bio

Carolina Rubio-MacWright is an artist, immigration lawyer and activist fighting for immigrant and humanitarian rights. She was born in Bogota, Colombia where she lived until, at the age of 20, she needed a safer place to call home. She attended art school and law school in the United States, and throughout was active in her local immigrant community. She has worked as an immigration attorney in Miami, Oklahoma and New York City. Her experience as an attorney opened her eyes to inequities in our laws and racial power struggles, and how the two intersect. She believes that art is often the most powerful way of explaining these legal inequities. She has thus mixed her law and art experiences into performances, installations and workshops that serve a dual purpose - empowering vulnerable communities and educating more powerful ones. Whether working on policy campaigns for non-profits, performing public art pieces, speaking at events or organizing her community, she is guided by a simple principle: anything is possible when inspiring ideas and passionate people come together.

Carolina has been developing workshops that mix legal rights empowerment and hands-on experimental arts mediums, such as clay and cooking. These workshops have now developed into a platform for mixing unlikely communities together, the name is Touching Land. Through this artistic practice, the participants share a storytelling platform, bringing our humanity to the forefront as common traits and experiences are highlighted. This, in turn, enables participants to re-sculpt their political, social, and cultural barriers.

Carolina lives in NJ and works in Brooklyn, New York.