XOCHIPILLI COLLECTIVE
WHAT WE DO:
Xochipilli Collective brings cultural and creative life to the heart of the barrio through:
• Community Art Workshops
Spaces for drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, carving, and hands-on cultural creation.
• Poetry, Writing & Storytelling Circles
Where community members write from memory, emotion, resistance, and ancestral knowledge.
• Muralism & Public Art Projects
Community-led murals that reclaim space, honor struggle, and reflect the soul of our neighborhoods.
• Music, Dance & Performance Gatherings
Spaces for song, danza, drumming, theater, spoken word, and collective expression.
• Barrio Philosophy in Practice
Activities and teachings rooted in:
-
Community reciprocity
-
Shared struggle
-
Collective protection
-
Mutual care
-
Home-grown knowledge
-
Dignity, humor, and joy
Barrio Philosophy reminds us that the barrio itself is a school — a place where we learn how to live, love, resist, and organize.
• Reading Circles & Popular Education
Collective study of books, histories, and ancestral teachings that expand our political, spiritual, and cultural imagination.
• Cultural Healing Practices
Art as therapy, ritual, ceremony, and collective medicine.
• Youth Creative Leadership
Programs that give young people the tools and courage to lead through art and culture.
Art · Culture · Memory · Barrio Philosophy
“The Chimalli of Spirit and Culture.”
OVERVIEW:
Xochipilli Collective is the cultural backbone of Semillas Arizona — the space where art becomes memory, culture becomes power, and collective storytelling becomes a tool for transformation.
We reclaim art as our people’s original language — a way to teach, heal, resist, and imagine new futures grounded in Barrio Philosophy:
the belief that community wisdom, shared struggle, and everyday care are the roots of liberation.
Xochipilli is where creativity becomes strategy, and culture becomes a shield for our spirit.
VISION:
To return art, reading, history, and culture to the people — not as luxuries, but as everyday tools of liberation.
We envision barrios where murals carry our stories, where poetry uplifts our spirit, where music holds our memory, where danza guides our movement, and where culture stays alive in every home.
A community where imagination is not a privilege — it is a birthright.
MISSION:
Led by artivists, storytellers, educators, and culture keepers, Xochipilli Collective organizes through:
-
Art
-
Reading
-
History
-
Culture
-
Collective storytelling
-
Barrio philosophy
-
Community imagination
We create spaces where muralism, poetry, music, theater, danza, and creative ceremony awaken consciousness, strengthen identity, and mobilize our people.
Art is not decoration.
Art is medicine.
Art is memory.
Art is strategy.
Xochipilli is the shield of spirit and culture — where creativity teaches, heals, and organizes our community.
ABOLICIONANDO PODCAST (SPANISH)
Barrio philosophy, culture, and community — en nuestra propia voz.
Abolicionando is Semillas Arizona’s Spanish-language podcast produced through Xochipilli Collective.
Grounded in Barrio Philosophy, the podcast explores:
-
Community wisdom and lived knowledge
-
Safety, care, and protection grounded in the barrio
-
Cultural and historical memory
-
Struggles, victories, and everyday resistance
-
Art, culture, and movement stories
-
Conversations with elders, organizers, artists, educators, and families
Abolicionando brings the philosophy of the barrio to life — in Spanish, from our own voice, for our own people.
WHY XOCHIPILLI MATTERS
Because our people have always created to survive, to remember, and to teach.
Because culture is how we pass down identity.
Because art tells the truth that institutions deny.
Because the barrio has its own philosophy — born from struggle, joy, creativity, and collective care.
When we reclaim culture, we reclaim power.
When we create together, we organize together.
When we tell our stories, we shape our future.
Xochipilli Collective keeps creativity at the center of community life — a force that resists, heals, and mobilizes.
PROGRAM VALUES
-
Culture is power.
-
Memory is resistance.
-
Art is strategy.
-
Barrio philosophy guides us.
-
Imagination builds community.
-
Our voices carry our history.
JOIN XOCHIPILLI COLLECTIVE
Xochipilli Collective welcomes youth, families, artists, and anyone who wants to create, learn, and build culture together.
To get involved, attend the Semillas General Assembly every Friday, where we connect you to Xochipilli programs and opportunities.
