Constanza Carballo is a bilingual, bicultural Latina artist and nurse based in Minnesota. Her art practice began in 1991 and is deeply rooted in community engagement, storytelling, and the traditions of printmaking, mosaic, mural, and public art. She works to create spaces where art is not only seen but also experienced and shared collectively; sparking dialogue of healing and awareness about the social and environmental challenges we face together. The work uplifts voices and stories from communities that are often overlooked, while celebrating resilience, identity, and connection.
Constanza’s various community art projects have transformed public spaces into places of belonging, reflection, and empowerment. She is often co-creating with youth, elders, and multi-generational Latinx communities across Minnesota. From leading intergenerational art activities at the Monarch Festival and Dia de los Muertos events, to co-designing murals with over a thousand students in Minneapolis schools, she centers joy, accessibility, and cultural pride in every project.
Program Offerings
Workshops
Tracing Our Stories: Linocut Prints for Collective Voice
In this hands-on workshop, participants reflect on their personal and cultural identities, sketch a symbol that represents their experience or community, and carve a linoleum block to create a printed image. Inspired by Paulo Freire’s pedagogy, the session is grounded in storytelling, co-creation, and creative empowerment. (90 minutes – 2 hours)
Printmaking
Participants are invited to experience the art of linocut printmaking in a fun and hands-on setting. Using pre-carved linoleum blocks designed by the artist Constanza Carballo, attendees will learn the basic steps of the printmaking process from inking the block to transferring their own print to paper.
Guided by experienced artist Constanza, participants roll ink onto the pre-made linocuts using brayers, place their paper on top, and press it by hand with traditional tools called barens. Each person will reveal their own unique print to take home, creating a tangible connection to the artistic process.
This workshop is accessible to all ages and skill levels, and encourages creativity, curiosity, and cultural exchange through the timeless art of printmaking. The workshop is customized to the participant type.
Participants take their art work home, and can collage it, color it, frame it, or gifted to someone special.
Residencies
Collaborative Mural
Constanza brings her background as a Latina visual artist, educator, and community organizer to her community-based mural project. With more than three decades of experience creating large-scale public art, her practice blends vibrant color palettes and layered symbolism with a deep commitment to community engagement. From street intersections to public buildings, she transforms shared spaces into living stories of resilience, migration, and environmental care.
During a mural residency, Constanza approaches the project as a dialogue with place and people. She begins by meeting residents, listening to oral histories, and facilitating bilingual conversations and hands-on art sessions. These sessions: ranging from printmaking to collaborative design workshops, inform every stage of her murals, ensuring that imagery reflects the community’s identity and aspirations. She often integrates pollinators, native plants, and cultural motifs as metaphors for healing and interconnectedness.
Her technical process combines traditional mural painting with contemporary methods such as large-scale color-by-number techniques and digital mock-ups. This allows participants of all ages and abilities to take an active role in painting, while maintaining professional durability and artistic integrity.
Constanza’s murals are celebrated for their ability to foster belonging and create spaces where art, nature, and culture meet. Whether working in urban corridors, parks, or rural town centers, Constanza views each residency as an opportunity to spark dialogue, mentor youth, and leave behind a lasting, joyful visual legacy that honors both people and place.
Each mural project is customized and requires conversations to determine duration, medium, materials, and budget.
Teaching Artist Statement
As a bilingual and bicultural teaching artist, I use art as a vehicle for collective healing, reflection, and empowerment. Inspired by Paulo Freire’s liberatory pedagogy, my practice centers on co-creation, critical consciousness, and joyful resistance. I believe in meeting people where they are—in a park, a classroom, or a community center—and inviting them into an accessible, collaborative art process.
My workshops are hands-on and rooted in personal experience. I use methods like ‘tracing our stories’ in linocut printmaking, collaborative murals, and sculpture to help participants express their cultural identity, social concerns, or lived histories. Rather than teaching from a place of authority, I facilitate a mutual learning space where participants become artists and authors of their narratives. We reflect together, carve our truths, and transform public spaces with our voices.
I have led community projects with youth, elders, and marginalized populations, including unhoused residents and immigrant families. No matter the group, I adapt my methods to support inclusion, offering bilingual instruction, simplified tools, and collaborative options for every ability level. My goal is always to spark creativity rooted in dignity, culture, and connection—because when we see our stories reflected in art, we remember that our voices matter.
