In Conversation With: Giovana Aviles
“IN CONVERSATION WITH” IS A CONVERSATIONAL INTERVIEW SERIES WHERE WE SIT DOWN WITH CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND DISCUSS TOPICS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO THEM.
(All conversations are recorded, and transcribed by BrassTuna.)
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity
[Conversation recorded on October 7, 2025]
Giovana A: “My name is Giovana Aviles, to most I go by Gio, and I am an artist, also a community member here in Phoenix, where I've spent the majority of my life. I am currently an arts administrator, and I am what my friends call a culture pusher. I also try to curate spaces that can hold many spaces within.”
BrassTuna: In what ways do you believe art spaces can move beyond simply representing a community to actively uplifting it? And what specific actions or initiatives could facilitate that shift?
Giovana A: “I love this question.
That's something I'm currently researching and trying to understand: how we can, as art administrators or people working in these spaces, go beyond the surface level. Like representation, and what does that mean?
To me, I know that representation and uplifting are two different things.
I believe that uplifting is actually being interested and seeing the community grow, and seeing them tell their stories and allowing them to have autonomy in these spaces, rather than “let me represent you in a way I'm willing to represent myself in that,” like let me open up space for you to have this representation that already comes in a packaged form. As opposed to giving you the, I guess, your own leadership. I think co-curation is a big thing, and I think spaces can do better at that and allow community members to make decisions, rather than already coming in with ‘it's something cultural’ like Mexican Independence Day or black history month, all of these surface-level representations. It should be ‘how can we actually build on this’ and have it be something that doesn't just stay within those specific days, and moves into something we are building with the community.
I think also compensating people and compensating them for their knowledge. I think a lot of times people think that in these academic spaces and art spaces is where all the knowledge lives, but also community members have real-life knowledge that we should also be compensating them for.
I think that's another way to uplift, community, and just having these spaces where people have autonomy, and can feel like they can tell their own stories.”
“I also wanted to point out that recently i read an article in the New York Times about an exhibition that was held in I believe a museum of immigrants or something along those lines, and they co-curated an exhibition with community members and the story was about how the museum had so much of an impact on the local community and they hadn't seen those numbers in attendance in about 15 years. And again, why is that? And also they co-curated that exhibition, and they were still able to include other artists, and maybe curated it in a way that tells a story, and also educated the public on the history of art, and also educating them about their local communities. I don't think it's that difficult of a concept to understand.
I think differentiating those things between uplifting and representing to discuss and move forward to and making those things happen, and actually uplifting those community members and artists.”
BrassTuna: When I came up with this question, I was looking at how people will come to this show and see this project and believe that I am the full representation of this community. In reality, I am just trying my best to uplift it. I am not a charro; I don't ride a horse. But I can do my best to uplift them because there’s a big difference between uplifting and representing. I wish this perspective were more common in the artistic world because I think it’s easy to pretend to be what you’re documenting, even when that’s not actually the case. I believe it's through hard work and learning that you can truly represent it.
BrassTuna: From your perspective, what are the untapped potentials or overlooked avenues for expanding the definition of community within the art world, and how can we create more inclusive and welcoming spaces for those voices?
Giovana A: “These questions really have me thinking.
I think for me, the way that I understand and the way that I started to build community came from when I was dealing with being an undocumented student, and trying to navigate the system in life, through a lot of the laws and the things that were happening in Arizona. That's when I sought out to hang out with people who were similar to me, who maybe shared the same struggle.
So it may have come from the struggle, and that's how we build community, where we were there for each other. We understood that we were fighting for the same thing and that we wanted the same thing for one another.
I think in the art world it actually functions oppositely, and I think it may still come from Eurocentric ideology, and different work that they are built on already doesn't allow for community to thrive. It's more hierarchical.
I think that a lot of these spaces, especially maybe new spaces that open up here in Phoenix, come with the idea like ‘I want to be like a museum,’ and I think a lot of the time, people come from institutions like school and academia, you are still thinking in hierarchy.
For me, what I would love to see is more of an intersection of art institutions working with non-profits that are already working in the community who are already working with their communities.
I've seen a little bit more of that.
I think even for me, while working at a museum, it was important to stay connected with organizations that were doing work.
Trying to find ways to work together to support even more communities.
There's a book that I've been reading on and off called Museum Metamorphosis: Cultivating Change through Cultural Citizenship, and in it, they mention that community is built through sitting together and caring for one another and sharing responsibility.
Again, because we are in these spaces that think very differently, I don't think that people are thinking about caring and working together.
And so that should be the number one thing.
Again, I think that there are already organizations that are doing the work, so supporting those organizations and continuing to work with artists who live within those communities.
I think a lot of people love to use the word community because it sounds like you actually care, and you're actually interested in the community. But community is actually uncomfortable, because you have to show up for people even when you don't want to.
Community again is understanding that there is no hierarchy, and that you're working towards the same thing.
I feel sometimes it's difficult here in Phoenix because there aren't many art spaces and opportunities, so people start to see it as more of a competition, rather than building towards something collectively.”
BrassTuna: Last question.
If you could envision the ideal future for community engagement in the Phoenix arts scene, what would it look like, and what role do you see artists, art institutions, and community members playing to bring this vision to life?
Giovana A: “There are moments and there are things that have happened within this city that make me feel like we are moving towards something, but again, they are very limited.
There's funding that has done wonders for a lot of artists, and then sometimes it doesn't come back.
So that's basically the cycle that happens here, so I think long-term investment from the city or from institutions would be wonderful for artists.
That way, we aren't thinking about every grant cycle, and it becomes a healthier cycle, and not so much thinking about forming an idea so I can get funded. So that way, we don't have to feel like we have to come up with this story to get that funding. I feel like it robs artists of their creativity, so I think having spaces, which is a little difficult because, as we know, Phoenix is just getting larger, and that means that a lot more people are taking up spaces that can potentially be beneficial to artists.
Artists are what make this city; artists are who created Roosevelt Row, and now they can no longer live there.
So how can we let artists live in these spaces? Because it's important to have artists, culture, and community. Our artists should be living amongst us, and not outside, and have to come back and do their work within. I think that just doesn't make sense.
For museums, organizations, and institutions, more accountability.
Shared governance between the community is also necessary. I think holding a lot of these institutions and a lot of us accountable gets us moving into places rather than blaming or making decisions that benefit only certain communities more than others. Let's hold each other accountable as to why we are making these decisions and who we are making them for.
Artists are so important to our cultural fabric.
We should be supporting them, especially as an institution and art admin spaces.”
BrassTuna would like to thank artist and arts administrator Giovana Aviles for joining us on this special edition of “In Conversation With” interview series.
(All conversations are recorded and transcribed by BrassTuna.)
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity