ZORAIDA LOPEZ-DIAGO, GLYNWOOD CENTER FOR REGIONAL FOOD AND FARMING

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.), a flowering perennial native to North America, has a long history of medicinal and practical use. Its name derives from the Latin solidare, meaning “to make whole,” reflecting its traditional role in herbal medicine. During the American Revolution, goldenrod was among the native plants used to brew “liberty teas” in protest of British tea imports. In natural dyeing, its late summer flowers are simmered in a heated aqueous bath to produce vibrant yellows and rich golden hues, while iron modifiers yield muted olive, moss, and earthy gray green tones. Abundant throughout the Hudson Valley’s meadows and roadsides, goldenrod remains a readily available seasonal dye source, connecting contemporary textile practices with the region’s landscape.

Zoraida wears the Colorant Tempo and Symphony Dress in Indigo

 

Tell us a little bit about your childhood and upbringing that may have influenced and brought you into the work that you do now.

I grew up as the daughter of immigrants who came to the US from Panama. My grandmother came when I was a little girl and helped raise my brother and me, and she instilled in us the importance of education and a strong work ethic. She worked hard to ensure the women in our family could always take care of themselves, and that lesson has stayed with me throughout my life.

My mother deeply shaped the way I see the world. She worked for the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, where she focused on ensuring that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protected departmental employees and that people with disabilities had equal access to Connecticut’s state parks and forests. She also led the department’s Affirmative Action program. So conversations about access, rights, and equity were literally kitchen-table conversations in our home. I grew up understanding that systems should work for everyone, not just the rich, and and that each of us has a role to play in making that a reality.

Those lessons have stayed with me and shape how I approach my work...my life really. They are a big part of why I feel so connected to Glynwood’s mission and so proud to be the Vice President of Development at Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming. At its core, my work is about helping to shape where I live so that  everyone in my community has access to good, healthy food, regardless of income or circumstance. For me, that connection between equity, access, and the systems that shape our everyday lives goes all the way back to the kitchen table where I grew up.

How has your perspective on agriculture changed since joining Glynwood, and what has surprised you most along the way?

Since I joined Glynwood, I’ve come to understand that there are a myriad of forces, financial, political, environmental, and social, farmers have to navigate just to grow food and keep their farms afloat.

That became so real in early 2025, when farmers across the Hudson Valley had federal grants  that were already been awarded, frozen or canceled. I had always believed that when the government made a commitment, especially one as concrete as a having it in writing, people should be able to plan their lives around it.

I thought about this in a very personal way. I remember when I was 20, I went to the bank and cashed the savings bonds I had received over the years- from birthdays, my First Communion, my Quinceaño, to help squirrel away some money for a semester abroad. At the time, it was just a few hundred dollars. But I remember what it meant to know that money was waiting for me when I needed it. I couldn’t imagine being promised tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars and then suddenly having that commitment disappear.

Seeing that happen to farmers honestly made my blood boil. These weren’t abstract numbers, they were farmers and friends who had purchased equipment, hired people, and planned their livelihoods around funding they had been promised.

What surprised me most was how people can come together in a moment of crisis. Under the leadership of our rock star President and CEO, Kathleen Finlay, Glynwood mobilized what we named  the "Hudson Valley Farm Relief Fund" and, with the support of our community, raised more than $1 million to distribute to 44 farms across the region.

I was incredibly proud to be part of that effort. It changed how I see farmers and the risks they carry everyday. And it  reinforced something I deeply believe: resilient systems depend on resilient communities.

Your career has spanned both the art world and sustainable agriculture. What lessons from curating exhibitions have carried over into the way you think about cultivating relationships, telling stories, and creating meaningful experiences at Glynwood?

I’ve always believed that the world is intersectional, our identities, histories, communities, and relationship to each other and the land are deeply connected. That belief has shaped both my artistic practice and the way I approach my work at Glynwood. And because of how I was raised, I deeply believe that collaboration is a feminist practice. To me, collaboration is about sharing power and thinking about what exactly power is, creating space for everyone's voices, and recognizing that the strongest work often emerges when we build something together.

My curatorial practice focuses on making space for women and girls, especially Black women and girls, to be seen and represented in their full selves. At Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York, where I was the 2024 Guest Curatorial Initiative recipient, I curated Home/Land, an exhibition exploring belonging, displacement, family, migration, and our relationship to the natural world. I also co-curated Picturing Black Girlhood: Black Utopia with artist, curator, activist, and founder of A Long Walk Home Scheherazade Tillet, a dear friend and someone I deeply admire. The exhibition centered Black girls and gender-expansive youth as artists, subjects, and agents of their own lives, while exploring freedom, joy, healing, and their relationship to the outdoors.

Those experiences deepened my practice to think critically about whose voices are centered, whose stories are missing, and how we create space for people to tell their own stories. I bring that same approach to Glynwood. Whether I’m working with a donor, a colleague, a farmer, or a community partner, I’m interested in building relationships rooted in trust and honesty, and in creating opportunities for people to come together around a shared purpose.

Ultimately, I see both art and food as powerful ways to connect people. They can make complex issues personal, challenge our assumptions, and help us imagine, and build, a more equitable future together.

Food is deeply tied to culture and memory. Is there a meal, ingredient, or farming tradition that has shaped the way you think about your work?

Well, my husband is an amazing cook! I love him and our two little boys with all my heart, and some of my favorite memories are of the four of us in the kitchen or outside by our grill, together.

A few years ago, my husband and I started hosting monthly cookouts for our friends. What started pretty small has grown into something that's really special to us. We bring our friends together, our friends become friends with each other, the kids run around the yard and play, and everyone leaves feeling a little more connected. We even had two moms-to-be meet one another this summer, become friends, and give birth to little girls just days apart! Truly, there’s nothing better.

My husband makes a mean paella, and it's usually filled with vegetables from our backyard garden or from Glynwood’s CSA or Farm Store. He's made it so many times that our boys have become paella connoisseurs, they know a good one from a bad one! Both my husband and I have family and connection to Barcelona so paella is near and dear to both of us. And watching my babies grow up around the table, eating food we’ve grown or gotten from Glynwood where they know the farmers, surrounded by people we love, that feels really meaningful and special to me.

What are some upcoming projects you are excited about? 

The first is a book I’m co-editing with the amazing Salamishah Tillet and Scheherazade Tillet, Picturing Black Girlhood, which will be published by Aperture in spring 2027. The book centers the work and perspectives of multi-generational Black women, girls, and gender-expansive artists working in photography and film. This project is very personal to me, and I’m thrilled to be part of such a brilliant team bringing it to life.

I’m also excited about the next chapter of Conservationists of Color, a national organization I co-founded to build community and professional pathways for people from the Global Majority working in the protection of land, natural resources, wildlife, and the environment. We currently have groups in the Bay Area, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York, and I’m excited to see where we can take it next alongside my wonderful co-leaders, Alanna Smith and Zakiya Leggett.

And at Glynwood,  I feel incredibly lucky to be working with such a thoughtful, creative team, Kathleen, Claire, Jenn, and Suzy, and we’re looking ahead to continuing to deepen our relationships, widen the tent, and build community both near and far.

@zoraida365