78 thoughts on “El Museo is under close community scrutiny and criticism. How are other Puerto Rican cultural institutions doing in relation to the community?”
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Taller Boricua
I think many of the issues brought up in the previous forum topic exclusively on el Museo are really the failure of other institutions to holp up their side of the equation. Here are a few examples:
–Taller Boricua is a non-collecting artists collaborative, or at least it was supposed to be THE “community gallery”, serving the artists of el Barrio. Lately it shows artists who are NOT from el Barrio and shows artists who are NOT Latino.
It would seem to me that if Taller Boricua was doing its job and fulfilling its mission many of the complainst against el Museo would go away…
–Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center was originally conceived as having studios for el Barrio and other Latino artists. It has NO studios for any artists. Period. The building is just sitting there not doing anything for the community of el Barrio.
Of its 4 floors (there is a tiny 5 floor but its a mezzanine) 2 of them, or 50%, of the building is occupied by a SCHOOL–a school that has nothing to do with the artists of el Barrio.
The much needed “artists in residence” program has never taken place…yet others blame el Museo.
It is interesting that both of the above organizations are run and directed by the same person: Fernando Salicrup….a person who has remained unseen in any of the discussion regarding el Museo.
If others are going to hold “We are watching you” campaigns I suggest that, to be equal and fair, the SAME sustained campaign be held on Taller Boricua AND the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center…..
RE: Taller Boricua
I think that your points are on point regarding the Taller Borica, but I disagree with your particluar statment that if they were doing their job that the compliants about the Museo would just go away. The Museo should still have an artist in residence program as well as other development programs, remember the mission? The equation that you memtion indicates that there was formal agreement between the Museo and the Taller, but in fact there was not at least not in writing, but in theory.
The concept of holding groups accountable which seeems to be the fad fails to talk about why have these institutions been able to continue to act so unresponsible for all these years. You have all of these so call self identified Puerto Rican agencies and groups that still pose for picutres together especially in Nov. and June. I agree with you that ALL cultural programs in El Barrio should be
reviewed by the same criteria. Does anyone know who is on the Board of the Julia?
Taller Boricua & Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
Of course there is (and never was) anything in writing about one institution working in tandem with the other….HOWEVER, given that each entity is unique in of itself, their roles were/have been/can be complementary and mututally supportive.
If just one of the 2 institutions does not really work well then BOTH suffer as a result.
The founders of el Museo envisioned an instituion that would “collect”, “preserve” and present while the other one, Taller Boricua would “create”, “generate” and provide work space for the artists….
IN 1969 and then 1970 the 2 institutions were created to support each other: they were basically started by the same founders…..
Today the Executive Director of the Taller Boricua is Fernando Salicrup, its Artistic Director is Marcos Dimas.
The Taller is a tenant inside the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center. The Chairman of the Board of the Jluia de Burgos is Fernando Salicrup.
Nitza Tufino, I believe, is on both boards as well….
Regarding the “artist-in-residence” program at el Museo, it was defunded by the City years ago. It never provided any more funding for it.
At the Taller is is practically the very nature of the institution to provide “artist-in-residence” programs because that is exactly why it was created: to provide artists with the space and the tools with which they would create the art.
I still think that to single out el Museo is unfair. What scrutiny and criticism is leveled against one needs to ALSO be APPLIED to the other on an equal basis.
In this entire debate Mr. Salicrup has remained silent, never appeared at the Town Hall meeting, and it is rumored that he was a candidate to the position of Director of el Museo….
RE: Taller Boricua & Julia de Burgos Cultural Cent
These are points well made and should be considered very seriously.
For me, they underscore the imperative of united with other Latino groups to form even more local institutions that would provide artistic services to the entire community.
We should not ignore small groups like MIXTA. I understand that Ms Torres will be forced to either close or severely curtail her literary and visual activities. If this comes about, it will be a great loss to us as well. MIXTA is a wonderful, intimate space for enjoying art, poetry and music. We need more of these kinds of spaces!
Once we get to the point where there are numerous cultural institutions (of all sizes) serving our needs, the deficits of one can be made up for by the activities of the greater number of institutions.
This cannot happen with only Puerto Rican Latinos. Also, with the more groups building and OWNING their institutions (lets not forget that neigher El Museo nor Taller Boricua own the spaces they occupy at present, nor will they ever!), there will be more cultural resources to share the weight of the demands being placed on one or two at present.
