ABOUT US
DUENDE! Long Beach was founded in August 2011 by a group of woman artists, poets, performers, musicians, and activists. We are a grassroots community arts organization providing creative programming, mentoring, and performance opportunities for youth in the Long Beach area. Although our approaches to creating are as diverse as our backgrounds, it is the spirit and passion behind our art that unites us.
We take our name from the Spanish word, duende, which has two distinct meanings: (1) a mythological creature involved in mysterious, mischievous activities and (2) the spirit of passion that consumes an artist and urges them to create. These both accurately describe the work we are trying to accomplish.
¡DUENDE! is about disrupting the status quo, asking the important questions, finding inspiration from the world around us, and being brave enough to create art that imagines a new way of existing with each other. We are much more than an organization… WE ARE A MOVEMENT. WE ARE ¡DUENDE!.
We take our name from the Spanish word, duende, which has two distinct meanings: (1) a mythological creature involved in mysterious, mischievous activities and (2) the spirit of passion that consumes an artist and urges them to create. These both accurately describe the work we are trying to accomplish.
¡DUENDE! is about disrupting the status quo, asking the important questions, finding inspiration from the world around us, and being brave enough to create art that imagines a new way of existing with each other. We are much more than an organization… WE ARE A MOVEMENT. WE ARE ¡DUENDE!.