Today we’d like to introduce you to Delana Delgado.
Hi Delana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Delana Delgado and I’m a local arts organizer, photographer, and creative born and raised in San Diego, California. I was raised by two 1st generation Puerto Ricans from the Bronx, New York, and I grew up in Paradise Hills, Chula Vista, and the greater South Bay area! Above all, I reside on what is rightfully Kumeyaay land.
Growing up, I always loved to draw, create, write, sing, dance and explore places and ideas. In my teenage years, art became very private to me and I rejected the idea of being an artist, and the term in general. I struggled sharing my drawings, songs, or poetry until recently. But my love for photography never went away and was the one art form that has been consistent to me throughout my life. Taking film photos comes as second nature, to document and catalog my memories in a way that makes them feel more tangible. It’s only in the last five years, and especially after quarantine, that I’ve really been able to connect with taking photos, having a deep intention with them, deeming it a passion of mine, and having the courage to share my photos as “art”. Photography is the only medium that has given me this feeling of escapism and freedom to share artistically without feeling completely exposed. It allows me to be vulnerable enough to share what I am seeing or feeling without using my own words or person. My camera has become a security blanket for me in many ways.
I grew up with my entire childhood photographed on my dad’s Pentax K1000 and literally thousands of photos and videos of everything we did. I started carrying around my own film camera when I was at 6th-grade camp. In middle school, I’d ask for a disposable camera every single time I went to Wal-Mart with my mom and would document a lot of my middle school life and friends that way and still have all the developed photos I’ve ever taken! I continued this hobby in high school and eventually started playing with Lomography cameras and polaroids.
Taking photos became a more intentional ritual for me when I became a flight attendant in 2015. I feel like I forget things easily and taking photos helped me remember special moments, images, feelings, or thoughts. Something about the process of purchasing the film, loading it into your camera, taking photos that you hope turn out the way you imagined they would, winding them back up, and going to get it developed makes it so much more of an intentional and meaningful process for me. I decided against digital because I’m honestly very technologically unorganized, so I feel like the photos lose their meaning when they are so easily accessible or discarded the way digital files are. During my time traveling, I started sharing my images to Instagram and loved that I was able to both document my travels and create a piece of art at the same time. My favorite thing about photos is the ability to capture a moment that can’t be recreated… A little slice of life’s fleeting romantic or magical moments that are otherwise seen as mundane. Naturally I prefer candid shots and have only recently started dabbling with taking on clients for hired photoshoots.
On the other side of my passions is the arts and event organizer side of me. In high school, I began collecting art and wanting to be behind the scenes somehow. I knew I wanted to be a creative director, dealer, or curator and wondered how I would ever get there without art school, but knew I was capable. I’m nowhere near my end goals but I am really proud of where I am today as someone who has been completely independent and self-taught with my passion for organizing and curating art and community events. I founded @ArtformSwapmeetSD in 2017 and that was a really fun time of experimenting with DIY art shows and bringing different creative communities together.
As someone who has little to no formal training in the institutional art world, I am proud of where I have worked to be. It’s only recently that I have been publicly recognized as an artist. I still have a lot to learn about photography, arts administration, and museum and gallery management, but I am eternally grateful to finally have an amazing support system behind me constantly inspiring me and encouraging me to do what makes me happy. I wouldn’t even be writing this if it weren’t for the women and friends in my life who inspired and motivated me to be here. I’m excited to continue my journey and hope to learn much more about how I can make an impact in my community through combining art and social justice.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Definitely not. From financial to mental health issues, my artistic journey has faced and resisted multiple barriers and challenges along the way. Most of all, the barriers I placed myself in all honesty. I used to doubt that I could do the things I’m doing today without art school. It’s caused a lot of feelings of imposter syndrome and self-doubt. But I learned that if I don’t speak highly of myself, or if I continued to downplay my accomplishments to make others more comfortable, then there would be another young girl who may not feel comfortable hyping herself up either…
Persistence would lead to me finally being surrounded by a circle of friends that align with my path, who uplift me, and have similar visions. All of my friends are badass, DIY, artistic and incredibly talented people. For the first time in my life, I feel like it’s possible to potentially make a living off art because I have the support and encouragement of people who inspire me. My biggest advice to anyone struggling with self-doubt is to pay very close attention to who is consistently rooting for you vs. those who have nothing good to say, or who make you question your dreams… Then cut the bad apples out, keep doing what you’re doing or what you love, and watch everything change.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Aside from taking photos, I do a lot of different things! I occasionally creative direct photoshoots and projects with my homegirls. I founded a femme focused group photo zine, co-curated with one of my best friends, Checka Sardina called ‘Around the Way Girls’. I also coordinate & organize art events, exhibitions and manage gallery programming at the Hill Street Country Club, which is an amazing art gallery and community space founded by Dinah Poellnitz and Margaret Hernandez that I am so honored to be a part of. Overall, I love to bring people together and help execute ideas and visions in order to tell stories, connect communities, and uplift voices of those around me.
When it comes to photography, a lot of my work is about my travels, depictions of the strong and beautiful women around me, and my community and our culture. As a Boricua born and raised in South East San Diego, my work has definitely been influenced by the rich cultures I’ve been surrounded by my whole life. My vision in most everything I do is rooted in creating visibility for the subcultures that raised me and using my photos to translate a raw and unfiltered look into these identities with the same lens that a museum would with the art they show. I am simply documenting the world around me and proclaiming it as fine art, and therefore, it is.
My work with The Hill Street Country Club, which began as an executive assistant and has transcended to assistant curator and programs manager roles, has allowed me to be a facilitator for helping create the type of world I want to live in as a community arts organizer. At the HSCC, we are fueled by the art of our community and chosen family, and we turn that into ways to uplift others, share ideas and promote social reform. I’m proud of this work because it’s basically a dream job, and I can’t wait to watch HSCC continue to unfold.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters to me most right now is simply sustaining happiness. I learned that I’m most happy when I’m being creative, and when I create, I connect with like-minded people who keep me inspired, motivated, and open my mind up to new pathways. Basically what matters is that I continue to create and sustain mutually beneficial exchanges of support, radical love, and arts accessibility to my community. I want to continue to focus on doing things that are true to myself and my goals, working on projects I am proud of and trying to be as brave as I possibly can in following my dreams. In doing so, I’ll create my own version of happiness, attract those who support me on my journey, and vice versa.
Contact Info:
- Email: delanadelgado@gmail.com
- Website: https://artformswapmeet.wixsite.com/website
- Instagram: instagram.com/strawb.unny
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thehillstreetcountryclub
- Other: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/people/story/2021-07-10/oceanside-nonprofit-seeks-to-increase-diversity-and-inclusion-in-arts-community
Image Credits
First photo – Alejandro Martinez Jr.
1. “Summertime in the LBC”, Long Beach (man on stilts)
2. “Ease My Pain”, Highland Park (roses on bench)
3. “Simone & Sabina”, Beauty Supply (two girls with hoop earrings and nails)
4. “Baby Doll & La Chona”, Highland Park (two girls against fence with hennesey bottle)
5. “Los Muertos”, Puerto Vallarta (people in ocean)
6. “Ever Fallen in Love”, Mexico City (lovers on a bench)
7. “Annie at the Hops” (Girl in from of lowrider)
8. “Chata at Texas Liquor” (Girl in hat with arms up in front of liquor store all shot by me