Taller Boricua
On the issue of ownership the Museo did in fact have an opporunity to own thier property almost 20 years ago, and choose to split the building with Boys Harbor. The Taller owns and operates two buildings 1, an studio artist residence site and 2 a mix use building for artist residence and community residents. Both sturctures had a gallery space but are now rented as comercial entites The Chirch of Delverance and H&R Block. The loss of cultural sites was made and influenced by Emperor Fernando, the Shadow Marco Dimas, and the Taller’s Board of Dead Artist…by greed!!! The full use of the Julia building has yet to happen. Why do we now talk about setting standards for groups that have lost all morality and spiiritual commimment to the preservation of the PR cultral when they have become vultures themselves. New age poverty pimps. The fact that groups of conerned and comitted community residents invited the Taller to join them in thier effrots of the We Are Watching You campaign and they choose to sit on the fence wait for the press coverage and now want to join in on the picture to organizae the artists out of fear of exposure typical East Harlem politics. The romantic notions of cultrual programs in El Barrio are just that notions.
Taller Boricua, Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
Red Planet is right…what has happened is unacceptable.
The following institutions need to assume responsibility for their actions in connections with Puertoricans in NYC:
Taller Boricua
Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center
el Museo del Barrio
Association of Hispanic Arts (AHA)
Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Caribbean Cultural Center
Teatro Rodante Puertorriquen~o
Hostos Center for Arts & Culture
etc.
Taller Boricua
Who is on the Board of Trustees of the Taller Boricua?
Who is on the Board of Trustees of the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center?
Could somebody find out?
Debby Quinones: If you are reading this, WHY HAVE YOU NOT LAUNCHED “WE ARE WATCHING YOU” CAMPAIGNS ON THOSE BOARDS?
The History & Mission of Taller Boricua
Here is the “official story” of Taller Boricua today [from their web site]:
“History
Taller Boricua was established in 1970, in New York as a non-profit arts organization. Taller Boricua/Puerto Rican Workshop Inc. has expanded into a multi cultural institution by providing a variety of programs that stimulate the social, cultural and economic development of the community. Our workshops offer artists the opportunity to share ideas and inspirations with colleagues, enhances productivity and collaborations with other non profit organizations, schools, artists, public service providers, private corporations, and the community. The Taller Boricua (translation: workshop Puerto Rican) has evolved into a highly respected community arts organization that continues to be a proactive resource for the promotion of the arts. We have been very successful in attracting the art community to function as an essential nucleus supporting creative means of expression.
Mission
The Taller Boricua is grounded in a proactive commitment to revitalize East Harlem by providing creative programs in art education while helping address social, cultural, and economic development issues.”
The folowing questions are pertinent now:
–How many times did they change their mission statement?
–There is NO MENTION WHATSOEVER of the Puertorican artists and educators who founded the institution…WHY?
–Of they artists they exhibit and have exhibited, How many live in el Barrio?
–Of the members of the Board of Trustees, How many live and/work in el Barrio?
–How many of the Board members are from el Barrio or connected to it by work, adult life, birth, residence, etc.?
–If the population of el Barrio changes…say from Puertorican to Mexican…will the BOard of Trustees and the exhibitions change as well to reflect THE community?
–Which community are they serving?
–Who are those artists renting those “affordable housing” apartments? How is the money collected in rents used?
–Why are they showing artists and inviting curators who are NOT pUertorican nor from el Barrio to exhibit & curate shows?
La Julia, CSV
One of the most disturbing issues regarding La Julia is that it really does not exist! Emperor Fernando uses the name, “Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center” as just that, a name. It’s like when they give those apartment buildings in fancy areas like York Avenue or Park Avenue names (like the Windsor, or Hamilton Court), same thing. Aside from the image and excerpt of Julia’s poem in the lobby, there’s not much there about Julia, which is a shame, for such an important figure in our (Puerto Rican) history. I think Fernando named it Julia, instead of Taller Boricua, to create a separate entity for legal reasons.
Downtown, you also have the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center. However, this is a joke. The board members are self-interested sell-outs with VERY limited vision, which have allowed Gringos to take control of half the building. CSV’s biggest problem is the CSV board, only 6 of them, two of them Gringos, one of which is the archetype of a “gentrifyer” — Mary Beth Nelson owns three restaurants, one of which she made a deal with the landlord of the building in order to kick out the Dominican restaurant that was there. If that’s not a shame, I don’t know what is. However, the real problem is at the top, Manuel Moran, a politically spineless, mediocre (at best) theater producer, who, like the other Latinos on the board, except for the newest member, which I don’t know much about, are there only so they don’t pay a lot of rent for all the space they have. Meanwhile, the building has looked like crap forever. CSV is definitely below the radar as far as Latino cultural Centers go.
