Have you ever had an experience so fulfilling, it left you longing for more? Of course you have!

So has Aryeh Shell, a popular educator, artist and cultural activist who has been leading trainings and supporting social movements in the US and Latin American for nearly two decades.

Aryeh took part in what she describes as “a life-changing delegation” with Altruvistas founder Malia in Jordan that brought together doctors and human rights activists from Iraq with military families, doctors and activists from the United States at the height of the Iraq War. During the journey, Aryeh and others helped bring medical donations to be delivered to Fallujah.

Ever since that trip, Malia and Aryeh have wanted to collaborate on a trip. Fast-forward to present day, and that dream has finally become a reality.

Culture and Arts for Social Change in Cuba

Altruvistas and ArtCorps have collaborated to create Culture and Arts for Social Change in Cuba – a trip taking place in Havana, Cuba on February 11-19th, 2016. This people-to-people learning journey will focus on Cuba’s dynamic culture and arts scene through the lens of ArtCorps’ framework and experiential methodology of individual empowerment, community development and systemic change.

What exactly is ArtCorps? It’s an organization that seeks to build a vibrant, just and sustainable world by reconnecting humankind to their innate creative capacity, and this trip is an opportunity to experience ArtCorps’ unique arts-based approach to personal and social transformation while immersed in Cuban art, history and culture.

A Perfect Match at the Perfect Time

Aryeh is the Education and Training Director for ArtCorps, so she helps provide intensive trainings for community and international development organizations to use the arts, culture and participatory methods in their work for social change. And as you may know, Malia has been putting together in-depth experiential education and socially responsible travel tours to Cuba for many years. So this collaboration makes perfect sense, and the timing could not be better, as Aryeh explains:

“Cuba has a powerful legacy in which the arts have been central in shaping the cultural dialogue, politics and identity.  Things will change so quickly with the recent lifting of travel restrictions by the Obama Administration – it’s an incredible opportunity to go at this historical moment and meet with local artists and arts organizations to understand how they have used art and culture as a tool to preserve identity and to affect change.”

More About the Journey

All are invited on this trip-of-a-lifetime, where participants will not only have the opportunity to learn about the rich textures and layers of Cuban culture, art and identity – but will also discover themselves in new ways.  During the trip, travelers will get to engage in their own personal and collective art making as a way to reflect on and integrate their experience and explore their own social identities and assumptions.

When asked what might surprise participants about this trip, Aryeh says, “Participants may be surprised how deep we are able to go – not only in discovering the Cuban arts activism scene but in our own individual and collective inquiry –in just nine days!”

You can read more about this upcoming journey, check out the itinerary and find out how to get on board online here. In the meantime, here’s how Aryeh describes the trip in her own words:

“We have a lot to learn from the Cuban people about resilience and sustainability and to understand the role of the arts and culture in shaping Cuban life. We will also explore how we can use art as a transformative tool in our own lives and communities. This trip offers us the opportunity to meet face-to-face with Cuban artists and organizations who are dedicated to building a more just and thriving world. It is going to be a life-changing experience.”

Earlybird Discount! 
Join ArtCorps’ trip to Cuba to unleash your own creativity and meet with Cuban artists and organizations who are using the arts for social change – register now for an Earlybird $300 discount! But hurry, space is limited to 24 people and the Earlybird discount only applies to those who register by September 30th.

If you’d like to learn more about this trip…

  • For questions related to the ArtCorps portion of the trip feel free to contact Aryeh Shell at aryeh.shell@artcorp.org or call 712-432-3022. When prompted, enter the Code: 905123#.
  • For questions related to logistics (hotel, flights, etc.) please contact Malia Everette at malia@altruvistas.com