Ignite Rural: Where Are They Now? w/ Andrea V. Duarte-Alonso
Ignite Rural: Where Are They Now? is a storytelling series featuring alumni of the Ignite Rural Artist Residency, capturing a snapshot in time of what they’ve been up to since completing their residency.
Andrea Duarte-Alonso participated in the 2021 Ignite Rural Artist Residency program, which supported her project, Stories from Unheard Voices.
Andrea’s interview was conducted in Autumn 2025.
Andrea V. Duarte-Alonso, MN
Since her time as an Ignite Rural Artist with Department of Public Transformation, Andrea’s path has unfolded as a spiral. A path that continues to return her to community, storytelling, and the rural place that shaped her. When her Ignite Rural cohort ended in 2022, Andrea was preparing for law school, believing that her advocacy might take shape through legal frameworks. Once she began that journey, she shared that she felt something was missing in her life. The residency had “pinched at her heart,” she said, and while she searched for her next steps and community in law school, she found herself looking back on storytelling, on people, on the kind of work that she felt was at the root of what was missing.
This reflection led Andrea back to rural Minnesota and back to teaching at the Worthington Area Learning Center. Andrea had always known education was where her passions are and where she can make an impact. She reminds herself of this with the relationships built with her students, many of them first- or second-generation immigrants. She recently completed her master’s degree in teaching and continues to work closely with high school students, an experience she describes as a joy. Helping students feel proud of who they are and where they come from has become central to her creative practice.
Alongside teaching, Andrea has continued to expand her oral history work. She has been engaging dozens of community members across generations, from youth to elders. Through her storytelling practice, Andrea has reached an estimated 75 people through interviews, community conversations, and translation projects. She has a commitment to making stories accessible. Andrea has received support from partners like the University of Minnesota Extension’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, National Folklife Network, Springboard for the Art’s Rural Regenerator Fellowship, and others, helping her sustain this work and deepen its impact.
As a storyteller and writer, Andrea shares that she feels her voice is evolving. She says her writing “once stemmed primarily from love and infatuation, but it has grown more critical.” Andrea is now more willing to name the systems people are forced to navigate. She is learning to release fear about how her thinking and writing may be received, allowing her work to be bolder and more honest. Participation in the Periplus Collective and mentorship through the Minnesota Writing Project strengthened her confidence and affirmed her desire to pursue an MFA.
When asked about her leadership, Andrea says “it looks like connection.” She emphasizes this by talking about the ways she remains in relationship with fellow Ignite Rural cohort members or, at the very least, cheerleading them on from where she is. When she’s able, Andrea is supporting fellow Ignite Rural artists at local events, encouraging them to apply for programs, and showing up as a fan and advocating for their work. Andrea shares that being part of the Ignite Rural network has further expanded her understanding of care and what it means to nurture oneself while serving community.
At the heart of Andrea’s work is advice she offers freely: dream big and remember you can dream right where you are. She challenges the narrative that small towns limit possibility, insisting instead that rural places are full of creative imagination and care for neighbors, and that they deserve better. “This is our home. We have to take care of it and each other.” she says.
What’s next for Andrea? She names all hats she wears: the educator, the writer, the oral historian, and the partner. She’s curious about how they might braid together. Whether through community interviews, public exhibitions, classrooms, or quiet conversations right at home in Worthington, she remains committed to storytelling as a practice of building belonging. For Andrea, the future doesn’t have to be loud or take place in a big city for it to be meaningful. It just has to be rooted in connection and shared with her community.
Andrea Valeria Duarte-Alonso is a multidisciplinary cultural worker, educator, and writer based in rural Minnesota. Rooted in her experience as a first-generation Mexican American, her work centers the stories and collective power of immigrant and BIPOC communities, especially those at the geographic and narrative margins. Through oral history, liberatory education, and creative writing, Andrea builds platforms for intergenerational memory, healing justice, and cultural organizing.
Follow Andrea on Instagram at @andreavduarte_a and @unheardvoicesmn, to work with her or learn more about her work.
Many thanks to the Ignite Rural Program Director, Holly Doll, Anpao Win (First Light Woman), for conducting and organizing the Where Are They Now? Series.