RE: La Julia, CSV
Enfogonao has made some good points on several claims. First is that there is NOTHING on Julia de Burgos at the center that was dedicated to her. There isn’t even a statue or a bust of the poet.
Having that as an example, the case can be made that El Museo Del Barrio has NOTHING about el barrio after which IT was dedicated, not even an Executive Director. Other than the “We Are Watching You” campaign there isn’t any information that is generated from El Museo that informs El Barrio about what it offers or its availability for use by El Barrio.
Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center or CSV as enfogonao referred to it, IS AND HAS SEEMINGLY ALWAYS BEEN IN DISREPAIR. For the few (that’s another point to be made. It’s kin to ‘los mismos tres gatitos’) who have ever attended any functions there, whether it be at Los Caballitos (I think they spell it with a “y” versus “ll”), LATEA, COMO COCO, or any of the others, can attest to.
The ‘organic look’ or ‘homesteaders/anti-establishment’ appearance ran its course. CSV did not spend its money on renovation. Perhaps it could not catch up with the costs of renovations or perhaps it simply did not receive, because it didn’t apply for or had access to, funding that could have been used to renovate the building and make it attractive and comfortable.
Another point to make regarding its appearance is that what funding it did apply for and presumably did not receive, costs money, in the first place, to apply for. It becomes economically unfeasible to continuously, year after year, SPEND money to receive money, not get it, to find yourself in the position that what money you CAN receive from any one source will not erase the debt that you incurred in applying for it.
Generally speaking, gentrification is a problem in neighborhoods such as LOISAIDA, El Barrio, the South Bronx, et al. It is hence needless to say that institutions and organizations such as El Museo, El Taller/Julia de Burgos LCC, CSV, and others are at risk of becoming disassociated from that which gave it birth if for no other reason than for money and private development. Look at CHARAS.
For what is now decades, neighborhoods such as these were abandoned and neglected by private realitors, capital/venture investors, and public government. Simply put, at that time, they (the neighborhoods) were not profitable and its residents the undesireable neighbors.
A thoguth entered some ones mind “at some point in the not so distant future (or in the not so recent past) both can become profitable”. It did not take a rocket scientist to learn that what had to be done, check any study or poll taken on settlement & migation trends among others, to connect the dots.
Eventually the cost of living in neighborhoods that are invested in and cared for will become insufficient to satisfy the needs for luxury for its residents. Hence the pattern of settlement and migration will shift back to the neighborhoods that they left neglected & abandoned.
Let me qualify who the “they” is. “They” is the notion of the middle class, irrespective of race or ethnicity. There was a time in US history when the Amercian Dream was an Anglo-American dream exclusively. But what has changed that is the dwindling numbers of wealth among Anglo-americans in professions that traditional were middle class. Hence, Ralph Cramden, of the Honeymooners, (then) just a working class civil servant bus operator, NOW is needed to be considered middle class. This swindling does not negate the fact that there are also more people of color entering those very same institutions that were bastions of Anglo-Americans life. The irony in that it that those “of us” entering that realem are “ourselves’ reflecting the Anglo-American aesthetics of what constitutes culture and upward mobility. It’s Barbie & Ken with a tan.
Gentrification is a class issue not a race or ethnicity issue. It is the desire to surround one self with opulence and personal wealth. The preference that an improvement in the quality of life and the standards of living for a neighborhood can be had only if a desired segment of the population can extend its lifestyle into other neighborhoods is at the crux of the matter. For eample, Sunset Park, Bkyln is runned down. Its just an example!! There is a solution to that problem. ATTRACT THOSE WHOSE LIFESTYLE IS BETTER OR HIGHER THAN THOSE LIVING IN THE DEPRESSED NEIGHBORHOOD. If you don’t allow that to occur then Sunset Park WILL REMAIN a runned downed neighborhood. The thinking is its residents WANT to live in those conditions. Since it costs so much to live in what used to be “better neighborhoods” the cost of gentrifying the Sunset Parks is, in comparison, affordable. That is why working class & ethnic neighborhoods are in demand at this moment.
The irony is that for those, racially and ethnically speaking, that were barred from acheiving those same dreams of the middle class in earlier generations are STILL lagging behind those who, racially & ethnically speaking, have always enjoyed such preveliged life. ¿Como? The suburbs are filling with Latinos and people of color while the inner cities are filling with anglos. Neighborhooods that were once desirable to live in are becoming the ghettos of the future even if hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on living in them.
Julia de Burgos
For your information: There IS a sculpture in the lobby of the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center. It is an aluminum and paint hanging piece by a Puertorican artist (Mariana?)and it has been there since the building opened.
