Montañitas Reimagined
Luray, Virginia
Dancers at the Blue Ridge Montanitas Festival in Luray, VA. Photo by Matthew Pickett.
Montañitas Reimagined, a project in collaboration with Estela Diaz Knott from the Lua Project, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 621 in Luray, Virginia, and Dr. Amy Azano, Director of the Virginia Tech Center for Rural Education, reimagines Appalachia as a shared and co-created space with, by, and alongside Latine communities.
Inspired by stories of immigration and belonging, the Blue Ridge Montañitas Festival, Los Appalachianos music album, and community education materials chronicle and celebrate the Latine Appalachian “Appalachiano” community.
Lua Project on stage at the Blue Ridge Montanitas festival in Luray, VA. Photo by MAAP Team.
“As I watched the crowd sing, dance, and connect, I felt the same joy I did as a child, preforming in my community with the songs and dances my mother taught us. It’s a reminder that music, like community, is a powerful force. It has the ability to heal, connect, and inspire.”
– Estela Diaz Knott, Lua Project
This monument commemorates and reimagines the “little mountains'' by celebrating Latine Appalachian art, food, music, and culture at the Blue Ridge Montañitas Festival; by creating interdisciplinary place-based community educational materials; and by producing a digital album so that a more nuanced and complex story of the region can be shared locally, regionally, and beyond.
Estela Diaz Knott, Lua Project, recording the ‘Los Appalachianos’ album. Photo by MAAP Team.
An illustration showing the community and gathering aspects of the Montanitas Reimagined monument. Illustration by Rebecca Steele.
Monument Team
Estela Diaz Knott
David Berzonsky
Luna Berzonsky
Amy Price Azano, Eve Azano
VFW Post 621
