A little process post for these mural projects because whew 😅
We are currently working on TWO murals simultaneously.
Mural 1: Resiliencia
12 ft x 6 ft
Completed and almost ready for installation.
Mural 2: Many Cultures, One Community
26 ft x 6 ft
About 50% complete and still needing installation ASAP.
Together, these murals involved roughly 50–150 young people across 5 different classes contributing to the process in some way, which honestly feels really special.
One big learning curve with this project is that we cannot paint directly onto the walls, so we’ve had to learn how to work on very specific panels and now also figure out installation 😭 definitely stretching our creative problem solving skills.
This whole experience has been a reminder that public art is not just painting. It’s coordination, adapting, timelines, materials, teamwork, and figuring things out in real time. Every time we solve one barrier, another one pops up.
Very thankful to have friends and community around us who either know how to do things… or are at least down to learn and try alongside us 😂
And if I’m being honest… ya girl and @slomo2.0 is holding on by a thread but we move. One panel, one class, one problem solved at a time.
More soon.
In a world teaching us to perform constantly, Hermanidad is an invitation to simply be.
Hermanidad was created from a simple but deep longing:
to gather.
to slow down.
to feel less alone.
A space for femmes and mujeres seeking connection, honest conversation, tenderness, reflection, and community.
A space where you can be seen.
Heard.
Witnessed.
Held with care and accountability.
Over the past months, this circle has continued to grow into exactly what many of us were longing for: a community-centered space rooted in storytelling, collective care, laughter, grief, softness, courage, and realness.
For Session 5, we are honored to have Silvia Rogel step in as lead facilitator. Silvia has been part of almost every Hermanidad circle, showing up with deep presence and care. Opening the circle for trained circle keepers and trusted community members to facilitate feels aligned with the original intention of Hermanidad: community holding community.
May 23rd • 2–5 PM
Casa Kindred
If you’ve been longing for community, reflection, softness, honesty, and connection with other femmes, we’d love to welcome you into the circle.
Registration required. Link in bio 🌹
Imagine what becomes possible when women are given space to dream out loud.
The Mujerista Incubator continues to unfold in the most beautiful ways.
So far, we have witnessed ⚘️4 Mujeristas present their offerings, stories, and the semillas they are nurturing. This Saturday, we gathered for 3 additional presentations, and each one carried its own spirit, wisdom, vulnerability, and fire.
🌹Jackie shared TLALI, a project rooted in land, ancestral memory, storytelling, music, repurposing, and women teaching women. Her presentation reminded us that the land calls us back and that healing can happen through creating, building, growing, and remembering together.
🌹Ana shared Nourishing My Semilla, Tierra Adentro, an offering centered on nervous system regulation, embodiment, movement, and healing. Through storytelling, somatic practices, and reflection, she invited us to reconnect with the wisdom our bodies already carry.
🌹Brenda shared Raíces y Resistencia: Uncovering Truth, a bold offering rooted in anti racism, anti anti-Blackness work, political education, and collective liberation within Latine communities. Her presentation challenged us to examine inherited stories, systems, and the ways we organize toward dignity and collective freedom.
Using the feedback protocol created by Critical Learning Collaborative, we practiced witnessing each other with care, reflection, and intention.
I kept thinking about how every single presentation is a spark. Every idea carries medicine. Every Mujerista in that circle is showing us what becomes possible when people are witnessed instead of rushed.
I know how vulnerable it feels to share a dream out loud. It feels emotional. Scary. Tender. You want to cry, hide, celebrate, and run all at the same time. Yet these Mujeristas continue showing up again and again with courage, honesty, and openness.
Bold. Soft. Unafraid.
This is only the beginning
((05.24.26 - 2–5PM)) #SacredSoundSystem @ #CasaKindred featuring @scendseimusic
Chicago-based DJ, producer, and curator known for his eclectic taste, turntablism, and ability to move across genres with intention. Scendsei will share selections that reflect his range from house and hip-hop to soul and R&B that has been shaped by years of experience and a deep understanding of sound and energy.
He will guide us through the music with intention and feel. Sharing insights, sound that move a room. And frequencies that carry energy across time and place.
