Cristela Guerra

Boston

Senior Arts and Culture Reporter at WBUR-FM (Boston, MA)

Senior Arts & Culture Reporter @WBUR | Previous lives ‘24 @Niemanfdn Fellow @Harvard | @BostonGlobe @TheNewsPress | Reach out [email protected] 🇵🇦🏳️‍🌈 she/they

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Articles

Watertown archive marks 50 years of preserving Armenia diaspora photos

1 week ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Ruth Thomasian remembers sneaking up to her family’s attic as a child in Belmont to look at boxes of her parents' old photographs. Even then, those images tugged at her. Something in that history drew her eye. “Nobody ever talked about them,” said Thomasian, 79, whose father was Armenian. “I never brought them back down to ask my parents what they were all about.”Her natural curiosity led her to study history, but she had no interest in knowing the birth or death dates of Roman emperors.
SpeakEasy Stage Company names Dawn Simmons new artistic director

4 weeks ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

SpeakEasy Stage Company has chosen award-winning Boston theater artist Dawn Simmons as its next artistic director. She begins July 1 as the company starts its 35th season. In a recent interview, she marveled as she introduced herself by this new title. “I think this is the first time I've said it officially,” she said.
Queer Voices Festival brings 10-minute plays to the stage

1 month ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

During a practice run of the play, “Limpia” – which means cleanse in Spanish – actress Zelina Garcia, 23, plays a young trans woman longing to be herself. The world and some loved ones have been cruel. But her uncle, played by Dorchester actor Johnny Gordon, reminds her that she is not alone while they gather sweetgrass, herbs and poultices as medicine to clear the air and lighten her energy. “She is you,” he tells her.
Free tickets drop for Boston kids as performance arts venues join city program

1 month ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Boston families will soon have ten new options for free cultural activities. Mayor Michelle Wu will announce another expansion of her arts program, Boston Family Days, for school-aged kids and their families during her State of the City address tonight.
Remembering former Boston Poet Laureate Danielle Legros Georges

1 month ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Editor's Note: This story is an excerpt from WBUR's weekly arts and culture newsletter, The ARTery. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here. The award-winning poet rose before the sun to write, according to an interview with Mass Poetry. She found inspiration at daybreak. “With coffee and quietude,” she said.
Worcester passes sanctuary city resolution for transgender community

2 months ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Every Tuesday for the past month, dozens of members of the LGBTQ+ community have shown up to Worcester city council meetings and told elected officials how scared they are. For themselves. For their families. For their communities. On Tuesday night the city council responded to the community’s petition and voted in favor of becoming a sanctuary city for transgender and gender-diverse people. ”This is my home,” said Brynn Cotter, a trans woman.
New England Conservatory's Stradivarius violin sells for $11.3 million

2 months ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

A violin made in 1714 sold Friday for $11.3 million in an auction that lasted under half an hour. Master luthier Antonio Stradivari crafted the instrument in Cremona, Italy during his so-called golden period from 1700 to 1720. This is one of the highest prices ever fetched for a musical instrument, according to Sotheby’s, which conducted the auction.
Boston arts organizations uneasy over possible loss of federal funding

2 months ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

For many arts organizations in Massachusetts, last week felt like 2020 all over again. But instead of a global pandemic putting events and budgets at risk, it was a vague directive from the new administration in Washington. On Jan.
Peace trail poles offer a connection point for grief

2 months ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

On the corner of Bowdoin Street and Geneva Avenue, a gray concrete pole has been transformed; its purpose goes beyond casting light into dark streets. At the base of the gray pole, gold mesh is shaped into a kind of chrysalis. Out of this open cocoon emerge thin, aluminum butterflies with a gold patina. The way they’re wired around the pole, they look as if they’re permanently fluttering skyward.
In Boston, activist Angela Davis says to 'hold onto infinite hope' as Trump takes office

Jan 21, 2025 | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Before her keynote speech at the Martin Luther King Memorial Breakfast in Boston, the famed activist Angela Davis paused to take in the moment. “I want to hold on to the spirit,” Davis said. A song had just ended, a classic African American spiritual, “Bright Mansions Above,” performed by the Boston Arts Academy Spirituals Ensemble.