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About this creative project

 

I am currently a graduate student at the University of Florida. This art series is the focus of my Capstone Project, which is the culmination of my Master's in Art Education degree. I hope to examine the outcomes and implications of exploring my personal narrative and ancestral heritage through a creative process approach. I will be observing and researching the development of self-identity and connection between creator and ancestral background as I create a series of artworks reflective of my family history exploration in genealogy research and family outreach. 

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My cultural and ancestral background

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I am blessed to have a blended ancestral history. My paternal side is made up of English, Scottish, Danish, and Swedish immigrants. The Scottish line arrived in the United States in the 1800s. My Danish and Swedish ancestors emigrated from their homelands in 1871 and 1872, having joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Letter-Day Saints and answering the call to "come to Zion," settling in small Danish and Swedish Sanpete and Box Elder communities in Utah. On my maternal side, my mother is an immigrant to the United States, arriving when she was 22. Her family resides in Mazatlán, Mexico. Her mother (my Abuelita), is the daughter of a Mexican mother and Greek father. I spent the summers of my youth in Mazatlán with my family, and have very fond memories experiencing my family's culture and enjoying their traditions and bringing these home. 

 

The Greek Family History:

At some point, there was a marital and familial rift, and many Greek family members, including my mother's Greek grandfather, returned to Athens, Greece. Originally from a small village outside of Athens called Mavrommati, my Greek relatives had first come to Mexico to start tomato farming. After the family division, our Greek family and family staying in Mexico stopped contact with each other. When I was in my early 20s, I found out that my mother had Greek heritage. She knew very little information as her mother and aunts (daughters of a Greek father) would refuse to talk about their Greek family. The only information given was my Abuelita's father's name (Constantinos Koutroularis), and that they were from a small town called "black eyes" in English, which I translated to "Mavrommati." I was fortunate to come in contact with a Greek company who helped by finding a man who stated his family was from Mavrommati, and whose father was named Constantinos. They gave me his number. His named was Panagiotis "Panos" Koutroularis, and when I spoke to him, he confirmed he shared the same family separation story with me. He turned out to be my Abuelita's half brother, born in Athens to Constantinos, my Abuelita's father, who had started a new family in Greece. Considering that many of the older generation had passed on, Panos' generation did not have a direct link to the unknown argument and we both had a desire to meet. When my mother told my grandmother, she cried with happiness; it turns out she had rarely spoken of her family because of the sorrow she felt from the loss, not the bitterness. However, her older sisters did not share the same feelings, still feeling very close to their father and mother's separation. My mother and I have since had the opportunity to visit Panos' family in Greece, as did some of my mother's siblings, and we have also connected to Greek family in California who come from that line.