This is not a DJ set.
Sacred Sound System is about presence.
No distractions. Just community united by music.
This is listening as practice.
Music and storytelling.
Feeling, rhythm, and shared experience.
This is #deeplistening. Space is limited so please make sure to RSVP. DM or Link in bio...
@kindred_llc @futurerootz
This week in Mujeristas 2, we continued moving through our third current, La Semilla.
This is the phase where each Mujerista nurtures her idea with intention, working closely with a coach and then courageously sharing a piece of her semilla with the circle.
This week, it was Lupe Bonilla and Marilyn Rodriguez.
🌹Lupe is cultivating Body Love Wellness, a practice rooted in self love, body connection, and healing through touch. Her work reminds us that care can be both simple and profound, one massage at a time, creating space for people to reconnect with their bodies, release pain, and return to themselves with gentleness and intention.
🌹Marilyn is bringing Sanar Zin Fronteras to life, a vision grounded in healing justice, decolonial practices, and culturally rooted care. Her work imagines spaces where Latinx individuals and communities can feel, process, and heal from emotional wounds without shame or oppression, reconnecting to their voice, their dignity, and their roots.
After their presentations, the Mujeristas offered reflections through a feedback protocol created by @criticallearningcollaborative
holding each idea with care, intention, and deep respect.
There is something powerful about being surrounded by women who uplift one another, who hold space, and who witness each other’s light without trying to shape or shrink it.
Congratulations to Lupe and Marilyn for sharing your light with us.
And a special thank you to Cristina and Mayra for holding down the container while I was out in Palm Springs. Truly feeling so grateful, proud, and inspired by the way you held it all down.
Mujeristas incubation continues through May 30, with five more Mujeristas preparing to share their semillas. Then we move into acceleration.
We stay grateful for all that is unfolding 🌹
Being witnessed with care is medicine.
Grateful to everybody who came through Casa Kindred and brought their full selves into the room this weekend. One intention, same heartbeat.
⚘️ Hermanidad
🫀 MANO
Real stories. Honest reflection. Silence when words weren’t needed. Listening without needing to fix; being seen without needing to perform.
We crave spaces like this..places where truth can be spoken and people can feel held while not being molded, one uped, or judged.
All while still being open to creating and honoring group guidelines.
That’s healing.
And truthfully, those of us holding the container receive right alongside everyone else.
Every gathering has its own energy and shape, but one thing we trust at Kindred: who is meant to be here is here.
Thank you for trusting the room, trusting each other, and helping shape the circle. See you again soon.
#CasaKindred #Hermanidad #MANO
Today in Mujeristas 2, two Mujeristas courageously presented their semillas, early ideas in the incubation phase of their creative and community centered projects.
🌹Oak Moreno (@critter.encantador) shared a concept for a play that humanizes mental health through storytelling and relatable characters. The vision invites audiences to see themselves reflected on stage, creating space for conversation around mental health, mental illness, empathy, and stigma.
🌹Sandra (@sandritatrevino) presented her semilla centered on audio storytelling through community audio portraits. Her idea focuses on capturing voices, lived experiences, and identity in ways that honor the richness and depth of community stories.
💚We are currently in the Semilla Phase, an incubation stage where each Mujerista bravely shares a part of her idea with the cohort. During this phase, each presentation is followed by a thoughtful feedback protocol created by @criticallearningcollaborative
helping strengthen each vision through reflection and collective support.
In two weeks, the next two Mujeristas will present their semillas. Stay tuned.🪴🐚⚘️🌹
Chicago creatives… come refill the cup this Sunday.
For the artists, musicians, makers, healers, and anyone craving real community.
Join us for Deep Listening - at Sacred Sound Studio-- an afternoon to slow down, tune in, and reconnect through sound, presence, and shared energy.
Sacred Sound is a space to reset before the week begins.A space to meet good people.A space to pour back into yourself.
📍 Logan Square🗓 Sunday⏰ 2–5 PM
Music Selector: Hector Gonzalez
Come solo or bring someone good.
Link in Bio.. Register now! We have a few spots left!
One thing about Kindred and Praxis is that we will always turn our work into ritual and installation.
