Current Bio: VIA GOOGLE DOC
Short:
Sixto Wagan is the Project Director for the BIPOC Arts Network and Fund (BANF) a community-led collaborative fund and resource network guided by arts leaders, practitioners, and funders that has invested over $10M in Greater Houston’s BIPOC arts ecosystem in a two-year period. Previously, he founded the Center for Art and Social Engagement (CASE) in the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts at the University of Houston. At CASE, Wagan developed pilot programs, community partnerships, and research initiatives that centered creativity and community in impact conversations for 21st century cities. Over an 11-year span, he led DiverseWorks utilizing various titles including Co-Executive Director and Performing Arts Curator. Through his work as a producer, program designer, evaluator, and facilitator, he has been recognized for his advocacy of artists and culture bearers, utilization of community-participatory methodologies, and collaborations with artists whose works tackle prescient cultural, social and political issues.
Long:
Sixto Wagan is the Project Director for the BIPOC Arts Network and Fund (BANF) a community-led collaborative fund and a resource network guided by arts leaders, arts practitioners, and funders. Wagan leads the $12.6M initiative dedicated to building a stronger BIPOC arts ecosystem in Greater Houston by devising equity-focused and community-led processes and evaluation methodologies. Prior to BANF, he founded the Center for Art and Social Engagement (CASE) in the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts at the University of Houston. At CASE, Wagan developed pilot programs, community partnerships, and research initiatives that centered creativity and community in impact conversations for 21st century cities. He previously led DiverseWorks, serving as Artistic Director, Co-Executive Director and Performing Arts Curator. He has been recognized for his advocacy of artists and culture bearers, utilization of community-participatory methodologies, and collaborations with artists whose works tackle prescient cultural, social and political issues.
He is currently on the Board of MAP Fund. He has had the privilege to serve as a panelist for a variety of national and private foundations and as an adjudicator for federal, regional, and local granting agencies who provide funding for artists and arts organizations. He has been a speaker and moderator at national convenings around topics of equity, leadership development, transition planning, and community stewardship.
Wagan completed a Master’s Degree in Teaching with a focus on multi-disciplinary curriculum development. Artistically, Wagan has a degree in visual art, studying drawing and printmaking with Karin Broker and painting with Bas Poulos. He co-founded QuAC: The Queer Artist Collective in 1996, a performance collaborative of multi-gendered, multi-ethnic queers. They created 17 original full-length productions in 3 years, and queered non-traditional art spaces with creative actions and open-mics.
Wagan continues to expand his work as a strategic visioning and cultural equity facilitator and evaluator. Wagan completed Adaptive Leadership Facilitation training with EMC Arts and Anti-Racist Facilitator training with ArtEquity. He has facilitated retreats, focus groups, and visioning sessions for various organizations. In particularly, his work with Dance Source Houston and the School of Music Faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign facilitated leadership into community-participatory methodologies and built pathways for more equitable distribution of resources. Wagan is a consultant with DEI Arts Consulting and works independently on a project basis.