At terra cotta, we support individuals, projects, and organizations to achieve success on their own terms, while prioritizing their creative vision and long-term aspirations
Your Partner
Constanza Mendoza-Guerra
she/ella
"The house where I grew up in Caracas had terra cotta floor tiles, and I always felt grounded while walking on them. This sense of feeling grounded, safe, and cozy has informed terra cotta. This is my dearest project, where I merge my values, beliefs, and experiences as a mediator, facilitator, and shaper.
terra cotta means grounding oneself to pause, reflect, imagine, and co-shape possibilities for the future."
terra cotta means grounding oneself to pause, reflect, imagine, and co-shape possibilities for the future."
Constanza is a cultural organizer, facilitator, and mediator with over ten years of experience in strategy, community-engaged work, and interpretive planning.
Constanza founded terra cotta with the belief that socially engaged art can lead to civic action and social change.
Previously, she held leadership roles at the Arts & Business Council of Chicago, the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art Casa del Alabado, and the Art Institute of Chicago, where she led the foundational research for their first guidelines on inclusive writing.
Constanza has worked across multiple social issues including museum decolonization, inclusive education, and gender equity. She was selected to be a 2024-2025 fellow at the Intercultural Leadership Institute, a one-year leadership program made jointly by organizations rooted in Black, Indigenous, and Latinx cultures. She was also a guest speaker at the 2019 Museums Different Conference, where she participated in conversations on how museums and Native peoples can navigate collaborative projects through a critical and decolonized lens.
She has served on various grant panels at federal and state-level organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Association Latino Arts and Culture, and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
She holds a master’s degree in Arts Administration & Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Post-Bac Certification in Museum & Heritage Studies by UASB-Quito, and a bachelor’s degree in Art History from the Universite Paris-Sorbonne.
Through terra cotta, Constanza designs and facilitates culturally responsive, collaborative, and inclusive consulting offerings to socially engaged art projects and organizations. Her mission is to help them build stronger management, strategy, and impact foundations while uncovering opportunities for transformational conversations.
Consulting Approach & Statement
I see myself as a mediator and facilitator, someone who helps shape conditions alongside individuals, projects, and organizations to create deep systems change in the arts, culture, and social sectors.
I approach every project as shared work where partners invite me to their learning process as it unfolds. I honor this invitation by making space for generative conversations, insightful questions, and framing/reframing of challenges and possibilities.
I bring attention to what feels important to my partners + collaborators + the project and co-create actionable insights and alternatives with them. This approach is a result of my deliberate intentions to create caring spaces and pedagogical frameworks where learning, experimentation, play, feedback, and collaboration are constantly encouraged.