Today we’d like to introduce you to Trina Oropeza.
Hi Trina, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have just arrived to my 50’s. I am a Venezuelan American who grew up and developed as an educator and entrepreneur in Caracas, Venezuela. I obtained a university degree in Pre-school Education at the Metropolitan University of Caracas. After more than 25 years of experience in the educational field with children and adults, as well as a vast experience as an entrepreneur on social, educational, and art projects, we decided to emigrate as a family and start a new life in the United States. This life-changing decision was due to the complex political and social situation we were going through in our country. The illusion of undertaking a dream that had been in our minds for years brought us to Florida in 2015.
Since we arrived in the United States, we have been working intensely to integrate into the community we chose and also lived our Latin culture (gastronomy, language, and traditions) by learning and integrating the great things of the place that is now our home and where we chose to place our professional project, the beautiful city of Coral Gables. We have been very fortunate with the immense openness and support that they have given us, from the immediate community to the business to the official and private entities that have trusted in Imago’s mission.
My husband and I have been art collectors for more than 20 years and in the last ten years, we have been working in this area. First, I was a founder and director of VCArt, LLC in Miami-FL, for little over three years, I was responsible for the financial area, daily operation, and management in the execution of art exhibitions, as well as sales of art. In 2016, I associated with a group of Venezuelans and founded IMAGO Art, LLC in the city of Coral Gables-FL, in which we managed to combine our passion for education, art, music, and literature in a single space. A place that serves the local community with the best cultural options in Spanish, no matter where you come from or how old you are. Nowadays with more than five years of work in this city, we feel grateful and proud of the journey we have traveled. There have been many ups and downs, but passion, conviction, and the desire to do things well and for others have always prevailed… We have managed to form a great Imago family.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a beautiful path, with many learnings and challenges. We have faced many difficulties but we have also had great satisfaction and achievements. Sometimes it has been a challenge to reach people, sometimes art and culture is not a priority for families, however faithful to our mission and convinced of the importance and impact of what is done in Imago, step by step we have been building community, friends and families that value the activities, workshops, exhibitions, and products we offer in Imago.
One of the greatest challenges has been the Pandemic, from one day to the next we had to suspend all our programs, plans, exhibitions, it was extremely shocking for the Imago management team. We even found ourselves in the need to move from the location to keep the project afloat. We went from being a 100% face-to-face service business to adapt in record time all our programming to move to digital platforms, experimenting with new and unknown ways of approaching the community (children and adults), taking advantage of the opportunity. We expanded our reach beyond our walls, through trial and error we built a new way of working and generating links with the people.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Imago Art, LLC?
IMAGO’s work have continuously evolved during these five years of existence until reaching the offer we have today. Here we need to draw a line of before and after as a result of the Pandemic, however in general the main activities are workshops, courses, meetings and exhibitions related to art, literature and music.
IMAGO was born from the passion and the need to combine in one place the things that its founders loved the most, such as education, art, music and literature, the idea was born from interest, professional training and life experiences of those who started the path of this project.
The idea of IMAGO is to be a creative platform of meeting spaces, both virtual and face-to-face, to enjoy and learn as a family, and to awaken and stimulate everyone’s creativity. A place where it doesn’t matter where you come from or how old you are, the only important thing is that every time you come, you leave with a full soul.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Without a doubt, the main learning from the crisis is the importance of the team work that brings to life the purpose of this project, without flexibility to adapt to changes, and understanding that the only permanent thing in live is change. you can not survive on this modern world.
Also the without the flexibility to adapt to changes, understanding that the only permanent thing in live is changes.
I would mention that without passion, commitment and dedication of each of us, we couldn’t be able to keep the essence of Imago revealed.
To be grateful of every little thing we achieve to keep doing what we love.
To learn new ways of connect and we must assume them as such, with infinite possibilities, I never cease to be surprised by the scope and relevance of the new platforms, I believe that nowadays to grow as a professional in any area you must integrate technology as one of the channels to access the other. In our experience, it has been fascinating to see what we have been able to achieve and the corners of the world that we have been able to reach thanks to these platforms and social networks, I think they are a wonderful compliment, without detracting from the value and preponderance of face-to-face experiences, we have discovered that we can go much further and create bonds as strong and powerful as if we were close by.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@imagoartinaction
- Website: https://imagoartinaction.com
- Instagram: @imagoartinaction
- Facebook: @imagoartinaction
Image Credits
1st: Clara Toro 2nd: Carolina Muñoz
