Sandy Agustin: artist/activist

I recently visited Intermedia Arts in South Minneapolis seeking the stories that inspired the theme for their current project, “Immigrant Status.” As I learned about the exhibits and projects surrounding this theme, I decided that I wanted to get to know the creative spirit—the mastermind —behind this insightful, sensitive and endearing project. It is the same spirit and mind that has imagined, created and participated in many of the social justice, community oriented, cultural and artistic projects at Intermedia Arts for the past 14 years.

Sandy Agustin is the Artistic Director at Intermedia Arts, and recently was able to pass on her duties as interim Executive Director, which she had served since September 2002. I was interested in hearing her story because I believed that someone who is able to imagine and create so many creative projects, exhibiting compassion, reverence and love for diverse cultures and classes of people must have experienced life so far in a way that opened her heart and mind to understanding the essence of life and creativity, and helped her realize that expressing herself in art is the essence of life and creativity.

Sandy grew up across the street from South High in Minneapolis, where she went to school. She now lives in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. Her father migrated here from the Philipines and married Sandy’s mother, who was European. Sandy is the youngest of seven children. She is especially close to her father, whom she says is her rock. She says that since her mother passed away, she is very protective of him. She visits him frequently at an assisted living dwelling, which has sparked her interest in working with the elderly. (One of Sandy’s next projects for Intermedia Arts will involve working with the elderly in the community).

“A creative family works together,” says Sandy. The family values she learned while growing up are the core of that which Sandy is today—an artist and activist for people and the arts. Sandy’s father—a humble, soft-spoken, peaceful man—liked to dance, and she remembers her mother worked with her hands. Sandy grew up playing the piano and singing, and along the way, she developed an everlasting passion for dance. Her mother taught her to Hula dance. One of Sandy’s brothers played the guitar. He put together thematic parties around the neighborhood and Sandy performed the Hula dance at these parties. In high school, she sang in the choir and performed in musicals. She usually got the lead part.

Life was relatively comfortable growing up. “We never went without,” says Sandy. Her father worked in the sugar cane fields when he first came to America, but retired as a mail sorter for the post office he worked at for 33 years. Her mother was a cook in the public schools and did housekeeping. Her father wanted to go to school to study journalism, but he didn’t have the means to do so. Sandy was destined to go on to college after she graduated from high school, and she did so, getting her B.S. in dance therapy at the University of Madison, Wisconsin.

An opportunity for Sandy to perform at an orphanage for developmentally disabled African boys motivated her to study dance therapy, and eventually led her to work with autistic children. Sandy was continually “led” to opportunities that kept her moving in the direction she needed to go throughout her creative and artistic journey. In school, she was often selected to be on committees. She often asked herself, “How did this come to be?” Sandy is humble, but she makes clear that she is not a martyr. She stands up for what she believes and doesn’t allow people to bring her down. Once in high school someone called her a “nigger,” because she looked a little “different” from the mainstream white European. She slapped the person in the face and said, “Don’t you ever call me that again!” Fish soup and rice were staples in her kitchen at home. She thought that was normal—what everyone ate—until she went to a friend’s home and didn’t recognize the food. Aside from these couple of incidents, Sandy doesn’t remember feeling different from her other classmates, or being faced with much adversity. If it was there, she just went around it and kept moving forward with her ambitions.

Dance is a universal language, much like a smile, yet is distinct in that it expresses differing cultural traditions and beliefs. Sandy studied dance in the Philippines with the help of a Jerome Grant. She has studied Filipino, Chinese, Cambodian, Laos, modern and improvisational dance, and has worked with many professional dancers, including a German impressionist. She has been both a dance choreographer and teacher. Before working at Intermedia Arts, she worked with Theatre Mu and The Pillsbury House Theatre. Again, she’d continually ask herself “How did I get here?” It seemed that doors opened for her without her having to knock on them. She finds the right door, opens it, and dances herself inside. I believe that Sandy has been able to find the appropriate paths and take the appropriate steps, along her creative journey, because she stays true to herself. She’s been successful by simply being who she is and doing what she feels destined to do. Sandy is living her life as one who appreciates and respects all people, and as one who understands that life is not fair. For many, life is full of pain and suffering.

Artist and activist, to Sandy, they are one in the same. She reaches out to people with art. She makes true the notion that art is synonymous with social change, and art is a family value. As Artistic Director at Intermedia Arts, Sandy creates projects that communicate to and for people, their individual and collective concerns. Sandy agrees that we are all connected, and have a responsibility to help each other overcome the obstacles set before us. I asked Sandy what her mission statement is for this life assigned to her. She said, “I am here to help people recognize their own creativity so that they can spread it out, make connections in their communities throughout their lives, and help change the world. She added that art exposes, within individuals, communities, and cultures, what is already there.

Sandy believes that expressing oneself creatively with art is a natural instinct for human beings. Not doing so only creates, well what we see happening all around us: Hatred, prejudice, violence, oppression, and so on. She understands that many criminals, especially our youth, are victims themselves. We concurred that if art expression was the normal state of affairs, it is possible that we woudn’t need art as therapy after the corruption has occurred, but it may prevent the destruction from developing in the first place. Sandy says, “Art validates our being by bringing people together to share our personal and collective stories.” That is what Sandy’s destiny has proved to be. Every day she helps people validate themselves and their stories. The current series at Intermedia Arts, “Immigrant Status,” sends an important message. Just as Sandy is here because her father migrated from the Philipines, we are all here because our ancestors were immigrants. She says, “Thanks to America, we are all here together.” I think one of the most revealing statements Sandy made to me that defines that which she truly is, is when she said: “If I don’t feel good about myself, it’s generally because I haven’t done something good for someone else lately.” That is the essence of the creative spirit—the mastermind—behind all of the sensitive, insightful, social justice, community oriented, cultural and artistic projects at Intermedia Arts.