Each space we enter we respect and therefore we leave behind something tangible.
an artifact.
A trace of the moment
words held on paper
symbols shaped together
color, texture, memory
And you can be certain that @slomo2.0 will leave a drawing behind.
There’s something deeply satisfying about that
Not just having the conversation
but making something you can see
something you can return to
something that says we were here
and this mattered.
These pieces begin to live on their own
holding stories
holding voice
holding the energy of the room
long after we leave
This is the heart of Kindred
and we carry that same spirit into our Praxis spaces where it expands through collaboration and takes shape in different ways
Today we get to do one more with youth from The Fellowship Instiative through our Arts & Culture program.
We already have one in the books for Together Towards Peace Symposium
and we are creating another for CYC at Perspectives led by Kindred folk Mimi and Simone!
Half behind the scenes
half out in the field
Kindred is not just one thing
It’s a constellation.
#Savethedate
Leading up to Hermanidad and MANO… we gather to listen. Slow down together through sound, memory, and presence.
Join us for #SacredSoundStudio
((04.19.26)) 2–5 PM @ Casa Kindred
featuring @hekter23
Chicago based music curator and selector. Hector will share selections rooted in memory, family, and lived experience. Reflecting the sounds that have shaped his relationship to music and love over time.
--
#Deeplistening
We begin by acknowledging who is in the room.
We circle up and share space. Grounding together.
Then for 90 minutes
we listen intentionally.
No talking.
No distractions.
Just sound. presence. and community.
After the listening session
we gently come back together
and reflect on what moved, surfaced, or stayed with us.
This is not a DJ set.
This is listening as practice. A storytelling as a liberation practice.
Sound as memory, lineage, and lived experience.
This is Sacred Sound Studio.
This is deep listening.
This is Kindred.
--
The following weekend we return to circle
Hermanidad ((April 25))
MANO ((April 26))
--
#LINKINBIO
Space is limited for the listening lounge experience register now... @kindred_llc
Two circles. One intention.
We started Hermanidad and MANO because something felt missing. We noticed a craving for spaces to slow down. To reflect. To speak honestly and listen differently.
This isn't just about gender. It’s about life, relationships, identity, healing, and growth.
The Containers
⚘️ Hermanidad
A circle for women.
🫀 MANO
A circle for men.
Different spaces. Shared spirit.
Last month, MANO opened its first circle. It was honest & vulnerable, leaving the herMANOs looking forward to the second one
Hermanidad is ready to return to the circle after being away since February (due La mesa de mujeres launch & Mujeristas cohort 2 launch). We are returning with deep intention!
These are open, community-shaped spaces. You choose what you bring. A question. A story. Something you’re ready to unpack. We hold it together.
No fixing. No pressure. Listening is enough. This is about voice, choice, and co-creation.
Join us at Casa Kindred
🗓️ Hermanidad
Saturday, April 25 | 2–5 PM
🗓️ MANO
Sunday, April 26 | 2–5 PM
Note: We have updated our previously shared April calendar. These are the correct dates for this month.
Offered at no cost | Donations welcomed
Spots are limited | Registration required
🔗 Link in bio to register.
#CasaKindred #Hermanidad #MANO
#Introducing the #Mujerista Incubator Cohort 2
Reclaiming My Whole Self: Bold, Soft & Unafraid
We are in it. 9 mujeristas.
3 out of 7 sessions in the books.
One shared commitment to not carry our ideas alone.
The Mujerista Incubator is a #Kindred Hub created to hold space for womxn and femme identifying folks to explore, shape, and share what has been living within them.
A Mujerista is not defined by title but by truth.
She creates, questions, nurtures, and disrupts.
She carries vision, softness, rage, and joy and offers it back to the world in her own way.
This space is about reclaiming the full self in community.
Practicing voice. Testing ideas.
Being witnessed in real time.
Each Mujerista entered this space with a semilla, an idea, a practice, a story, a calling. These ideas are breaking open, taking shape, enhancing their voice, their rhythm, their way.
Over the next few months, these mujeristas will continue to tend to their semilla sharing, refining, and growing their work in community.