Its hard to find but it is in fact there. The piece was something like $50,000 because it was commissioned under the “Percent for Art” Program.
However, the biggest scandal is that of all the tenants INSIDE that building, not one is providing artists from el Barrio ANY space to work, live, create or exhibit their work.
Fernando Salicrup should resign. The Board of Trustees must have more seats for the community representatives, there should be term limits, and like all the demands placed on el Museo these MUST be applied to both Taller Boricu nd the Julia de Burgos: “We are Watching YOU” now.
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RE: test
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TO SITE ADMINISTRATOR
Isnt there another way that whoever is testing whatever they are testing can conduct their tests.
This is very annoying and a waste of reading time.
PERSONAL ATTACKS AND INSULTS JEOPARDIZE OPEN FORUM
Once again, we ask our visitors to direct their comments to the issue at hand. Personal attacks and insults do not forward any discussion or debate, let alone clarity and understanding.
We ask that you not post these types of messages. We want to keep a free and open forum. These types of postings jeopardize this.
RE: Julia de Burgos
I repeat my question Does anyone KNOW any current Board member of the either the Taller or the Julia? The only ones that I knew were Edwin Marcial and Johnny Pacheco. I never heard of any one else or solicitations for new members. Has anyone every tried to find out if there was any attempt to bring together alumni artist for a “grand” show to celebrate decades of service? Let alone the artist in residence how do they interact with the community? Now at a crucial point can he transform himself in the defender of the local artist and rally to the Museo for a show or will the Museo in thier efforts to ‘Come Down” to the people approach him and stike the golden deal and how do we win as a community?
How can we be supportive?
I’m a teacher. I’d like to know if and how the average person can be supportive.
How can we be supportive?
Supportive of what? The forum in general? The institutions being discussed? This discussion in particular?
bad faith, pointless and malicious
there seems to be little substance in what you are saying about the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center since it is not grounded in the realities of maintaining that bulilding as a Latino Cultural Center. equally, your call for mr. salicrup’s resignation has no foundation. you seem to be angry and hostile without explaining why and apparently think that you can throw off track the very solid concrete issues confronting el Museo. the fact that there is little community representation on the board, although, the by-laws call for it. the fact that it is a Puerto Rican institution, although, open for others to exhibit. the ongoing tension and struggle between an elitist and non-elitist identity. need i say more. keep to the facts and maintain the integrity of those facts. your spin is so obvious and its motivation so clear.
sticking to the issue
as the web administrator requested, stick to the issue! you raise some valid points but they’re lost because you start flaming.
JdeB LATINO Culture Center
The only parallel I see between El Museo & JdeB Latino Culture Center is the fact that they are not the owners of the spaces they use.
On the surface, it appears that they have both made the same mistake; but of course, Im not privy to their governance decisions. Both have expected, recently or earlier, to gain ownership of their city-owned spaces (in the case of JdeB; Im not sure who owns the Hecksher building). It has not happened in either case, nor would I have expected it to.
Another Posted Message suggested that El Museo had an opportunity to own their building early on, but chose to share it with Boys Harbor. I seriously doubt that that was the case, because NO ONE would turn down an opportunity to own and control such a major piece of real estate — for whatever purpose. No one!
Regarding the exposition content of El Taller, of course they show non-Puerto Rican artist, as they should. However it is an artistic organization where Puerto Ricans can be assured that they will not be rejected by the mere fact of being Puerto Rican. Merit is another matter; as is their right to show the work of “other” communities.
Ive attended numerous outstanding performances in the performing space — Puerto Rican and so-called “other” & I think that should continue to be the case.
Their policy of guest curators is also an excellent policy, although El Museo has the same policy, also with successes.
I mounted work in a group exposition curated by Jose Antonio Vazquez (Tontxi), I think last year(LOL), and it was a beautiful and well received display by 4 fotografers. The curator was Puerto Rican, as were two other fotografers and one was not.
I lose track of who is Posting what comment, but there was a cynical comment that El Taller may rely on El Museo for some direction in this uncertain climate. Well, I feel that both institutions should be collaborating on EVERYTHING, frankly.
There are enough of us with enough work and enough things to say through our work, that one institution could not possibly address all of our needs. I would love to see complementary activities between these two major Latino institutions.
One final note about Governance. Discerning the mysteries of organizational governance is the subject of graduate & postgraduate research. Some are easy to make; others remain mysterious for decades, if not forever. Of course, others remain in the hands of one or two people. Some lucky ones, take the Barnes Foundation for example, remain in the hands of a legendary deceased founder.
