<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><item href="/stories/2026/behind-the-lens-erika-cespedes-artist-and-educator.php" dsn="blogs"><featured>true</featured><category>Arts &amp; Culture</category><pubDate>04/08/2026 04:30:34 PM</pubDate><title>Behind the lens: Erika Cespedes, artist and educator </title><intro>Palm Beach State College professor Erika Cespedes knew she wanted to be a photographer at just 5 years old. She photographed everything she could with her Cabbage Patch Kids toy camera, even though it had no film. </intro><author>Lakshmi Gomez</author><author-link>#</author-link><imageSrc><img src="/images/2026/erika-cespedes-collage.jpg" alt="Collage of CT scanned food"/></imageSrc><video/><tags><tag>Career Pathway: Arts</tag><tag>Helen M. Salzberg Gallery</tag><tag>arts</tag></tags></item>