practice: background on sensemaking and teresa cisneros (curator of people)
sensemaking is a micro-agency lead by me (teresa cisneros-curator of people) and selected collaborators. I feel it is important to share who I am, what I do, and how I do it. So you can make a decision if I am a good fit for your project, commission, contract, work, etc. My approach is to be transparent and honest in relation to my practice. I have been collaborating with people in the culture, charity, university and non-profit sectors for over 20 years.
foundations: I am a Chicana/Mexican-American the daughter of Vicente Cisneros and Lucrecia Puente of Mexican lineage, I was born on the border of Mexico/Texas. I practice from this location, it is where I was formed, where I learned to practice a way of being which can be summed up as an ethics of practice: “if you are okay then I am okay or if you are not okay I am not okay”. My ethics is centered in collectivity, humility, reciprocity, relationality, respect, mutuality, honesty, transparency and openness.
practice: I work in a responsive manner to requests of support from people or institutions. Majority of the projects have been designed to address change, create new methods for a situation, share information, mutually engage people in projects, advise on approaches, mediate difficult situations, design methods to address power imbalances, address inequities in a variety of situations, engage artistic/curatorial platforms to provide access, design learning, evaluate programmes of work and a variety of other practices to support others.
approach: I am not a believer of ‘proven methods’, what I prefer is to engage the people who are in a given situation to work with them and for them. Collaboration, co-creation/production, respect, and mutuality are all part of the approach, I do not arrive with solutions, known outcome or pre-designed approach. I arrive with an open mind, collaboration as method and relationality as a priority. And with great humility to do the work that may be required in an honest and transparent way. I centre an ethics of practice and practice of ethics. I will ask many questions and will ask for an agreed ways of working to ensure we can work collaboratively mindful of the life of the project.
sharing: an important part of my practice is to share with others how I have worked and embedded practices that are fair, just, inclusive, open, and caring. I share my practice by lecturing at universities, sitting on panels and from time to time writing or being interviewed. I share because I understand I have a unique approach in how I support people and institutions, and I have gained deep insights to the nature/causes of how people and institutions behave.