What follows is the Accelerator
a continuation for those ready to expand, deepen, and bring their offering further into the world.
This is not about perfection.
It is about practice.
It is about presence.
It is about becoming.
Swipe to meet them.
Take a moment to meet the 9 mujeristas of Cohort 2. Each one bringing something real, necessary, and deeply rooted.
We are already in motion.
🪬🧿 💙
March in review 🤍
We celebrate women every day but this month we really leaned into it… being surrounded by mujeres who are building, healing, and dreaming
Kindred hubs:
We opened with Sacred Sound Studio with @afroqbano , taking us through Caribbean sound across generations
March 7 we launched #Mujerista Cohort 2 with 9 mujeristas
Stay tuned… we will be introducing each of them soon
March 8 #MesadeMujeres through Hermanidad at @libertadsurchi Libertad Sur
Community, food, joy… we heard you, another one is coming
March 15 #Mano launched with 13 hermanos in the space
Grateful for the openness and how the men showed up for each other
March 27 La Lumbre Mujerista session… fire, leadership, visibility
March 28 Sacred Sound Studio with @sandritatrevino Sandra… a beautiful, multidimensional session through radio and live sound
Behind the scenes… a lot of building
Curriculum writing, meetings, partnerships, shaping programs that live in real spaces
Kindred Schools
Collective Bloom continued with our youth at 3 sites
Orr High School mural sessions across 5 classes
West 40 substance use awareness workshops with middle and high school students
With @afterschoolmatters
The Wellness Reboot… holding space for educators to reset
Through @praxisinstchicago
#TogetherTowardsPeace Session 5… youth leading real conversations about peace
And continued building of The Institute for Critical Youth Development
This is our ecosystem
Art, healing, youth, systems… all connected
We also made time to rest… sun, ocean, reset- in Hawaii
March #thankyou for everything
Swipe to see what’s coming in April in our little ecosystem
Holding all of this with care and protection Kindred Spirit aligned energy here 🧿
Today @sandritatrevino took us on a journey...
She tuned into the radio as she held us through her #deepListening set. Her approach shifted everything.
It felt like we were tapping into something broadcasting live… something transmitting beyond the room… like we were part of a larger frequency. Not just listening to music but witnessing it as it unfolded.
There was something really special about not knowing what was coming next. Just trusting. Just receiving. Just being with the sound as it found us.
And in that, we softened.
We connected differently.
We were a part of it.
#aché
Today in Kindred news we contributed 3 Workshops for 50+ Students. 1 Collective Vision. For Teen Mental Health summit at @chicagocyc
8 hours after touching down in the Chi, we went straight to work. Today was a marathon of creativity—rotating over 50 students through a three-part journey to build the #COLLECTIVEBLOOM installation. We’re breaking growth down into three powerful stages:
THE ROOTS (B & L): Led by the incredible @simonejw digging into heritage and the foundations that hold us up.
THE PRESENT (The O’s): Our session. A deep dive into "Main Character Energy." Every student DIY-mapped their current era, their wins, and the boundaries they’re setting right now on vibrant orange cardstock.
THE FUTURE (M & !): Led by the visionary @Mimi_moves you capturing the "Rising" and the dreams being manifested for what’s next.
Watching 50+ individual identities cut out and pasted onto that black butcher paper to spell BLOOM was pure magic. The center of this installation is officially vibrating with life.
A massive shoutout to the dream team Simone and @Mimi the synergy is unmatched.
And a huge thank you to @slomo2.0 for coming through and holding it down for us immediately after we landed.
And to Tina and Anjel and all of the CYC staff for their beautiful partnership
That’s real community, real Chicago love.
We’re exhausted, we’re inspired, and we’re just getting started.
#Kindred #ChicagoYouthCenters
Thirteen men showed up and sat in circle.
That’s how Mano began.
Jose and I opened the doors and held the container… but the truth is, the hermanos shaped the space. That energy, that presence, that was y’all.
We spoke plain and from the heart.
Manhood. Wellness. The weight we carry. The responsibility. The ways we’re working to show up with more intention for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
We set the touchstones together.
