—Roy Andersson, ‘Songs From the Second Floor’, 2000
Mariano Spina Novoa was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a family shaped as much by excellence in medical care as in artistic vision. He has spent most of his life working as a self-taught graphic designer and printer while skateboarding the cultural circulatory systems of Argentina, Brasil, Uruguay and the United States.
At the turn of the century, digital media and animation caught his interest, expanding his knowledge into different areas, and strengthening his enthusiasm for the same creative process he continues to thrive on. His efforts in these fields led him to the US East Coast, where he worked for renowned brands; and eventually to the Pacific Northwest, where he first opened his studio, a design and print practice dedicated to arts and culture.
Melinda Matson Spina was born in the US to a family with a combination of veteran and immigrant roots beginning in the Vietnam war. Her childhood was spent in the Sonoran Desert at the foot of the Huachuca Mountains. From that grounding experience, she has inclined always toward artistry, habitat and placemaking; developing her ideas in environments ranging from the southern Arizona border and desert to the Panama Canal and rainforest.
Melinda is a lifelong artist and writer motivated by self reliance, community resilience, and aesthetic experience. She worked in art and craft, from curating exhibitions to rehabilitating historic houses, for two decades in Northern CA and the Pacific Northwest. In 2018, she returned to her elementary roots in AZ, where she is currently working with Desert Dispatch, a community led documentary and mass mobilization of collective storytelling in the fight against inhumane tech.
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Melinda and Mariano met in 2017. After a few weeks courtship, they decided to marry and began planning collaborative projects. They gave the combination of their personal and civic intent the name Casa Petra Vera, mixing etymologies in thier shorthand for a resolve to dwell by the veracity of stone.
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