Meet Sierra Paletta | Actor, Model, Creative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sierra Paletta and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sierra, why did you pursue a creative career?
The decision to pursue a career in the arts came completely instinctually. When I was getting out of high school I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life (in terms of my career) and when I thought about what truly made me happy it always came down to something artistic. I had been in plays, choir, musicals, etc. since I was about 10 and seeing/being in shows really inspired me and allowed me to understand myself and other people in ways that I hadn’t experienced before. Making the decision to move to NYC and pursue an acting career rippled into so many other creative facets over the years and I am still super grateful that at that age I followed my instincts and decided to jump in. In my current life it has allowed me to explore so many art forms including acting, modeling, burlesque, performance art, experimental film, and the list goes on and continues to grow.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Over time/my experiences as an artist I have realized that there are many roles I’d like to take on creatively.

When I went to acting school I was discouraged from exploring multiple creative routes and was constantly being pushed into one box: the acting box. Essentially some of my professors would say if you don’t focus on just acting you won’t get far, it will muddle your focus, you’ll never be successful, etc. Being young and impressionable I used to believe them and it hindered my desire to create more of my own work.

After finishing school it took a lot of time understanding myself and meeting more people who supported me to gain the confidence to make my own work. Right before the pandemic started I was working on a project that ultimately unraveled because of the state of the world. After having climbed up that hill to be knocked right back down was somewhat devastating. I had to start over again, regain it all back, and find new inspiration.

During the pandemic, around my 24th birthday, I created my first experimental short with my dear friend and collaborator LiAnn Grahm. We are currently working on producing/creating our first larger scale passion project and I re-watched that video we made and it really enlivened me. Despite the ups and downs and whatnot, we are back at it and ready to make a dream of ours a reality.

For this project we’re both wearing a lot of hats and I couldn’t be happier. It’s crazy to think how far I’ve come in my journey to really follow my passions and create what I want to see in the world. I’m super excited to be working on this project and also feel grounded in the fact that this is a new beginning all over again. It is re-instilling this idea that anything is possible and what a gift it is to understand and appreciate that.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ah!! So I’d probably always start at my local coffee shop Cafe Calaca. They are so wonderful there and always take such good care of me. Highlights for food definitely the avocado toast (it’s a little spicy and has seaweed) and their empanadas are amazing. They also currently have a rosewater raspberry matcha that is out of this world.

Places I like to go during the day: biking and hanging out at Prospect Park (Brooklyn Museum + Botanical Gardens are right there too!) sometimes people will be playing jazz there and it’s super serene. Love to go to the MoMA or Brooklyn Museum for museums, IFC for movies.

Places I like to go at night: The Slipper Room, Sleep No More, there’s a cool bar near me called Doris that spins live vinyl all the time, Rockwood Music Hall for local artists, Fat Cat (now Cellar Dog), House of Yes for clubbing.

Places to Eat: Chez Oskar, Momoya, Ippudo, Bar Crudo, Van Leeuwen or Soft Swerve for Ice Cream and Martha’s Country Bakery for sweets!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to a project I was recently a part of called “Female on Film”; a zine created by Jules Miranda that shares images + handwritten stories of 10 femme identifying people, sharing each of our journeys with body image.

Being a part of this project was such a vulnerable, uplifting, and empowering experience. Since the series focused on the (nude) body it was very impactful to share my body and story with other womxn and create a comfortable environment to express ourselves in. I was surprised at how easy it became to be open in this environment and also realized the rarity of it. The oppourtunity to share this series, this experience/project with this group of people, reminded me of the ability of creative communities to come together and make something beautiful and empowering.

The excerpt I wrote had to do with the embracing the changes in my body over time and the understanding that the body/my body will always change and how to accept and celebrate that. Over the years I’ve experienced so many physical changes in how I presented myself to express how I felt about my identity/sexuality and I think what I take away from it most now is that it gives me a lot of freedom to continue to change and grow into new versions of myself.

All of the proceeds of the zine are currently going to Fo’s Feminista: an international alliance for womxn’s sexual reproductive health and rights. Considering our current political climate I couldn’t be happier to be able to part of a project that will directly help people.

Instagram: @sierragpaletta

Image Credits
Jules Miranda, Stefen Pompee, LiAnn Grahm