Facing Race: A National Conference in St. Louis, MO — November 20-22, 2024

Melisa Cardona

Mondo Bizarro

I’m the daughter of two Latino immigrants, raised between Atlanta, GA and my parents’ native land of Medellin, Colombia. I’ve been an actress for the past 12 years, traveling the world and working in theater and film in Atlanta and on the West Coast. Several years ago I met a couple of artists in the deep, deep south doing astounding environmental and community work. They offered me an internship through a theater and Production Company called Mondo Bizarro based in New Orleans, LA. I figured it was time for a change and made the move to the Big Easy. During my first month of work, my buddy and then supervisor loaned me his camera and asked me to snap photos and take some video to document a story-telling project they where doing at the time, and I was instantly hooked.Since then it’s become an obsession really, that’s extended my passion for telling stories both in front and behind the lens.


Presentations from Facing Race 2014

Race Peace

Race Peace is a dialogue and performance project that creates communities of anti-racist practice in which participants can celebrate common bonds, explore their differences and lay the civic foundation to pursue solutions to the issues that impact their communities. This workshop will create a space in which people from diverse backgrounds can confront racism using the unique ability of art to embrace complexity and contradiction. Our color line process helps participants to develop a shared understanding of the complexities of racism, both individual and institutional, and to envision themselves as agents of change.

Speakers: Carlton Turner, Hannah Pepper-Cunningham, Melisa Cardona, Joanna Russo