Nothing forced. Just listening, reflection, and respect all around the circle.
We closed with gratitude. Music in the background. Energy grounded.
Just letting the moment sit with us… not rushing out of it.
Jose and I are full. Grateful in a real way.
We opened the doors, and you all stepped in ready to be present with one another.
Mano continues. Monthly. Steady.
Next gathering
April 26
2–5 PM
Casa Kindred
Registration opens 15 days before the session.
If you want a direct invite, send us a message.
Much respect to the hermanos who stepped into the circle and helped lay the foundation.
This is just the beginning.
Eight Mujeristas, #LaMesadeMujeres, and a whole lot of magic to start this March.
Pues empezo asi, March 7th. The energy at Casa Kindred was just… easy. I was sick but i felt so grounded for the launch of Mujerista cohort 2.
We sat in that circle with the roses, naming our seeds and realizing that even though we were meeting for the first time, we were already in sync. Just that instant click of being aligned.
Then we carried that "meant to be" vibe over to @libertadsurchi for March 8th to celebrate International Womyn’s Day.
La Mesa de Mujeres was pure light. Sunlight pouring into the room, plates being shared, and so many Mujeres from Mujerista, #Hermanidad, Kindred new friends, life homies and family showing up. It felt like one big exhale.
From the altar to the mesa, it’s all the same love.
I spent so long thinking I was a Sagittarius rising, but I just found out I’m actually a Cancer sun, Pisces moon , with an Aquarius rising. It makes so much sense. Kindred is the manifestation of that..the deep water, the healing, the altar vibes, but with that Aquarius need for collective space and sisterhood. It’s not just a sacred space; it’s a reflection of this energy I finally understand.
Grateful to be fed. Grateful to be home.
Thank you to every sister who sat in the circle and everyone who pulled up a chair.
With love,
#Kindred
((03.29.26 - 2–5PM)) #SacredSoundSystem @ #CasaKindred featuring @sandritatrevino ((@enchufate - @futurerootz - @theponderersmusic))
Chicago-based arts journalist, cultural curator, and vinyl selector. Sandra will share selections from her personal record collection, reflecting the sounds and cultural movements that have shaped Latin alternative music and diasporic creative communities.
She will guide us through the music with context and reflection.
Stories behind the records.
Connections across genres, generations, and places.
This is not a DJ set.
This is listening as practice.
Sound as memory, archive, and cultural conversation.
Sacred Sound System is about presence.
No distractions. Just community united by music.
This is #deeplistening.
—
Save the date ☆ Space is limited for the listening lounge experience. DM for RSVP & details @kindred_llc
This one is for the ancestors...the hands that struck the forbidden drum. That laid down rhythm as testimony. Braided culture into song, turning displacement into sound and resistance into joy.
From their breath came frequencies;
from their genius, new genres were born.
Their music was prayer.
So we celebrate, not as nostalgia,
but as continuation.
We dance as inheritance.
We listen with devotion.
We keep the rhythm alive because we are their wildest dreams.
And in every beat we manifest, we answer them:
We are still here ((#seguimosaqui))
We are still becoming.
We celebrate.
We create.
We remember.
-
Thank you @afroqbano ((@futurerootz)) for blessing us with your story, knowledge, culture, and music archieves ((we see you... #aché)).
Love to all those who joined us... Stay tuned for the next #SacredSoundStudio @ #CasaKindred ((03.29.26))) #deepListening w/ @sandritatrevino ((@theponderersmusic / @futurerootz)).
There is something powerful about women gathered at a table.
On March 8th, in honor of International Women’s Day, we come together for La Mesa de Mujeres 🌹 a brunch in celebration of the women who shape our lives.
The mothers.
The sisters.
The mentors.
The daughters.
The friends.
The selves we are, were, and are becoming.
Brunch from 11:30 AM–2 PM.
@cucucumbiaa on the decks until 3 PM.
Menu specials coming soon.
This is a special collaboration between Kindred, @Futurerootz, and @LibertadSurchi — three spaces coming together to create something meaningful.
This table centers women.
All are welcome.
Libertad Sur | Wicker Park
Limited seating. Registration required.
Link in bio.