Last year has been time one Albuquerque "CityMaker" spent introducing families in a city shelter to dance, according to a city news release.

Sarah Hogland-Gurulé, whose time as a CityMaker ended late last month, is best known for last summer's Make Music Day, a daylong celebration at the city shelter known as "Wellness-2 Hotel," according to a city news release. It was then that Hogland-Gurulé discovered opportunities to provide programming for youth that would allow them to entertain themselves in healthy, positive ways.

The Make Music Day event was the first event that provided a safe outdoor space for resident youth to engage with each other.

"As a CityMaker I knew I wanted to create a dance program and share it with youth who face barriers in accessing positive outlets for self-expression and empowerment," she said. "Since I had started to forge professional relationships with the folks at the Wellness Hotel, I pitched the idea to the staff and they were all very enthusiastic about the idea and reiterated that the kids there could really use something to do when they're not at school."

Hogland-Gurulé's 20-year background in dance led her to sharing dance with women and youth who are in jail, dance students and after-school programs.

"I really believe that every person holds a unique brilliance and dignity inside of them that deserves to be expressed, witnessed and celebrated," she said in the news release. "I've learned that my job is to hold strong space for people to feel brave and encouraged to do that. My medium happens to be dance because in the 20 years of doing it, it continues to be the main anchor in my life."

Albuquerque launched its CityMakers program early last year to help connect local artists with various city departments to get them to work together on developing new community programs.

"Arts, culture, and the creative economy are core pieces of Albuquerque's heritage and history - and at the center of that are the artists and creatives who live here," Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a Facebook post at the time. "CityMakers will boost opportunity for professional development in the creative sector and bring Albuquerque's unique creative streak to bear on public programs. "

Hogland-Gurulé soon introduced dance to the city's "Wellness Hotel," established during the still on-going COVID-19 pandemic as a place where the homeless population could go as a shelter from the coronavirus. She is teaching young people 5 to 18 at the Wellness Hotel the creative movement and dance skills she has honed over the years. She works alongside Raven Bright, who helps provide one-on-one attention to the students.

"I hope to continue to develop this program and share it with youth at the Wellness Hotel and perhaps other family shelters in Albuquerque and at low income schools," Hogland-Gurulé said. "Many of the students' families have asked me if I'm going to keep having dance class because their children love it, practice the moves at home, and want to keep getting better. I hope to be able to make that happen because these kids deserve joy, rigor, physical and mental stimulation, encouragement, self-expression, community, excellence, and empowerment just as much as anyone else does."

Hogland-Gurulé's time as a CityMaker ended with the new year, but the program will continue.

"Artists and creatives naturally bring innovative thinking to challenges and inspiration to overlooked opportunities," Dr. Shelle Sanchez, the city's director of Arts & Culture, said in the news release. She added, "We look forward to continuing the CityMakers initiative and are committed to working with the next group of creatives to develop projects that can serve our community."