No scandal just bochinche
Why don’t you identify yourself instead of hiding behind pasteles? Why must you malign the good work that has been done by the Taller and Julia de Burgos? Why must you smear the names of Mr. Salicrup and Mr. Dimas? For what purpose? Turning the phrase “We Are Watching You” on them is just more of that useless cynicism that weakens our institutions and communities.
We want to discuss and evaluate in order to build and grow, not in order to destroy!
RE: RE: Julia de Burgos
Have you ever asked Mr. Dimas or Mr. Salicrup these questions? Have you ever thought of suggesting such an exhibition. It’s a pretty good idea and I remember at least two major retrospectives where many of the Taller artists came together to exhibit their work and celebrate the founding and continued existence of the Taller.
RE: Taller Boricua & Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
Maybe F. Salicrup was not present at the Town Hall meeting, but he has been in all the subsequent meetings of Nuestro Museo Community Action. He has been active in the debate.
JdeB LATINO Culture Center
The following is factual information: el Museo has NEVER been offered to “own” the building it is in right now. The entire building is City owned. The Master Lease IS between the City and Boys Harbor…..for the last several decades….that hjas never changed.
When the lease comes up for renewal, it gets renewed with the Master Lease Holder, which is Boys Harbor. Boys Harbor in turn SUBLEASES portions of the building to other tenants with the OK’s and/or pressure(s) from the CITY.
El Museo has about 7,500 to 8,000 square feet of EXHIBITION SPACE. That’s it. No place to grow.
On the other hand, the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center is OWNED by the city and leased to different tenants who pay rents to the city…among them Taller Boricua.
It seems to me that on the issue of preperty ownership, real estate, space allocation, future expansion it is THE CITY that we should be barking at NOT the institutions themselves…they are and have done what they can given their budgets & political leverage.
What IS outrageous is that, 2 institutions which COULD be working in tandem…have in effect parted ways which are detrimental to our community.
What I find unfair is that the bulk of the criticism and scrutiny is levelled against el Museo, a sister institution like Taller Boricua sneaks by scot free.
It is totally false to say el Museo was “offered” the building and the institution declined…..
Taller Boricua & Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
Well, that’s fine and dandy that Mr. Salicrup now, after everything that has been said and pointed out, comes forward and appears at meetings BUT the first question remains standing
WHAT has he done to make the Taller Boricua a community gallery for our community’s artists….they now show anybody and their brother EXCEPT the Puertoricans FROM el Barrio.
WHY has the Taller abandoned its mission to support, present, and expand the opportunities for the PUERTORICAN artists for which it was founded?
WHY is the TALLER showing NON-LATINO, NON-el BARRIO artists, and letting NON-LATINO and NON-el Barrio curators mount shows?
The fact remains that el Taller Boricua was founded BY Puertorican artists, FOR Puertorican artists. To blame el Museo for not doing that is IGNORING or AVOIDING discussing Taller Boricua ON ITS OWN TERMS.
Taller Boricua & Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
Could somebody print/copy/paste the members of the Board of Trustees of the Taller Boricua?
Who are the Board Members of the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center?
RE: JdeB LATINO Culture Center
Thanks Pasteles Buenos, for throwing some light on the ownership issue with respect to the spaces occupied by El Taller & El Museo — very informative.
Something else occurs to me, though I dont want anyvbody to panic. Part of the good discussion around El Museo has been whether it serves as a museum or more as a gallery. Of course, some museums have evolved as a fusion of the two, havent they.
I guess you know where Im going with this, viz:..I can easily imagine a merger between El Museo i El Taller.
(That reminds me, Id better call my Pasteles order in to Dona Teresa Fortuna before San Giving sneaks up on me again)
inaccurate and illogical
how you can equate the valid criticism of el Museo, which now has mostly a non-Puerto Rican staff, with the Taller and call that criticism a diversionary tactic escapes me. it is clear to anyone who attends the exhibitions at the Taller that Puerto Rican artists are indeed exhibited, given exposure in new york, etc. in addition let’s not forget, the fact that it continues to be run by Puerto Ricans on a day to day basis and that the head curator is Puerto Rican which can not be said of el Museo. so what you say in your posting is blatantly misrepresentative and untrue. the Taller remains true to its mission: i was first exposed to Puerto Rican contemporary artists there–not in el Museo, though i consistently visit both.
