Minneapolis – Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Jessica Lopez Lyman

Join Minnesota Writers Off the Page for an evening with Jessica Lopez Lyman and her book Place-Keepers: Latina/x Art, Performance, and Organizing in the Twin Cities. As an author, artist, and professor, Jessica explores the powerful intersections of art, place, resistance, and social movements—and the Latina/x artists and organizers who have helped shape the cultural and political landscape of the Twin Cities. Join Jessica for an engaging conversation with Maria Cristina Tavera as they dig into the creative practices, performances, and acts of organizing that have left their mark—both literally and figuratively—on the Cities. Discover the stories behind the art and the people who have transformed the Twin Cities through creativity, community, and collective action.

Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Light refreshments will be provided, copies of Place-Keepers will be available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.

Jessica Lopez Lyman, Ph.D., is an interdisciplinary performance artist, McKnight Land-Grant Professor, and Associate Professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Place-Keepers: Latina/x Art, Performance, and Organizing in the Twin Cities (2025) and is currently writing a book on Operation Metro Surge. Her scholarship and creative writing have appeared in “Chicana/Latina Studies,” “American Studies,” “The Black Scholar,” and other publications. As a performance artist, her work includes the multimedia piece 141 Mednik Avenue, created as a 2017 Naked Stages Fellow at Pillsbury House Theatre, which explores memory, displacement, and longing through the story of her grandfather. She has performed at venues including First Avenue, Intermedia Arts, and Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA), and is the creator of La Luchadora, a mobile screen-print cart that brings social justice art into public spaces. Lopez Lyman has consulted on the documentary films Profe (TPT) and Nuestro Norte (MN Humanities Center and Latino Lead) and serves as the Board Chair for Serpentina Arts. 

Maria Cristina Tavera is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the constructions of racial, ethnic, gender, national and cultural identity via numerous mediums including printmaking, installation, and public art. Tavera holds a Master of Leadership with emphasis in the Arts from the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota. She has received fellowships and grants: ‘23 U.S. Latinx Artist Fellowship, ‘20 McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship, Bush Leadership Fellowship, Shannon Leadership Institute, Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies program, Museum of Modern Art-New York, Forecast Public Art, Minnesota State Arts Board, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC), and Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME). Tavera has exhibited nationally and internationally, and artwork can be found in numerous collections including: the City of Minneapolis Public Art, National Museum of Mexican Art, Museum of Fine Arts-Boston, Oglethorpe Museum-Atlanta, Fargo Plains Museum, Tweed Museum of Art, Minnesota History Center, and the Biblioteca Central de Cantabria, Santander, Spain. Tavera is founder and Director of Serpentina Arts, a collective of Minnesota Latinx artists with a mission to foster creative and professional development.

This event is presented in partnership with Moon Palace Books an independent neighborhood bookstore in Minneapolis. This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to readers.

Registration

This event is free, however registration is required.

Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org

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