What We Do:

Manos Sagrados is located in the center of the Aurora Cultural Arts District (ACAD), an independently owned events space, providing a ~100 capacity space for concerts, poetry, jams, drag, and more. In daylight hours, we offer movement classes such as yoga, dance, and meditation. Manos also provides affordable art studio spaces to create, experiment, and dive into the artistic process with studio spaces available 24 hours per day, so artists can work on their own schedule, in solitude or in community. Additionally, Manos is building a small recording studio space for musicians, podcasters, and eventually, internet radio.

With experience booking artists for partner agencies, Manos Sagrados is also able to provide both nonprofit and private bookings and consultation for events and festivals, focusing on these communities, with past and current clients including the Museum of Contemporary Arts Denver, Denver Vibes Fest, Youth on Record, and Denver Health Foundation. Eventually, it will be able to fully produce audio and artists off-site.

Manos Sagrados grew out of a need to support the communities it came from. Discover more on our offerings, and contact us with any inquiries or questions.

Our Team

Alicia “Bruce” Trujillo - Founder and Jefa

  • Known professionally as "Bruce" Alicia Trujillo has been working in music and arts organizations since 2006, with a mission to collaborate with communities who are systematically excluded, and a focus on independent and locally made music and art. Trujillo's background is primarily in radio and talent buying, as well as events planning and production. Trujillo proudly serves on the Board of Directors for Biennial of the Americas and D3 Arts; is a 2023 appointee to the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs, and is in the inaugural Civic Center Park Community Activation Collaborative, and Advisory Committee for Control Group Productions. Trujillo is a Professional Member of the Recording Academy, and serves on the Advocacy Committee for the San Francisco Chapter (of which all of Colorado is a part of). In 2022, she was also named one of Colorado's Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, she hosts sessions, panels, and other live events with partners across the city, does voice work and audio production, and sometimes writes for Denver Westword, with a focus on local art. Trujillo is also a painter, yoga instructor, and Danzante.

David Medina Co-Owner

  • David Medina is a Colorado native hailing from Aurora, whose journey has been a dynamic blend of academic pursuits and entrepreneurial achievements. He embarked on his academic voyage at the University of Colorado Denver, where he delved into the intricacies of Economics, cultivating a strong foundation for his future endeavors. Subsequently, David continued to expand his horizons by pursuing graduate studies at the University of Denver. In 2014, he ventured into the world of hospitality, a sector he has passionately been a part of ever since. In 2020, David realized his culinary dreams, opening his first restaurant, Nola Jane Restaurant and Bar. With two successful concepts already under his belt, he's currently poised to launch a third by the end of 2023, solidifying his reputation as a visionary in the hospitality industry. Beyond his professional pursuits, David finds joy in attending hockey and basketball games, spending time cooking at home, exploring the great outdoors through hiking, and expressing his artistic side by playing music.

Amy Howard Operations Director

  • Amy has been working in large scale event production since 2008 and has served on many boards and commissions throughout their career. Most recently, Amy served as the Vice Chair for the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Writing Guild as well as serving as an Editorial Board member for the Simple Machines Letterpress Poetry Magazine. Amy’s commitment to supporting the aspirations of historically excluded artists, writers, and musicians can be observed through not only their work in school or as a Venue Operations Director, but through their business Baby Riot Management which seeks to create a community and in the future, a collective, that directly supports Queer, Disabled, Black, Brown, Indigenous, People of Color, and women-identified creators. Amy Lyn Howard (they/them/theirs) originally hailing from Rochester, New Hampshire is the Venue Operations Director of Manos Sagrados and the Owner of Baby Riot Management, both located in Aurora, CO. Amy is also a PhD candidate in the Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture program at Michigan Technological University. Amy has had a career anchored in justice, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion transitioning from a 16-year career in higher education to the music industry in 2021. Amy is invested in the amplification of BIPOC, Queer, and Disabled artists within the music industry. In Amy’s role as Venue Operations Director, they assist with a lot of the background work to ensure a live show happens with ease while also being responsible for booking artists for respective shows and producing concerts for Manos Sagrados. In their PhD program, Amy’s research interests are guided by algorithmic justice and biopolitics while analyzing various forms of bias in algorithmic design and specifically, content censorship across social media platforms. Amy recently co-authored an article with Dr. Stefka Hristova on the intersections of contemporary pandemics, COVID-19 and the ongoing murders of Black Americans, and the necropolitical impacts of meme sharing on Twitter during this time titled, It’s a Challenge: Breathing in Pandemic Times.

