Making connections through art

AtravesARTE is a boutique, education based travel business committed to supporting the thriving contemporary art scene in Mexico City by cultivating relationships, creating moments of intersection for conversation, and cross-pollinating disciplines and interests. We foster creativity and illuminate stories to build authentic connections.

Atravesar: To Traverse, Pierce, Breakthrough to the other side

Our Story

AtravesArte was formed to fill a niche to bridge connections with the ever-evolving contemporary art community in Mexico City. Our experience comes from the 20 years that we have actively participated and contributed to the community and made Mexico City our home. Through our business we have committed to offering both unparalleled service and unique experiences for all.

Meet the Team

Leslie Moody Castro | Founder and Program Director

Leslie Moody Castro has lived and worked in Mexico City since 2004. She is an independent curator and writer whose practice is based on itinerancy and collaboration and has produced, organized, and collaborated on projects in Mexico and the United States for nearly two decades. She is committed to creating moments of exchange and dialogue within exhibitions, is a co-founder of Unlisted Projects Residency, Co-Lab Projects, and in 2022 served as inaugural curatorial fellow and curator in residence at New Mexico State University and Casa Otro Residency, respectively. She has been awarded two grants from the National Endowment of the Arts for her curatorial projects and a fellowship from the Department of State in Estonia for her research on borders. Moody Castro is currently guest editor of Glasstire Magazine, and has been selected as co-curator of the Aurora Biennial in Dallas slated for November 2024.

www.LeslieMoodyCastro.com / @lesliemoodycastro

Julia Clark | Project Consultant Extraordinaire — Julia Clark | AtravesArte Money Management

Julia Clark | AtravesArte Money Manager

Julia Clark is a Cultural Producer and Development Consultant, experienced in executing large-scale fundraisers, multi-day conferences, and mission-driven programming on a national and international scale. She works with organizations to amplify their mission through strategic planning, fundraising, event and cultural production, and programming. Her focus is on identifying creative and meaningful ways to engage community partners, audiences, and supporters with organizations and their missions. Previously, she was the Associate Director, Special Events at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and the Associate Manager of Global Partners and Events at the Guggenheim Museum. She is passionate about collaborations, culture, and community and has been involved with numerous grassroots initiatives including: co-founding Forward Union, a coalition-building initiative connecting social justice organizations, artists and creative communities; mentoring with the Lower Eastside Girls Club, helping girls learn how to empower themselves to be ethical leaders; and serving as a Executive Board Member of Flux Factory, a collective and artist-run residency in Queens, NY, and Executive Committee Member of Austin Museum Partnership.

www.juliaclark.me / @Julia_Clark

Paty Siller | Production and Logistics Leader

Paty Siller is a curator and arts professional with years of experience within the fine and contemporary art world, specializing in artistic project management and production, including curating and event organization. Siller has been the producer for the Material Art Fair, and co-founder of the collaborative Janet 40 curatorial collective. Paty is currently a Media Arts professor at CENTRO University. She has lived and worked in Mexico City for ten years and believes in collaboration and support.

Paty@AtravesArte.com / @paty_siller

Michael Snyder | Writer, Journalist, AtravesArte Expert on Eating

Michael Snyder moved to Mexico City in 2016 to write about food, architecture and design in Latin America, subjects that he'd been covering for the previous five years as a freelance reporter based in Mumbai, India. A Contributing Editor at T: The New York Times Style Magazine since 2020, Michael's work—published in a range of media that includes The Los Angeles Times, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, The Believer and, once upon a time, Lucky Peach—has been supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and recognized by the James Beard Media Awards, the International Association of Cooking Professionals and the Lowell Thomas Travel Writing Competition. More than fashionable restaurants or the flashy designs of global starchitects, Michael is interested in the ways that creative industries intersect with the histories, economies and cultures of the places he covers—art not as a product, but as a text.