundation and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Apart from research and teaching, Raquel is a member of the Sirens Crew, an all-womxn public art collective working to feminize public space through a variety of visual intervention strategies.

Pregones/Puerto Rican Travelling Theater
Jimenez works with Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, a performing ensemble and arts presenter in New York City. Jimenez studies how the organization balances its commitment to its art with its commitment to its community and how it could use its twin focus to build a foundation for growth in the future.