UWIDO Chapter 1: 2020-2025
UWIDO, Chapter One: 2020-2025 💫
Founded in 2020 by Francis Arevalo as a home for his music production portfolio, UWIDO took root quickly and evolved rapidly over the following 5 years. At its peak, the core team was made up of Francis Arevalo, Daphne Nolasco, Kathleen Zaragosa, and Camila Bellido, surrounded by a trusted group of close collaborators, coaches and contractors, who all shaped what the company would become. UWIDO grew to support numerous artists through management, grant writing, consultation, and various other supports, prioritizing independent BIPOC artists local to Vancouver. In doing so, UWIDO was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award for Impact in Artist Development in 2023.
Between big wins and achievements, through the stresses and celebrations, and to the mistakes and humbling losses, at the end of the day, we honour the opportunity of doing the work we did, getting to support and spend time with deserving, talented and inspiring artists for even a part of their journeys. We are grateful for the artists' patience and grace as we learned alongside each other.
With much deliberation and feeling through the last year, as of June 12 2025, UWIDO as a company is officially on hiatus and closed for business. Our website, emails, and related accounts will be shut down. We know UWIDO, in its concept, intentions and ethos, still has so much potential to serve and help foster creativity in community and careers in music. We intend to return in a new form when we are ready, learning from our lessons and embracing our individual and collective transformations in rhythm. The team has gone on to focus on their own pursuits and remains connected to this day. We will take the time we need to take our best steps forward yet.
There are many people who made this work possible and better than we could have on our own. So, especially to the artists we got to support, to Creative BC for our first company grant, to Music BC for supporting in various ways, to the industry and community we got to collaborate with, and to every person, peer, and professional who offered guidance and mentorship of all kinds: thank you.
info@francisarevalo.com