Portland Meets Venezuela: AI-Assisted Illustration and Cultural Storytelling Calendar

1. Overview

Portland Meets Venezuela is a 2026 illustrated calendar exploring the cultural dialogue between two places that shape my identity: Portland, Oregon—where I was raised—and Venezuela, the country of my father’s heritage.

The project began as an experiment in AI-assisted illustration, exploring how generative tools like MidJourney can support storytelling rooted in culture, place, and community. Through a series of stylized illustrations, the calendar imagines moments where Portland landscapes and Venezuelan traditions intersect—from summer beach scenes and soccer culture to December celebrations making hallacas.

The calendar proceeds supported the nonprofit Venezuela’s Voice in Oregon, where I serve as Volunteer Creative Director and board member. Beyond its creative and fundraising purpose, the calendar reflects the broader mission of Venezuela’s Voice in Oregon: to connect multicultural communities, celebrate Venezuelan cultural heritage, and create opportunities for education and wellbeing. Profits from the project helped fund the annual scholarship program supporting Latina college students in Oregon. Through cultural storytelling and shared experiences, projects like this calendar help build bridges between cultures, strengthen community identity, and support initiatives that expand educational opportunities; such as scholarships for Latina students in Oregon.

3. Approach / Process

Concept Development:

The concept explored a simple question: What would it look like if Portland and Venezuela shared the same visual landscape?

I mapped cultural symbols from each place—including Caracas cityscapes, Caribbean colors, Amazonian landscapes, Portland bridges, evergreen forests, and local traditions—to create illustrations that reflect both identities simultaneously.

Some scenes connected loosely to the rhythm of the calendar year, such as:

• Summer scenes inspired by beaches and outdoor festivals

• Soccer culture, referencing Portland’s passionate Timbers fan community

• December traditions, including the preparation of hallacas during Venezuelan holiday celebrations

AI Prompt Direction:

Using MidJourney, I developed a structured prompt workflow to maintain a consistent illustrative style across the project.

Each image was created through 5–8 prompt iterations, refining:

• Composition and perspective

• Lighting and color palette

• Environmental storytelling

• Illustrative style

While the AI generated the imagery, the process required human curation, iteration, and visual direction to ensure the final illustrations felt cohesive and aligned with the project’s narrative.

Several images were lightly refined in Photoshop to improve details and visual balance.

Editorial Design:

The illustrations were integrated into a clean, editorial calendar layout designed in the print-on-demand service Gelato.

The design emphasized:

• Large visual storytelling moments

• Clear monthly grid structures

• Balanced white space

• Recognition of holidays celebrated in both the United States and Venezuela

This approach reinforced the theme of two cultures sharing a single visual timeline.

Digital Storytelling:

To promote the calendar online, I created a short video reel titled “Portland Meets Venezuela.”

The video combined the illustrations with subtle animation and ambient city audio, transforming the static print project into shareable digital storytelling content for social media and community outreach.

The promotional content was distributed across Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, reaching both existing audiences and new viewers beyond my network.

Key engagement metrics included:

• Instagram Reel (Dec 11, 2025): 1,884 views, reaching 390 accounts with 65.5% of viewers coming from non-followers, demonstrating discovery beyond my immediate audience. The post generated 66 interactions (56 likes, 8 comments, 2 shares). Cross-posting to Facebook generated 1,346 additional views, 78 reactions, and 39 comments.

• Instagram Reel (Jan 15, 2026): A behind-the-scenes video sharing the personal inspiration for the calendar reached 936 views, with 71.4% of views coming from non-followers, extending the project’s visibility to new audiences.

• YouTube Shorts (Jan 16, 2026): The reel was republished on YouTube, generating 798 views and 20 likes, expanding reach across another platform.

Across platforms, the promotional content generated 3,600+ total video views, helping build awareness for the calendar and supporting its role as a small-scale fundraising initiative for the scholarship program.

4. Outcome / Impact

Results summary:

• Calendar launched on Etsy on December 1, 2025, generating sales during peak holiday season.

• Multi-platform campaign

• Approximately 80 copies of the calendar sold through Etsy and community events, demonstrating strong interest in culturally driven creative products

• The project supported Venezuela’s Voice in Oregon’s scholarship program that funds educational opportunities for Latina students in Oregon

• The scholarship program operates in partnership with the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, which has supported scholarships for Latina women for nearly a decade

• Funds raised from the calendar contributed toward scholarships of up to $3,000 for Latina college students in Oregon—connecting creative storytelling with tangible community impact

As Volunteer Creative Director, I developed a culturally-driven initiative that transformed storytelling into community support, helping fund scholarships for Latina students in Oregon while advancing Venezuela’s Voice in Oregon’s pillars of culture, education, and health.