Black Women Rock! An Interview with Tasia Valencia

In autumn 2021 we received a grant from the Province of British Columbia to launch our Youth IBPOC/2SLGBTQ+ Mentorship program. We selected three Coquitlam youth and worked with them two days a week to teach them about exhibit research and design. Fondly referred to as “interns” by the staff, they were paid for their time and were offered a position as a casual employee at the end of the program. Each intern had a chance to design an exhibit around a topic that was important to them, to be on display for a month at Coquitlam Public Library Poirier branch.

February’s exhibit is presented by Tasia Valencia. We asked her a few questions about why she did the program and what she learned.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Tasia Valencia and I’m 17 years old. Some of my hobbies include hiking and collecting dolls. I love to learn, which is part of the reason why I was interested in this program.

Why did you apply for the mentorship program?

I saw a paper for the mentorship program at my school on the opportunities board. After school, I decided to look it up and learn about the program. I was interested because the overall theme for our exhibits would be “Heritage,” and I thought that this would be an amazing opportunity for me to learn more about local heritage, as sometimes I felt disconnected from the subject.

What is your exhibit about and why did you choose this topic?

My exhibit juxtaposes local Black women from the past and present from different careers and backgrounds. Considering February is Black history month, I thought that it would be nice to celebrate some of the accomplishments of our local black women and learn about some of the first black women to achieve great things here in BC.

What did you learn about working in a museum?

Although with the program I focused solely on exhibit designing, I got to learn about all the different departments behind an exhibit, and how they all work together. Collections, designers, event coordinators, registrars and a others play a big role in a museum. In my work, I learned a lot about how to research in archival websites and the overall process of putting together an exhibit for the public.

What do you hope people take away from your exhibit?

I hope people can learn something from my exhibit. BC’s history is rich, and we don’t often hear much about what has happened right here, even in school. And if we do, it is usually about the hardships and discrimination of various groups. My exhibit is meant to bring light to these Strong black women who achieved great things regardless of being the minority. There is also much to learn from the Black women of today, and their success in various paths. I hope that everyone who sees my exhibit enjoys it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Black Women Rock! is on display at Coquitlam Library Poirier until February 28.