Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY: LIZA VOLL (PERFORMANCE); JEFFREY MOSIER PHOTOGRAPHY (GUERRERO) "THE SCHOOL TAUGHT ME TO FIGHT WITH MY ART." —diane guerrero THE PATH TO FAME ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK'S DIANNE GUERRERO HONORS HER PAST AND A FUTURE WITH THE BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY. BY MACKENZIE CUMMINGS-GRADY One day after school, Dianne Guerrero returned home to Jamaica Plain to an empty house. Her parents had been deported to Colombia. The 14-year-old was traumatized. When she returned to school at the Boston Arts Academy, the teachers and students took on a life-changing role for her. "I got a sense of community at the Academy," says Guerrero. "They took care of me." Guerrero, who now stars on Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, credits much of her acting success to the support and skills she learned at the academy. "It was a huge way to learn where I came from and why I was living some of the experi- ences I was living." On May 23, the Boston Arts Academy will unveil its first gala at the Museum of Fine Arts called the Apollo Dinner Cabaret. Guerrero, who recently published her memoir, In the Country We Love: My Family Divided, will be honored with the 2017 Apollo Award. Headmaster Anne Clark says Guerrero encompassed everything she wants her students to take away from BAA, "Diane had a clear sense of justice. A true artist has a purpose, a vision for self and community." The Gala has a purpose, too. "Its focus is on festivity and fun, and to showcase the students' talents," says Academy director Duncan Remage- Healey. The academy's rising stars will perform throughout the evening of music, movement, and dinner. For Guerrero, the evening will be an especially bittersweet reunion. "The school taught me to fight with my art. I learned how to be myself." 174 Ipswich St., 617-635-6470; tickets: bostonart- sacademy.org/featured/ apollo-dinner-cabaret-may . Boston Arts Academy dance student Tianna performs a senior main stage production. 58 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM SCENE ON STAGE