GUADALUPE MARAVILLA: CONSEJOS DE LAS ESTRELLAS
December 17, 2026–February 7, 2027
Synod Hall at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Presented in collaboration with The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center
Creative Time presents Consejos de las Estrellas, a new public art commission by Guadalupe Maravilla, presented in collaboration with The Clemente. Consejos de las Estrellas will welcome visitors into Synod Hall on the campus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, located in Morningside Heights in Upper Manhattan.
Designed as a sanctuary space for respite, renewal and healing, Maravilla’s expansive sculptural installation will transform the historic, Gothic-style assembly hall with nearly 100 new sculptures and woven textile pieces anchored by a metamorphosis of the artist’s school bus Mariposa Relámpago and a resonant soundscape of gongs and a newly engineered vibrating floor, which will be activated by Maravilla’s weekly sound baths.
Maravilla understands his journey as an unaccompanied minor fleeing the Salvadoran Civil War and his later cancer diagnosis as intimately connected traumas, which deeply inform his ongoing exploration of the holistic relationship between the body, memory and the potential for healing.
Recognizing that healing is a multi-dimensional and non-linear experience that manifests differently for each person, Maravilla instead offers tools, assembling a constellation of practitioners to lead a range of offerings; including sound baths, meditations and performances.
Extending this ethos of collective care and support, the project places mutual aid at its center. Consejos de las Estrellas will also be a hub for food, clothing, and toy drives in collaboration with local community organizations and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Aware that guidance can be found within a multitude of sources, Maravilla sees his practice as an ongoing dialogue with his community, spiritual guides, and ancestors. Aligned with the poetics of the project title, Maravilla invites visitors to listen to the counsel of the stars.
PROGRAMMING
Consejos de Las Estrellas will be free and open to the public. The full schedule of programming and registration details will be announced in November.
Leading up to the commission, join us for Toward Sanctuary our series of programs exploring the cultivation of sanctuary as a living history and ongoing aspiration inspired by Guadalupe Maravilla’s artistic practice and upcoming Creative Time public art commission.
Events will take place at CTHQ and across the city, including an urban farm and The Clemente.
SUPPORTERS
Commissioned by Creative Time, Consejos de las Estrellas is presented in collaboration with The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center.
Project support for Consejos de las Estrellas is provided by The Hearthland Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and Trellis Art Fund, as well as the Lilly Endowment Inc. via The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center.
Special thanks to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for their partnership, as well as to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center for their coordination and collaboration.
Image credit: Portrait of the artist for Guadalupe Maravilla: Mariposa Relámpago. Artwork commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Installation view, Guadalupe Maravilla: Mariposa Relámpago, The Contemporary Austin–Laguna Gloria, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and P·P·O·W, New York. Image courtesy The Contemporary Austin. Photo by Alex Boeschenstein.