THIS is Magic Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, a FIRECRACKER born to Puerto Rican immigrant parents near the Bronx River Projects and Yankee Stadium. Growing up she was known as a bookworm outsider, "artsy," "the new wave chick," "wanna-be white," and "from the 'hood" until graduating from the arts-target high school that the show FAME was based on. That intersectionality grew to be reflected in the concepts she works with in her artwork, shown all over the world. With her drawing skills, she had early success in NYC showing at some of the top galleries with her graphic mural drawings and performance installation pieces. Most recently she performed at the National Portrait Gallery. Wanda left NYC for a calling to teach young minds as she was offered professorship opportunity in Florida. She’s on the tenured track at Central Florida University as Associate Professor, which many artists aspire to, but never succeed. 

This Artist in Residence was one of the first characters I met on my arrival at the farm in March of 2020, just as lockdown began. Wanda did such a superb follow up on social media after leaving the farm, I decided to interview her again to talk about all the crazy shit we've seen in the period of a year, plus how our experiences living at the farm have affected us. We had a BALL together during these interviews!

CREDITS | Producer - Caitlin Pierce | Editor - Ben Montoya | Train Town Band Members: Seth Armstrong - Song Writer, Vocals, Guitar | Jerry McNulty - Steel Guitar | Dru Bengsston - Bass | Music Producer - David Beck | SPECIAL THANKS: 2020 Audio Podcast Fellows at Stony Brook University-Manhattan​ [PodcastFellows.com]

INFO AT TRIPPINGWITHTRIPP.COM.