Program Services Consultant

Lori Herrera is a Mixed Brown Artist, Mother, Daughter, Grandmother, Culture Bearer, Event Producer, Arts Administrator, and Consultant for the People. With over two decades of unwavering commitment to uplifting and empowering Vallejo's creative community, Lori has dedicated her life’s work to supporting the growth and development of independent artists, creatives, small businesses, and grassroots organizations, helping them scale and sustain their creative, entrepreneurial, and social endeavors.

As an artist & organizer deeply rooted in Vallejo, Lori's lens is informed by her experiences growing up in diverse neighborhoods affected by violence, police terror, racism, and poverty, where art has served as a powerful tool for healing and coping with these harsh realities, while also offering a means to support families and meet basic needs. Lori’s journey supporting artists began in the late 90s, as a freelance promoter and event producer. Recognizing the gatekeeping and gap in support for BIPOC artists, in 2006 she founded MTH Productions, a full-service marketing, management, and production company. For over a decade, MTH Productions created opportunities for independent artists and creative entrepreneurs, taking acts on the road across the country and overseas, and promoting artists historically gate kept from Vallejo venues and opportunities.

In 2015, Lori transformed her successful production company into MixedKollective, an artist-owned cooperative & collective working at the intersections of art, culture, and community. This shift was driven by her deep study of and commitment to solidarity economy principles, aiming to model equity, shared ownership and non-extractive frameworks for Artists in Vallejo. MixedKollective has created safe spaces for artists to live, work, and thrive, and continues to advocate for the BIPOC artist community in Vallejo.

Lori's approach to this work is guided by the principles of cooperation, mutual support, and equitable distribution of resources. She brings a humble yet revolutionary spirit to her collaborations with artists, organizations, and community stakeholders, advocating for fair and meaningful compensation for artists as workers, and promoting cultural equity.

In addition to her practical experience, Lori's artistry spans mixed media, special effects, stage makeup, event production, storytelling and people gathering; she is a poet, writer, musician, actor, producer, street historian, and is also known and loved by many as Bubbles the Clown. She is a founding member of MixedKollective and a revolutionary writer and journalist for POOR Magazine. After spending many years focused on the growth and support of artists, and with the love and support of POOR Magazine and the VAF Next Level Artist grant, Lori was able to return to her artistic practice to publish her 1st book of poetry titled “Flowers to the Dead” in December 2023.

In quieter moments, Lori enjoys reading and writing revolutionary works, love letters, stewarding land, saving seeds, and studying ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. In more spirited times, you can find her producing live music concerts and community events, singing loudly and off-key, clowning around - literally, fighting for clean water, landback and our collective liberation, and spending time with her large familia/ohana in Karkin Ohlone lands, near the Village of Sogorea Te', also known as Vallejo in the SF Bay Area.