it is also clear that being in the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center guarantees that it remains close to the community since i regularly see performances by Puerto Rican or Nuyorican actors, singers, performance artists, musicians and poets during Julia’s Jam. you might want to go there. it is regularly scheduled every thursday night and Marcos Dimas is the host while Aurora Flores is the mc and people like the great Puerto Rican writer Nicholasa Mohr is a regular. so that you seem to be either completely misinformed or blind to these “good works”–i will call them, because even to this day the Julia de Burgos Center and the Taller remain powerful focal points of Puerto RIcan/Nuyorican identity while el Museo has lost its moorings and is now adrift. who are the artists hanging on the walls of the Taller? most of them if not all are Puerto RIcan. but they also show other work and bring in other performing talent. they welcome everyone in this increasingly heterogeneous community and that’s how it has always been and continues to be. but they have never given up their heart or soul. they remain Puerto Rican. no one would ever say that of el Museo which is increasingly losing its character. i will say this, it may be losing its character because it is becoming more institutionalized and that seems to mean increasingly alienated from its roots. too bad for el Museo. mark my words. el Museo will come to rue the day it lost its Puerto Rican heart and soul.
i also think you are unfair to Mr. Salicrup who has done much to save the community’s character and identity along with Mr. Dimas. however much you may want to bitch, the reality is those two institutions stand and continue to function as Puerto Rican entities and the community recognizes this and feels welcomed always welcomed.
JdeB LATINO Culture Center
Merry X-Mas and get those pasteles on time!
More seriously: It makes no sense to duplicate efforts, activities, and missions within a few blocks of each other with respect to el Museo and Taller Boricua.
It makes more sense, given that resources ARE limited and asking for money from the same sources will eventually tire them out….for the 2 institutions to work in tandem.
In an ideal scenario, while el Museo collects (in perpetuity) and keeps track of Puertorican and other Latino artists and showcases the work of those with the most merit (decided by professional curators) for a Puertorican, Latino and the larger public of NYC and beyond….the Taller could function as the “community gallery” where it can present, quickly, inexpensively a broader array of local and NYC artists of Puertorican and Latino heritage, principally from el Barrio and NYC.
This way the 2 functions work well wiothout competing. The trajectory of a local community artist would start at the Taller–with artist in residence programs, frequent artist-led/curated shows, education liansons with el Barrio schools and the community and then “graduate” to be in the collection of el Museo and bigger, more selective shows which puts the work of that artist in the larger context. From there the artist can, theoretically, go beyond…..
Today the criticism is that el Museo has no artist-in-residence program (fact: The funding was CUT OFF by the CITY years ago and never restored) BUT THAT is exactly what Taller Boricua ought to be doing instead!
The criticism is that el Museo is “ignoring” the artists of the community (which in part lives in el Barrio) BUT it is Taller Boricua that has ignored the local artists and hence they feel it would be better (they are right about this) to jump over and GO to el Museo…but el Museo cannot possibly accomodate ALL. Space IS limited!
The criticism levelled against el Museo that its Board was elitist and disconnected from el Barrio and community leaders of el Barrio are demanding more seats on THAT board….BUT no one knows WHO are the Board members of Taller Boricua, where they live, and if the Board has a solid broad based community representation.
Part of the demands of the community leaders was that el Museo Board have term limits to implement “accountability” BUT el Taller Boricua, from what I can see, has had ONE Board member in perpetuity, who is still there; 3 decades LATER!
For me Taller Boricua has no excuse.
hysterical and biased
The qualities you attribute to Taller Boricau can be said EXACTLY of el Museo. Maybe you have been denied to be exhibited at el Musoe and therefore hold some grudge….some artists do no matter which museum or which culture they represent.
If the Taller is such an extraordinary anjd strong intitution then WHY keep the same person at its helm for 3 decades…is it a dictatorship? a Banana Republic?
It is time for the older generation to open the doors to the younger, more full of energy, generation. Taller Boricua has become ossified by virtue of its ancient regime.
Taller Boricua languishes with a poverty mentality in terms of its funding and fund raising, it has stagnated for years and years. el Museo has grown in funding, programs, space, staffing, collection and by any other measure you want to measure it with….don’t forget that the Puertoricans of el Barrio by the thousands have fled to the suburbs! They never come back…
RE: JdeB LATINO Culture Center
Short of merger, you “tandem” notion makes sense…assuming that exposition planning would be carried out collaboratively.
However, I would object to preseting a “start” place for any young artist. I think that would characterize an institution as a beginners venue, which El Taller certainly is not, though they show worthy young artist.
Artists should begin anywhere. It is the obligation of all institutions to conduct programs that identify young artists and give older artists opportunities to show their work.
A Resident Artist Program is basic to any successful communty arts program. I came this close to striking an agreement with El Museo to conduct art therapy programs at my agency — then the cuts hit, assuming there were not other reasons for not going forward.
