Santiago Savi, an IDEAL PDX special guest from Mexico, invites participants into a creative space rooted in Indigenous tradition and personal storytelling. A Mixtec painter from Veracruz with ancestral roots in Oaxaca, he will guide attendees in creating unique works on papel amate-a traditional handmade bark paper used by Indigenous communities in Mexico. Using natural pigments and vibrant colors, participants will explore themes of land, rain, and memory, drawing inspiration from Santiago’s own stunning body of work, which reflects the beauty of the milpa, nahuales, and sacred earth. This workshops is both a hands-on artistic experience and a cultural offering-an opportunity to connect with ancestral knowledge and express gratitude through visual storytelling.

An agronomist by training, with studies in film at NYU and a Master’s in Art from the Insitituto Cultural Helénico, Savi was raised as a campesino child, and he worked in the fields from age six, harvesting corn, chiles, and tomatoes. At 18, he migerated to Mexico City to pursue education and work, later dedicating himself fully to painting in 2015. His art honors the Miextec worldview-celebrating Mother Earht, the milpa, animales, nahuales, and traditional textiles. He has directed films and painted murals in cities like New York, Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Veracruz, with exhibitions across Mexico and the U.S. His work appears in the 2023 SEP textbooks. He signs as Savi, meaning “rain” in his native language-symbolizing thecreative force that brings life and bloom through art.