A filmmaker, Patricia Cunliffe, came away from the evening thrilled and inspired by their work.

"It was all different. Yet it was all done by Latino artists," Cunliffe said.

Cunliffe, whose creative life had included costume designing for films and music videos, acting in a soap opera, and painting, had toyed with the idea of filming a documentary when she found that many galleries were accepting video over other artwork.

Seeing the work of  Rudy Calderon, Cecilia Miguez, Eloy Torrez, Arturo Mallmann and Vibiana Aparicio-Chamberlin
crystalized her desire to reveal their creativity to the public in a documentary titled, "A Language of Passion."

"I feel like I am being followed around, but Patricia captured what I was doing. I stopped being aware of the camera," said Miguez, 44, a sculptor originally from Uruguay.

In Cunliffe's documentary, the artists are followed from the beginning of their process - collecting materials to the works completetion. The artists interviewed easily describe the challenges they face.

Stone carver Rudy Calderon, 42, has found, as a Latino artist, "People expect me to produce certain iconography -
religious symbols like virgins, cactus, landscapes of Latin America or political statements."

Instead, Calderon combines abstract and realistic images into salvaged architectural church elements. He feels that the religious ideas and prayers are already built into the piece so he carves other things into it.

Eloy Torrez, 45, uses a wallpapering-type of process to create his portraits of multiculturalsim that adorn city buildings, "I do feel pressure to be a role model, but it's an important thing to do, so I'm glad I'm doing it."

Cunliffe still needs funding and will be going to the Sundance Film Festival to observe other documentaries and keep her eyes and ears open for possible funding sources.