Merger would solve many of these finance related obstacles, not to mention the attractiveness of a union to sources that would support private ownership of a Museo-Taller building (new construction or purchase and rehab).
A close planning and working relationship between these two institutions promises potential that would be nothing less than explosive.
You keep coming back to the Board of Directors. Have a look at my earlier Post on this, but let me reiterate that the size and makeup of a board of directors is not a guarantee of anything. Sometimes Im not even certain that a board does not work for a CEO.
The organization belongs to the visionary.
if it ain’t broke don’t fix it
if Marcos and Fernando are doing a great job, why change it? the two organizations, el Taller and el Mueseo, are by their very nature different kinds of institutions. with respect to their programming and activities there is overlap, but el Taller remains an artist-directed institution which is quite different from an administration-directed institution such as el Museo.
just as the web administrator stated, you immediately slip into personal attributions and attacks which are inappropriate.
JdeB LATINO Culture Center
A merger of 2 different institutions MAY solve some problems but there are other problems which would remain unsolved and may well be unsolvable.
A synergy is not necessarily guaranteed….Taller does not have to worry about storing anything in perpetuity since it does not have a collection (nor was that the intention); Taller now has no cost involved with “collection management”–entering and exiting works of art, conservation, lending & borrowing works of art, etc., etc. This el Museo does.
Typical of a museum, el Museo has to plan shows well in advance..often 2-3 years..because that’s the nature of what any museum does…Taller does not have to do that, it can mount & dismount a show in a jiffy, it has a more flexible program, it can experiment more, etc.
Taller is basically a community gallery within a larger building, but it has not sparked any economic development in el Barrio, nor has it “catapulted” any artists into the bigger leagues. My point is that Taller Boricua, as an institution, has failed to date (after 30 years) to ignite the potential of itself and the Julia facility and turn it into a Latino 92nd St. Y, Abroms Arts Center, or even Hostos Center for the Arts.
This shortcoming IS their own doing. It gives me pause to advocate the merger of this sort of entity and latch it onto el Museo…it sounds like would be a drag.
Shut Down Taller Boricua
Dear eric: your last post is a misrepresentation of what I have said and written. Further it is an unfortunate mischaracterization. Everyone can see that you chose to title your responses the way you did. They speak for themselves.
I am advocating for the removal of the established order at Taller Boricua. The current structure may be composed of fine and talented individuals (I leave that to others) BUT AS DIRECTORS & LEADERS THEY HAVE FAILED OUR COMMUNITY. You can have a fine person on a job and have them perform terribly that job; calling for their removal/resignation does not deny who they are and believe in, it simply means that there are others more qualified or better suited TO DO THE JOB.
What would be lost, at this point, if the Taller Boricua was shut down?
Corrections necesary
dear eric: THIS section of THIS web site is dedicated–read the question again–to looking into: “HOW ARE OTHER PUERTORICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS DOING IN RELATION TO THE COMUNITY?”
IN this regard I believe Taller Boricua has FAILED, as a Puertorican cultural institution to help/advance/foster/nurture the art of our community. Period.
Elsewhere I have explained why I believe that. Than you.
pure mischief and destructive of El Barrio
you have in no way justified such a proposal as the closing of the Taller. it would be a major loss to the community. ask any artist. for instance, ask Rafael Tufiño, Jose Morales, Diogenes Ballester, Nitza Tufiño, Antonio Martorell, Juan Sanchez, Miguel Luciano, Marina Gutierrez, Gloria Rodriguez, Miriam Hernandez, Manny Velez. ask them if the Taller should be shut down. they will all say no.
ask community leaders and they too will say no. the Taller is an extremely important Puerto Rican institution and you do the community and this great institution an injustice in calling for its close. no one in the discussion of el Museo called for its closing. you would destroy one of El Barrio’s greatest treasures, further erasing our contributions and presence in new york–for what reason, purpose or agenda. at a time when El Barrio is undergoing a radical process of gentrification, where we are being displaced daily and our culture dispersed, you call for the closing of one of our most important centers.
and who are you to judge any of these fine men, who have struggled along with the community when so many of us left to seek opportunities elsewhere?
two great Puerto Rican institutions
Taller Boricua and Julia de Burgos. thank god they exist. ask the community, ask the artists.
you are mistaken, the record speaks for itself
dear pasteles buenos,
my point is that you haven’t made your point. Taller Boricua and Julia de Burgos are important to our legacy in new york city, and continue to be important cultural institutions. what they require and, i believe this is slowly coming to be, are scholars who will do more research about them, produce more studies concerning their exhibitions. then you and others will realize how much they have contributed to our cultural heritage here in new york. there would be a major cultural vacuum if they were destroyed.
