About Helena Rodriguez
Tampa, Fla.
Art & Design Departmental Award
Art History, and International Studies (Political Science concentration) major | Anthropology minor
“My Flagler experience was transformative, edifying, and interdisciplinary.”
Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) Intern & Gallery Assistant, Presidents Leadership Academy, Honors Program, Alpha Chi Honors Society, Pi Sigma Alpha National Honors Society, Flagler College Ambassador
Helena's History-Making Moments
(Rodriguez pictured above delivering Senior Speech at Commencement Ceremony.)
Describe your central passion(s) and how you hope to carry that into your post-grad plans:
My family says that I was born to be a writer. I find the easiest way to express myself is through my words. Words have power, and they carry weight, but as I’ve realized through my studies, so do visuals.
I believe studying different artistic mediums can actually strengthen one’s own craft. People find such dynamic and creative ways to express themselves, I’m constantly in awe of what I can learn about different forms of artistic expression. As I made my way through my two very different degrees, I began to see how intertwined art and politics really were.
Entering college during a major election, and just after the #BlackLivesMatter movement, I garnered an activist’s spirit, as well as a vested interest in how art can be utilized as political expression. Unknowingly, much of the work I produced throughout my collegiate career dealt with identity politics and matters of diversity and inclusion.
Representation, especially in educational spaces like the museum world, is something I take very seriously. I aspire to take what I’ve learned from my respective majors and minors to create a more equitable space in the museum world, as I continue my education in Museum Studies.
What (or who) helped inspire your passion in this area (or areas)?
There are very few times when a student gets the sense of “this is what I should be doing.”
At the culminating event of my honors capstone project, where I led an artist talk with photographer Lenny Foster on his exhibition “In the Spirit of Lincolnville” at CEAM, I was able to meet some of the folks I was writing about, and how my words reached them. I definitely felt that this internship solidified my desire to venture into the museum world, or at the very least, to continue writing about art.
Within the Art History department, I received an immense amount of guidance, support, and encouragement from both Dr. Chris Balaschak and CEAM Director Julie Dickover. Under their tutelage, and through the experiences they provided me with, I discovered my passion for curatorial practice.
What academic resources, experiences, or mentors proved most valuable throughout your Flagler experience?
There were a handful of faculty members at Flagler who served as mentors and were invaluable to my development as a student. When I look back, three women shaped my collegiate experience for the better.
Both Dr. Brenda Kauffman in International Studies and Dr. Lori Lee in Anthropology challenged me to ask questions, think critically, and READ. I was stretched out of my comfort zone in their classes, and both inspired me to look at the world through a lens of empathy.
Dr. Rachel Cremona saw something in me during my freshman year that I didn’t yet see in myself. Through her involvement in the Honors Program and the Political Science major, she pushed countless opportunities in my direction that allowed me to grow into the person I am today.
I can say with the utmost certainty that my Flagler experience would not have been the same if it weren’t for these brilliant women.
What is one piece of advice or lesson you learned about the college experience that you wish you could tell your freshman-year self?
If given the chance, I wish I could have told little me not to stress so much. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform, which often made the simplest of tasks feel like insurmountable challenges.
College is supposed to be hard, that’s why it’s such an accomplishment to complete it. Had I known how fast it was going to be over, I think I would have told myself to spend a little less time worrying and a little more time with my friends.
Tell us about what you’re up to next! Any cool experiences, professional positions, or unique opportunities you have lined up after graduation?
In the true spirit of international studies, I’m going to spend a month in Japan after graduation. Japan has been a locus of interest for me from a political, cultural, and artistic perspective for much of my collegiate career. As it has been one of my long-held dreams to visit there, I’m hoping the trip will provide me with some clarity on the post-grad plans I have in the works.
Featured Awards and Work:
Check out Helena’s self-published poetry chapbook, “Duality” available on Amazon.
Granted the Director’s Award for Outstanding Service by the Flagler College Honors Program (2021)
Presented research paper titled, “Art Under Authoritarianism” at the Florida Political Science Association’s March 2024 Conference at the University of Florida in Gainesville
Student curator for Lenny Foster’s “In the Spirit of Lincolnville” at CEAM October 30-December 2, 2023
Student collaborator on the Flagler College juried alumni exhibition “Calling Home: Directions to Reminiscence” at CEAM June 6-23, 2023
Student collaborator on the St. Augustine Historical Society’s exhibition: “In Our Glory: Black Joy in Jim Crow St. Augustine” January 30-March 6, 2023
Other published works:
- “Beauty, Love, Spirit: Lenny Foster and the Legacy of Lincolnville” and selected poems – CEAM, October 30, 2023
- “Corrective Narratives in Exhibits ‘I’m’ and ‘Cut to the Quick’” – Saints Academic Review, 2023-24
- “Decolonizing ‘Black Magic’” – The Flagler College Historical Review, 2024