Creative languages transform barriers into opportunities. Colombian-born artist Alfonso Pérez Acosta has spent the last five years pursuing this lesson in his work with school-aged English language learners in Richmond, Virginia. Alfonso encourages you to acknowledge and overcome barriers of all kinds by using creative languages as an alternate method of expression. Alfonso Pérez Acosta moved to Richmond in 2014. He is a visual artist from Colombia whose disciplines range from installation to photography. After moving to Richmond, he began to focus on drawing portraits. As an assistant at Sacred Heart Center, he works to support high school English language learners with academics and mental health. In his time there, he founded Casa Lápiz, an arts program with middle schoolers. Recent work includes a street art collaboration in which teenagers conceived, then painted a traffic-calming mandala in the intersection at Bainbridge and 12th streets. Alfonso’s most recent program was Migration Flow, a concept conceived to celebrate National Immigrants Day. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at
Creative languages transform barriers into opportunities. Colombian-born artist Alfonso Pérez Acosta has spent the last five years pursuing this lesson in his work with school-aged English language learners in Richmond, Virginia. Alfonso encourages you to acknowledge and overcome barriers of all kinds by using creative languages as an alternate method of expression. Alfonso Pérez Acosta moved to Richmond in 2014. He is a visual artist from Colombia whose disciplines range from installation to photography. After moving to Richmond, he began to focus on drawing portraits. As an assistant at Sacred Heart Center, he works to support high school English language learners with academics and mental health. In his time there, he founded Casa Lápiz, an arts program with middle schoolers. Recent work includes a street art collaboration in which teenagers conceived, then painted a traffic-calming mandala in the intersection at Bainbridge and 12th streets. Alfonso’s most recent program was Migration Flow, a concept conceived to celebrate National Immigrants Day. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at
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