Cristela Guerra

2 weeks ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Norma Meras Swenson's own pregnancy and birthing experience set her on the path to become a global advocate for women’s health, asserting that women, not doctors, were the experts on their bodies. When Swenson gave birth to her only child, Sarah, in 1958, it was rare for women to have a natural birth, let alone be fully conscious during labor. Instead, women were often put into a “twilight sleep” by a cocktail of sedatives. Swenson sought a different journey.

3 weeks ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Around her Brooklyn studio, Fabiola Jean-Louis is known as the “newspaper lady” by her neighbors. Paper is her medium of choice. To her, paper is sacred. With it, she interrogates Haitian liberation, Vodou, and opens portals to new worlds. “ There is this element of being conscious of my environment and waste, always thinking about how I can take this everyday item, this paper that shape shifts unlike any other material in our world,” she said.

4 weeks 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. I love the dome of a planetarium. Under that massive screen, I can escape this world and try another on for size. I marvel at how very small and held I feel in that place. The way the grandness of it all fully captures my attention and makes everything else fall away.

1 month ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Ashleigh Gordon knew something was wrong when Castle of Our Skins' approved grant application suddenly disappeared from the National Endowment for the Arts portal. If she hadn’t made a copy, there would be no evidence her organization had even applied. The Boston-based arts institution committed to elevating Black music discovered Friday night, following a concert, that they would no longer receive an estimated $20,000 in funding.

1 month ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Pieces of a community’s collective memory filled a high school in Dorchester on a recent afternoon. Specifically, stories of war, trauma and resilience of Vietnamese refugees following the Vietnam War, which ended 50 years ago. Built as a makeshift gallery space, each corridor offered a place to reflect on the legacy of the diaspora. Five entered at a time. The line snaked down the hall. Dorchester resident Thanh Nguyen’s memories of Vietnam are vivid.