For over 40 years, Mr. Jorge Piña’s career as a Chicano Theatre Artist include working as an artistic director, managing producer, street-theatre actor, curator and grants writer. Employed by several arts organizations including the Guadalupe Cultural arts Center (San Antonio, TX), Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho (Nampa, ID), El Teatro de la Esperanza (Santa Barbara, CA) and El Centro Su Teatro (Denver, CO). From 1984 – 2000, he was the Director of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Theatre Arts program, where he produced over 60 productions and two TENAZ International Chicano/Latino Theatre Festivals in 1988 and 1992.
In 1992, he created Grupo Animo, the teen resident theatre company of GCAC, where teens working with professional artists created their own productions that address the complex issues that youth face. Mr. Piña has served as a grant panelist for the City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs, Houston Arts Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts. Early in his career, he toured extensively throughout USA, Mexico and Cuba; from prisons and labor camps to Universities and International Theatre Festivals. From 2004 to 2009, Mr. Piña was the Artistic Director of Talento Bilingüe de Houston and was the founding member in 1977 when it was called Teatro Bilingüe de Houston (TBH). Currently, Mr. Piña has returned to the Guadalupe Cultural Arts as the Director of Programs.