S5:E6 We need earth energy... Shey 'Ri Acu' Rivera Ríos, Artist – Writer – Cultural Worker
Guest
Shey ‘Ri Acu’ Rivera Rios
In conversation with
Stephanie Fortunato
Our host, Stephanie Fortunato speaks with Shey 'Rí Acu' Rivera Ríos, Artist – Writer – Cultural Worker from Providence, Rhode Island, by way of Borikén. Together, they delve into Shey’s visionary, interdisciplinary work at the intersection of art, civic engagement, and cultural advocacy. At the heart of their conversation: storytelling, identity, community, and resilience.
Date of Recording
2 May 2025
Date of Publication
5 June 2025
[00:00:00]
Shey 'Ri Acu' Rivera Ríos: I think right now we do need young people to really think about what leadership means. How we create collaborative forms of leadership to share work together and to rise up to challenges and to still create space for tension and generative conflict in ways that are productive, and healthy, and meaningful.
[00:00:23]
THEME MUSIC
[00:00:28]
Stephanie Fortunato: Hello, and welcome to The Three Bells. This podcast is one of a series brought to you by AEA Consulting for the Global Cultural Districts Network in which we explore what's happening around the world on those busy, and sometimes congested intersections of cultural and urban life.
I'm your host, Stephanie Fortunato, Director of Special Projects for GCDN. And it is truly a privilege to introduce today's guest, Shey 'Ri Acu' Rivera Ríos. Shey is an interdisciplinary artist, arts administrator and cultural organiser from Providence, Rhode Island, by way of Borinquen, also known as Puerto Rico. Shey's practice is deeply personal while embedded in community.
They centre de-colonial imagination and queer Boricua futures to make work steeped in principles of co-creation. Their work is an expression of identity, place, and resilience, an evolving response to the polycrisis, that complex entanglements created by the U.S. political context, social unrest, colonial legacies, environmental degradation, and economic injustices. Issues which Shey skilfully addresses through their many roles, including that of artist, and also cultural strategist, producer, curator, facilitator, performer, cultural planner, and writer.
Shey creates immersive worlds of magic and liberation using storytelling across mediums. They have a background in the nonprofit sector, notably having previously served as the artistic co-director of AS220 for eight years, and currently serving as co-executive director of an environmental justice nonprofit. Shey is the founder of Studio Loba, a storytelling lab that designs and produces art and culture projects that support social change. They're a fierce advocate for artists and speak passionately and directly to power about the real cost to civil society of allowing artists to continue living in precarity.
[00:02:31]
Stephanie Fortunato: I admire their work in thinking so much, but I am really excited about this conversation because Shey and I know each other and have collaborated on projects over the years. I have witnessed up close their ways of being, and I admire their courage. In my mind, Shey demonstrates what civic and cultural leadership can and should look like in community, and what we need to nurture even more of today.
So dear Shey, welcome to The Three Bells!
[00:02:58]
Shey 'Ri Acu' Rivera Ríos: Wow. Thank you, Stephanie. It's such a pleasure to be here today with you, and thank you for this lovely introduction. I am so floored, and over the moon.
…
About our Guest
Shey ‘Rí Acu’ Rivera Ríos, Shey 'Rí Acu' Rivera Ríos (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural worker who uses storytelling across mediums to create immersive worlds of magic and liberation. Rivera was born and raised in Borikén/Puerto Rico and is based in Providence, RI - land of the Narragansett and Wampanoag peoples. +