to call for the Taller’s closing is frivolous, harmful, and as my wife just stated, heartless.
misinformation and poor analysis
there has never been access to funding for Latino art groups that have existed for others. that’s a reality and although you are right to say that if it were indeed their mission to do what the institutions you have mentioned have done, you are wrong to criticize them for this since the same resources for those institutions were never available. it is not by accident that up until the present no hispanic institution of this city has ever commanded as large a budget as the non-Hispanic centers you mention. you are wrong to compare them to the “Y” since that is a huge national organization. equally the Hostos center in the bronx is affiliated with the city university system and, therefore, accesses resources through them. it is now, currently that resources are opening up but not even to the degree they have been opened for african americans or jewish americans. sure, the ideal would be to share equally in the pie but that has not nor is the case.
it is a tribute to Fernando, Marcos and others in the community, that they have kept the Taller going over three decades and created the Julia de Burgos center, taking advantage of certain city programs and their own sweat and inspiration. that is the truth. you may have wanted something more glossy and pristing, but so would they. give them the money to do that work and you would see a “Latino 92nd Street Y or something like it.” but i don’t even think i would want that.
the most important question
gloria,
you have asked the right question. how can we support our institutions? maybe the web administrator will post that question. i too would like to know how i can help..
RE: Taller Boricua & Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
To all those people talking out of the side of their ORIFICES . I dont want to respond and become a participant in this digital WITCH HUNT. To all you SNIPPERS . If you want a diologe UNMASK yourselves and come clean,FACE TO FACE.
Or better yet,be CREATIVE and COURAGEOUS and get up off your educations and start your own CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS…
Right On, Brother!
Thank you for saying what I and many others have been thinking. You have contributed so much to all of us!
One Community Gallery + One Multi-Tenant Building%3D
Taller Boricua is a community gallery and some may consider it an “institution” by virtue of having survived 30 years….I am an artist and IT has failed many of US in the community.
The Julia is a building, not an “instituion” as such. This BUILDING has numerous tenants….the sum of all the tenants do not make a “cultural center” because there is NO synergy, there is no consistency in programming, and all the straggling tenants do not serve the community of Puertorican artists….almost half the building is occupied by the “Heritage School” its principal is not Puertorican and its programming is not Puertorican. So the question is WHAT exactly is a school of the Board of Education doing in an allegedly “Cultural Center”?
Its outrageous. Shut down the Taller Boricua and let others run with it; get rid of any tenant in the Julia that is not directly relevant to producing and presenting Latino Culture.
the record speaks for itself: Taller is lacking
Yes, eric, the record of Taller speaks for itself: it is lacking in substance in relevance and mesning.
You keep referring to the Julia as an “INSTITUTION” the fact is that it is a building first and foremost, an empty shell. This shell, at this moment, has certain tenants. Among those tenants is Taller, some el Barrio groups, but it ALSO has a HUGE school spun-off by the Board of Education. The Julia is as much as an “institution” as the Hecksher Building is an “institution”.
BOTH BUILDINGS are multi-tenant holding entities. The Julia does NOT function as a cultural center any more than the Hecksher functions as a cultural center in the order and magnitude that they could operate. THEY HAVE POTENTIAL. THE POTENTIAL HAS NOT BEEN FULFILLED.
Perhaps as someone else offered they should MERGE; maybe THEN their full potential will be achieved.
TUFINO Goes to El MUSEO
This is very, very interesting:
The retrospective of the artist Rafael Tufino is going to el Museo del Barrio and not to Taller Boricua.
WHY?
Yes, Create new and better Puertorican institution
I agree M.D. If the existing community gallery does not function the way it could, by all means NEW and BETTER institutions will be created and built, along the way funders will be more interested in those that are relevant and provide better services to our community.
Competition is good, its part of the Puertorican dream: the new replaces the old.
When an institution is solely perceived to be a reflection of its founders…when the founders are no longer here the institution will go along with them.
This happens in dictatorships and institutions which are created by and refelctive of one small group of people.
puerto rican cultural institutions
take what is there and work with it.build on it. don’t deconstruct. promote puerto rican art and artists. forget the ego. forget the politics. forget the criticism. share, expand. don’t let the anglo institutions relish in the internal strife. Create the solutions. We can always find the problem. someone will always find the problem. the hard part is coming up with solutions.
work on education issues.
Schomburg and Caribbean Cultural Center
These two organizations were founded by Puerto Ricans although clearly their missions do not seek to conserve or promote PR culture. Would they still be considered PR institutions?