Benito Flores Production Director

  • Benito Flores's extensive production background includes managing rooms ranging from 100-4,000 capacity, and he's produced some of Colorado's biggest shows in venues and stadiums around Denver. Flores is able to work fluidly between bar work, and artist, facility and/or stage management, with over 15 years of experience. His work as a musician only lends itself to exceptional service and knowledge, not only from a venue perspective, but what's best for the artist. Bio Benito Flores grew up in Denver, CO, and has spent his whole life in the community. His love for live music started at an early age, accompanying and watching his musician father play shows. Flores started getting onstage and playing shows himself at the age of 15, and has continued performing for 30 years in multiple bands, and honing his skills in a number of ways, learning from top artists around the city, and incorporating new teachings all the time. He has worked in the concert industry for the past 15 years, from bar staff, up to facilities manager, at some of the most popular venues in the Denver area, and working production for some of the biggest shows in the state. He is excited to be working with Manos Sagrados and bringing his skills and talents to this wonderful organization.

Jeneé Donelson- Lead Talent Buyer

  • A multidisciplinary artist, making music under the name Machete Mouth, as well as a talented printmaker, Donelson has deep love for all things art related. In her work as Marketing Wizard at Rainbow Dome, she and the team have created a warm, safe environment for folks of all types, with events ranging from Zodiac Skate Nights, to live concerts, and several markets featuring vendors across the community. Donelson has performed across Denver, as well, and has collaborated with some of the city’s most exciting artists. As a musician, she seeks diverse acts of the diaspora that shake the spirit and hope to bring this vibe to Manos Sagrados.

  • Diego Florez-Arroyo is a Chicano artist from Denver's Northside. As a full time poet, artist, and musician over the last 7 years, Florez-Arroyo has worked on, and produced, a variety of projects. In his art, he's done everything from large scale prefabricated installations to immersive art exhibitions, and his work includes large-scale mural work that incorporates the community, as well as an array of paintings and drawings exploring Chicanismo and Indigenous teachings. As a multi-instrumentalist, writing, composing, and arranging music are tools he has become very comfortable with: aside from writing and composing his own music, he is a founding member of the Denver band, Los Mocochetes, he regularly performs with longtime Denver improv, avante-garde group, Art Compost and Word Mechanics, at the legendary Mercury Cafe, and is a part of the Soul-Jazz Rock Trio, The Cosmosmiths. In 2023, his solo debut at Alto Gallery of RINOarts Park, "Mensajes Mestizos" (messages from the mixed ones), focused on the spectrum of diversity among Chicano and Mexicano peoples along the American southwest, and northern Mexican region, before and after the establishment of colonial borders - the show sold out of it's 13 unique pieces that traveled through time. The work included Cultural Icons, symbols and triggers. The work he makes is storytelling, created to encourage conversation around ancestral healing, and acknowledging history: past, present, and future. Florez is also set to open his debut play, "Cuauctemotzin," at the Holiday Theater with Control Group Productions. Florez currently serves on the Board of Directors for the BirdSeed Collective and D3 Arts.

Diego Florez-Arroyo - Artist Studio Manager

ABOUT Us

Manos Sagrados uses both hands to be present in Community. On top, we showcase our artists and musicians - soon to come, an independent venue, artist studio space, and recording studio. The bottom hand is in a supportive position, with booking, management, and consulting for artists and the communities that seek to work with them.

Manos Sagrados exists for the communities it comes from.

While "manos" is a feminized word in the colonizer language brought to these lands by the Spanish, we keep "sagrados" masculine, a reminder of balance, and in honor of sacred queer identity imbued into this work. The name itself was inspired from a limpia (traditional Indigenous spiritual/energetic cleansing) that our founder received from Ancestor Maestra Cihuatli Cihuatl, who, upon going over her hands with flowers, looked up, and asked if she was an artist. When confirmed, she said, “yes, you have stories to tell, take care of your sacred hands.” 

our history

Manos Sagrados was founded by Alicia “Bruce” Trujillo in the spring of 2023. Trujillo is a queer Chicana of mixed heritage, and has spent her career in radio, talent buying, production, is a visual artist and muralist, a yoga instructor, and collaborates with several organizations in the Denver Metro area.

Trujillo saw the need for intentional safe spaces for musicians, artists, and other creatives that would foster creativity, curiosity, and collaboration - particularly for global majority, femme, queer and disabled folks. Additionally, with her background, she wanted to work with organizations in the community committed to booking and supporting these artists as well - thus the booking arm of Manos.

The idea of Manos Sagrados came about on a trip to Mexico City Art Week 2023 - a space that could house a venue, studios, and community all in one. Upon returning to Denver, Trujillo was working with The People’s Building on a potential project, and was told the building next door may be up for rent soon. Within the next few months, the lease was signed, the business was formally created, and the team was assembled.


 

Services we offer

Services we offer

Manos Sagrados houses live events, artist studio spaces, a recording studio, and movement classes. Our space at 9975 E. Colfax Ave. in the center of the Aurora Cultural Arts District (ACAD) can also be rented for your events, classes, and more.

Manos is also able to offer booking services for your organization, as well as consultation for artists, musicians, and businesses.

Check out our overview here, which include price sheets and a glance at what we’ve already done with our community.