Andrea Granera is a 24-year old Nicaraguan-American multi-disciplinary artist and activist for immigrant rights. Originally from Oakland California, this NYU Tisch Drama grad is currently exploring art through photography, acting, screenwriting, directing and continues to her venture in exploring these mediums.
Granera's passion towards multiple arts forms was present from a young age.
She says, "I've been drawing since I remember and I was lucky enough to have a beautiful music and theater education growing up from passionate teachers that really enabled my creative expression".
She also explains the effect that moving East Coast, to New York City, has impacted her artistic journey.
"Ever since, I have been living in NYC and have been endlessly inspired by the indie filmmaking scene and the DIY grassroots activism scene", Granera says.
Recently she became editorial manager for Bitter Blush (@bitter.blush) - a publication dedicated to talking about mental health and issues that are hard to talk about. They will be taking submissions until August 20th for an online zine about mental health and Granera's invites people to contribute to their cause!
1. What inspires you and your creative process? Emotions that I don't have words for or understand yet. Concepts that are much bigger than me. Prayer. Intuition. Community. Pain. Love.
2. What is the connection between your art and social justice? Why? Going back to intuition - social justice and art are inseparable to me. I think there's a lot of art that we don't realize is political. To me, it is political when someone is genuinely expressing themselves for no other reason than they just need to. That is radical. Getting people to sit in a room and watch a performance, with their phones off, and be present. All of these things require us go to directly against what society taught us.
3. What inspired you to pursue your art? What were the challenges you overcame in this? What inspired me is the thrill of zoning into a practice. I think the rush of theater really got me hooked. It can be challenging to remember why you do it, because in our society, to be an artist is to live so much of our days without creating as much as we want - because we’re trying to survive. The way I overcome this is by trying to create as much space and as much opportunity as possible for me and other young artists to get to express ourselves more regularly!
4. What’s been the most rewarding part of being an artist for you? Do you have any advice for future artists? The biggest gift in life is getting to do what you were put on this earth to do...my advice for artists, (including myself!) is don’t be afraid to constantly rebirth your perspective on the world, and constantly redefine success for yourself. My generation (Millennials) - and all the ones coming after us, we’re more set on taking care of our mental health than ever before, and we’re hyper aware of the lies and traps of society, so use that to redefine success outside of commercialization. Maybe instead of trying to become famous as fast as possible and losing your sanity along the way, you can cultivate love within yourself, your community, and your art. You can take your time healing and building. You can be soft. You can demand justice on your jobs. You can work in a whole new way that we’ve never seen before in this profit driven society. And remember if you even get to do your art a little bit - that is a tremendous gift.
Want more Andrea? Follow her @dregranera
Upcoming Event Alert!
On August 10th Granera's collective that focuses on immigration issues - Sin Fronteras - will be throwing a benefit daytime into night time party called MELT ICE! at Cafe Erzulie. All proceeds will go to organizations working directly at the border. They will also be writing letters to friends in detention centers, and learning about how to be an ally as a documented person! Even if you aren’t in NYC you can still donate, write letters, or receive information! Don’t hesitate to reach out!
Thank you for your continuous support and love,
Lots of love,
#Team IVA