Steeping in Stories: A Campfire Chat Over Tea on Healing Access

Nicoletta Daríta de la Brown (she/they)

Interdisciplinary Artist • Curandera Chamána • Wellness Educator

Nicoletta Daríta de la Brown is an art school nerd who survived—and turned survival into a sacred practice. A Baltimore-born, NYC-raised, Panamanian-American artist and healing practitioner, Nicoletta weaves her ancestral knowledge, personal story, and creative brilliance into immersive experiences that bridge art and wellness.

Her journey began as a little girl spinning in fancy dresses, dancing between worlds—one that hurt, and one that saved her. At Baltimore School for the Arts, she found refuge and recognition. Art became her first language, her liberation, and her lifeline. Today, as Artist-in-Residence at that very institution, she continues to pass the torch of healing and creative freedom.

Nicoletta is the granddaughter of a curandera—the kindest woman on earth—whose kitchen taught her that healing starts with the hands, the heart, and presence. Those early memories guide her practice as a Curandera Chamána, using plant medicine, movement, and ritual to tend to the nervous system and honor ancestral knowledge. She now shares that wisdom with communities through workshops, performances, and public art rooted in cultural storytelling and collective care.

She is a mother of four, a service-dog mom (to the beloved @notbodegacat), and a woman who believes that healing is a daily ritual. Her work reimagines the artist’s life as one of abundance—where art is not just made, but lived.

Her performances and installations have been presented at The Phillips Collection, The Hirshhorn Museum, The Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building, Walters Art Museum, and The Tribeca Film Festival. She is the 2025 Artist-in-Residence at Baltimore School for the Arts, the 2025 Vermont Studio Center Marshall Frankel Fellow, a 2024 MacDowell Fellow, and the 2022–2024 TABB Center Public Humanities Fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

Nicoletta’s work is held in collections including The National Aquarium and The Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University. She is a former sculpture professor at Towson University and former MFA faculty at Maryland Institute College of Art.

Panameña who speaks English—but loves in Spanish. Into magic, movement, and making art with a tiny dog always by her side.

Victor Rei – Storytelling Architect

Dream weaver, visionary, and architect of possibility, Victor Rei is the lead daydreamer shaping the blueprints of what’s next. With a gift for seeing the future before it arrives, they transform big ideas into compelling narratives that guide creative journeys. For Victor, every bold vision begins with a story—and they ensure it’s one worth remembering.

Victor Rei (b. 2004, Fairfax, VA; lives and works in Baltimore, MD) is a cross-disciplinary artist, experimental filmmaker, and animator. Their work is rooted in honoring the spiritual, the intimate, and the everyday. Through a studio practice grounded in play, exploration, and improvisation, they document and immortalize people, places, and ideas—abstracting tradition to reimagine what life can look like. Their visual language often evokes memory, wonder, and moments of quiet reflection.

Wednesday, June 18th

Breakout Session 6: 3 – 4 PM

Room: CPA 105 BDF