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Yura Sapi

A non-profit entrepreneur, passionate about global healing justice through the arts and creative activism.



Yura hosts and produces the Building Our Own Tables Podcast on HowlRound which supports you on our journey towards collective liberation.

Viviana Vargas, "Yura Sapi" (they) is a being of Earth, a multi-disciplinary artist, creative activist, arts manager, educator, facilitator, nonprofit entrepreneur, and energy worker at the intersections of the arts, healing and social justice. Yura is honored to build racial, social and climate justice worldwide with U.S. nonprofit LiberArte Inc. serving as its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. Under LiberArte's scope of programming, Yura creates liberated spaces that uplift, heal, and transform with Advancing Arts Forward, farms with AfroIndigenous food sovereignty program Protectores de la Tierra, and curates Balistikal, an LGBITQ+ healing and arts event space centering individuals and causes across Latin America. Yura hosts and produces the Building Our Own Tables weekly podcast on HowlRound which spotlights BIPOC artists and creative activists who create autonomous programs and organizations. Yura offers racial, gender and disability DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) consulting as part of the Melanin Collective, hosts and consults for in person and online workshops, university classes, gatherings, discussions, and resource sharings across the country and worldwide.

Yura extends beyond borders and prioritizes anti-racism and decolonization for our globally just futures.

Yura is of Indigenous Kichwa descent and holds Ecuadorian and Colombian citizenship with a lifelong connection to their birthplace on Manahatta island, Lenapehoking. They studied theatre arts at Boston University giving them tools of embodiment and healing practices applied to art making. They then studied arts management at CUNY Brooklyn College to find their place as an independent creator and producer. They trained with artEquity to be a racial and social justice facilitator and with the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in their Innovative Cultural Advocacy fellowship as a cultural equity emerging leader. They are always learning and hold immense gratitude for healing practitioners, artists, activists, fundraisers, farmers, ancestors, and guides who help them on their path.

Connect more with Yura on Instagram, LinkedIn or yurasapi.com.

ep. 6 Pooja Prema: The Ritual Theatre & Rites of Passage
Pooja Prema and The Ritual Theatre and The Rites of Passage Project
Podcast

Pooja Prema and The Ritual Theatre and The Rites of Passage Project

Building Our Own Tables Episode #6

3 February 2021

In this episode of Building Our Own Tables, podcast host Yura Sapi talks with Pooja Prema of The Ritual Theatre and The Rites of Passage Project.

episode five claudia alick calling up justice
Claudia Alick and Calling Up Justice
Podcast

Claudia Alick and Calling Up Justice

Building Our Own Tables Episode #5

27 January 2021

During this episode of Building Our Own Tables, podcast host Yura Sapi talks with Claudia Alick, founding executive producer of the transmedia social justice company Calling Up Justice.

Nydia Simone and Blactina
Podcast

Nydia Simone and Blactina

Building Our Own Table Episode #4

20 January 2021

In this episode of Building Our Own Tables Podcast, host Viviana Vargas discusses amplifying Afrolatinx and Caribbean stories with an emphasis on women through media and entertainment with Blactina founder Nydia Simone.

Jonathan Castanien and The Sống Collective
Podcast

Jonathan Castanien and The Sống Collective

Building Our Own Tables Episode #3

23 December 2020

In the third episode of Build Our Own Tables podcast, host Viviana Vargas interviews Jonathan Castanien co-founder and co-producing artistic leader of The Sống Collective, which uplifts work that pushes against preconceptions of Asian Americans and reclaims the Vietnamese American narrative. Your donation to Advancing Arts Forward supports liberated spaces that uplift, heal and encourage us to change the world.

Lauren E. Turner and No Dream Deferred
Podcast

Lauren E. Turner and No Dream Deferred

Building Our Own Tables Episode #2

16 December 2020

In the second episode of Build Our Own Tables podcast, host Viviana Vargas interviews Lauren E. Turner of No Dream Deferred, a community anchored theatre production company in New Orleans, Louisiana. Your donation to Advancing Arts Forward supports liberated spaces that uplift, heal and encourage us to change the world.

Petrona Xemi Tapepechul and the Angel Rose Artist Collective
Podcast

Petrona Xemi Tapepechul and the Angel Rose Artist Collective

Building Our Own Tables Episode #1

9 December 2020

The Angel Rose Artist Collective is a multilingual Two-Spirit, Native American Transgender, Intersex, Asexual, Queer+ led collective of artists, healers, educators, and advocates that uplifts Two-Spirit Nation and BIPOC Communities through art & land justice. Your donation to Advancing Arts Forward supports liberated spaces that uplift, heal and encourage us to change the world.

un escaparate colorido
Moving an LGBTIQ+ Arts and Healing Space in Bogotá Online During the Pandemic/Trasladando a la virtualidad un espacio de artes y sanación LGBTIQ+ en Bogotá durante la pandemia
Essay

Moving an LGBTIQ+ Arts and Healing Space in Bogotá Online During the Pandemic/Trasladando a la virtualidad un espacio de artes y sanación LGBTIQ+ en Bogotá durante la pandemia

4 December 2020

Viviana Vargas shares what it’s been like transitioning their Bogotá-based arts, culture, and healing storefront, Balistikal, into an online space during the pandemic./Viviana Vargas comparte cómo ha sido la transición de su espacio físico en Bogotá, de arte, cultura y sanación, llamado Balistikal, a un espacio en línea durante la pandemia.

How We Grew a Student-Centered Anti-Racist Movement at Our Institution of Learning
Essay

How We Grew a Student-Centered Anti-Racist Movement at Our Institution of Learning

10 September 2020

Tatiana Gil, Micah Rosegrant, Viviana Vargas, and Ciera-Sadé Wade—members of the Boston University School of Theatre Anti-Racist Student Initiative (BU SARSI)—speak to how, after a public outpouring of testimonials from former and current students of BU’s School of Theatre—detailing racism, sexism, ableism, and more—they rallied together to innovate ways of addressing the white supremacy within the school.

The Future of Crowdfunding for Theatre Artists of Color
Video

The Future of Crowdfunding for Theatre Artists of Color

An online conference hosted by Advancing Arts Forward

Friday 1 March 2019
Video Conference
The West Side Story Appropriation We Never Really Talk About
Essay

The West Side Story Appropriation We Never Really Talk About

25 August 2017

Viviana Vargas compares West Side Story and La Carreta by looking at the history of Puerto Ricans migrating to New York to better understand an example of cultural appropriation in the arts, its effects, its telltale signs, and some lessons for the future.

Building Our Own Tables
A promotional graphic for Building Our Own Tables.
Series

Building Our Own Tables

A sonic journey of liberation: weaving together stories, music, and wisdom from global majority voices, as we build tables of justice, healing, and love for our collective future.