Guests will participate in an afternoon rooted in ceremony, collective memory, and creative expression. The gathering will open with palabra and canto offered by In Lak Ech, grounding the space in gratitude, intention, and shared presence. This will be followed by a 45-minute panel featuring voices engaged in Indigenous foodways, cultural preservation, and embodied knowledge, with each panelist offering reflections on their work and practice. The afternoon will continue through conversation, creating space for connection and reflection. Light Indigenous-inspired bites will be served, inviting guests to experience the living legacy of corn while engaging in community.

Dr. Claudia Serrato

Dr. Claudia Serrato of P’urhépecha and Zacateca cultural heritage roots, is a Xicana culinary anthropologist, chef, and educator whose work centers on ancestral taste memory and the cultural power of food. Holding a Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology from the University of Washington, she activates memory through cooking, teaching, and storytelling, reconnecting Native and Mesoamerican communities to ancestral ingredients and foodways. Her vision blends scholarship with practice to reveal how taste carries history, identity, and survival—whether in classrooms, kitchens, or community spaces. For Dr. Serrato, food is not only nourishment but ceremony and remembrance, a way flavors connect generations across time and space. 

Felicia ‘Fe’ Montes

Felicia ‘Fe’ Montes (M.A./M.F.A.) is a Xicana Indigenous artivist living and working in East Los Angeles, California. She is a holistic artivist, femcee, designer, poet, practitioner of the healing arts, and assistant professor of Chicanx/Latinx arts and Social Practice at Cal State Long Beach. She is the co-founder and director of artivist organizations and projects Mujeres de Maíz, In Lak Ech, Botánica del Barrio and El MERCADO. Fe is known throughout the United States as an established cultural worker with over three decades experience in art, community and ancestral traditions.

Mujeres de Maíz

Founded in 1997, In Lak Ech is an L.A. based Xicana collective composed of multi-media artists, writers, mothers, teachers, and organizers uniting to tell Her-story through poetry, drumming and song. Their name is a Mayan concept meaning “you are my other me/tu eres mi otro yo.” The women of In Lak Ech perform and organize cultural celebrations, participate in conferences, and conduct workshops for diverse communities. They are the founding group of the women of color art and wellness organization Mujeres de Maíz. You can hear their poetry and music on their 2007 album “Mujeres Con Palabra” streaming on all platforms.

Shuchipil 

Shuchipil is a culinary preservationist dedicated to revitalizing ancestral Anahuac foodways and awakening dormant cultural memory within the diaspora. Her work focuses on decolonizing our relationship with food by reclaiming the kitchen as the primary site of ritual and harmony with the land. Through hands-on workshops, Shuchipil facilitates a sacred return to the metate, teaching the technical and spiritual aspects of processing ancestral ingredients. By centering these traditional tools, she helps participants reconnect and reclaim ancestral cosmovision and the profound lineage of the indigenous kitchen. 

Celebrate 15 Years of Cultura, Comunidad y Corazón. Support LA Plaza now—donate now!

Admission Policy
While advance RSVP is recommended, entry is subject to capacity. Walk-ins will be accommodated as space permits.

Parking
Planning your visit? Explore parking options near LA Plaza.

Photo and Media Consent
By participating in this program, you consent to LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes using photographs taken of you for advertising, promotional, and marketing purposes.

Newsletter
Want to stay in the loop about our events and programs?
Sign up for our newsletter!