Staff

Jessica Chrastil — Co-Director / Founder

Jessica is a mother, writer and cultural manager whose work explores possibilities of convergence and exchange between ideas, practices and experiences. Originally from Minneapolis, she has lived in Oaxaca since 2015 and founded Pocoapoco in 2016. Prior work includes Creative Director at an international nonprofit as well as 15 years of teaching, studying, producing and collaborating across the fields of art, design and creative education in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a BFA in Visual Arts & Design, an MFA from California College of the Arts and a four-year-old son.

Evelyn Méndez Maldonado — Co-Director / Founder of Casa Abierta

Evelyn is a dancer, performer, cultural manger and producer from Oaxaca City. She has traveled the path of interpretation, creation and collaboration in contemporary dance and performance since 2009. Without institutional training, Oaxaca -- a place that gives and receives -- has been her school. Her first management and curatorial project, Casa Abierta, is a program of performance focused residencies and festivals that she has been developing in Oaxaca since 2018 in collaboration with local, independent and institutional dance and theater spaces.  She started working with the organization in 2021.   

Fernanda de la Torre Ricaud — Program Manager

Fernanda is a curator and cultural manager.  Originally from Mexico City, she began her career in gastronomic research and later as an art director at Plato en Blanco, an editorial content production studio for gastronomic projects where she participated in the creation of various digital and printed publications. In 2016, she joined Mexico’s Department of Foreign Affairs, which led her to direct the visual and performing arts programs at the Mexican Cultural Institute New York. For three years she actively participated in the cultural agenda of the Consulate General by curating exhibitions and public programs aimed at the dissemination of Mexican art in the Tri-state area. She has been Pocoapoco’s exhibition director, translator, and program director since 2019.

Aurelia Arroyo Nieto — House Manager

Aurelia is a talented cocinera from the Sierra Norte de Puebla who has lived in Oaxaca for over 20 years. She is the mother of two sons and has been working with Pocoapoco from day one, where she runs the kitchen, meals and house.

Dafne Juliana Díaz de la Vega — Logistics & Administration Manager

Dafne is a cultural manager and social anthropologist by training. She was born In Mexico City where she worked in the production, promotion, research and commercialization of projects related to design, including the Archivo Diseño y Arquitectura y the Studio Orfeo Quagliata. In 2018, as part of CIESAS Pacifico Sur's Master's Program in Anthropology, she began her field studies focused on the revaluation of artisanal mezcal production in Oaxaca and the effects of its increasing commercialization in campesino communities. She has worked as an educator and host at Mezcaloteca and collaborates closely with Neta Spirits. She has managed Pocoapoco’s residency logistics and communications since 2021.