26 April — 9 July 2017
CULTURE, COMMUNITY, AND CIVIC IMAGINATION IN GREATER SAN JUAN
above: view of El Cerro cover: cushion for making a sol. Photo by Sara Madandar, 2017
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CULTURE, COMMUNITY, AND CIVIC IMAGINATION IN GREATER SAN JUAN 26 April — 9 July 2017
How can the exercise of citizenship
on sustainability criss-cross the projects:
constitute a creative act? How do
in the recuperation of lost histories
artistic practices become political
and traditions, in the revitalization of
acts? The projects collected in this
abandoned, urban spaces, in the re-use
exhibition document how participatory
of industrial and recycled materials, and
interventions in public and communal
in the recourse to the needs, desires, and
spaces throughout greater San Juan
abilities of community.
are allowing residents to reimagine the island’s future on their own terms.
On the 100th anniversary of Puerto Ricans’ US citizenship, these examples
The show brings together a diversity
both underscore and undermine the limits
of projects united by social interaction
of formal citizenship, demonstrating the
and a participatory spirit. These include
extraordinary resilience and vitality of
long-term, artist-initiated collaborations
Puerto Rican civil society and the civic
with communities; interactive and
imagination.
improvisational performances in public spaces; citizen-based urban
This exhibition was organized and curated
design and architectural revitalization;
by students in LAST 6951 - Women,
and community activism and cultural
Community and Art in Latin America:
programming—not necessarily initiated
Puerto Rico, co-taught by Edith Wolfe,
by artists but which, nevertheless,
Assistant Director of the Stone Center
produce resonant processes and
for Latin American Studies, and museum
outcomes.
Director Mónica Ramírez-Montagut. The class—which traveled to the island in
The product is not a traditional object,
March 2017—asked how Puerto Rican
but a shifted social reality that actively
socially engaged activists and artists
responds to the legacies of colonialism
address problems of gender, food access,
and the island’s current “super crisis.”
blight, loss of traditions, and other issues
A reverence for the local and a focus
affecting their communities.
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EL CERRO AND ESCUELAS OFICIOS El Cerro, Naranjito, Puerto Rico The hillside neighborhood of El Cerro (The
created an active community center,
Hill) located in the city of Naranjito outside
which hosts workshops and events, and
San Juan exemplifies the organic beauty
a Museum of El Cerro that exhibits the
and human ingenuity of “spontaneous
history of the painting project and displays
architecture,” that is, of a space created
material from community workshops.
over time by inhabitants without formal planning or training. Since 2002 local
The traditional craft of “sol” making—lace
community members, volunteers, and
rosettes known as “suns,” which originated
students have collaborated with artist
in Naranjito—has become one of the most
Chemi Rosado to paint more than a
celebrated local activities in El Cerro.
hundred houses in El Cerro different
Directed by community member Francisca
shades of green. Although envisioned
Hernández, these women-taught,
by Rosado to show the harmony of the
intergenerational workshops not only
informal built environment with the
instruct craftwork technique, but create
natural hillside topography, the spirit of
a dialogue about Puerto Rican history,
participation and collaboration the project
culture, and identity. The classes were the
produced/necessitated transformed
brainchild of artist Jorge González who
Pintando el Cerro (Painting the Hill) into
initiated a series of Escuela de los Oficios
a vital source of community pride, social
(trade schools) teaching basketry, weaving,
unity, and the recovery of collective
and ceramics, among other things, as
memory.
an effort to recover local knowledge, traditions, and ancestral techniques. In this
Rosado credits the success of Pintando
way, the socially-engaged, collaborative
el Cerro to women, noting the critical
interventions of Chemi Rosado and Jorge
contribution of his mother, social worker
González provoked a communal response
and professor Luisa Seijo Maldonado, who
to the island’s legacies of colonialism and
helped mobilize support and non-local
neoliberalism, which threaten popular
volunteers, as well as community leader
cultural traditions and social practices.
Ivette Serrano, who quickly took the reigns of community organizing. Walking through this community, Serrano’s assertion that “Las mujeres son las jefas,” (“Women are the bosses”) is clear. Residents have also
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“Here, women are the bosses.” —Jossie Serrano
Photos by Sara Madandar, 2017
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CASA TAFT 169 AND LA MARAÑA Bayola, Santurce, Puerto Rico La Maraña is a San Juan-based non-profit
yard of the abandoned house, sparking
organization committed to participatory
other neighbors to imagine how the
urban design. Founded in 2014 by Sofía
space might be transformed from public
Unanue Banuchi, La Maraña (the tangle)
nuisance to community asset. That
engages local residents in the planning and
same year, community members began
redesign of public spaces and abandoned
clearing debris and garbage that had been
properties, according to the needs and
dumped on the site; soon after volunteers
usage of the community. Most recently
removed a staircase that blocked access
the organization worked with residents
to the backyard allowing them to install a
of Bayola, a working- class neighborhood
cinderblock floor in the patio and build a
of Santurce, to construct a pocket park
wall out of concrete and bottles. The house
on a strip of ground that had long served
now serves as a grass-roots community
as an informal dumpsite. Created entirely
center hosting events and serving as a
with donated materials and with volunteer
gathering place for community discussions
planning and labor, Estrella Park now boasts
and leisure.
a community garden, domino tables, and a basic playground. In a city increasingly
The occupation and renovation of Casa Taft
dependent on car travel, the park offers
inspired a neighbor to begin a legislative
residents of Bayola a walking destination,
campaign to allow nonprofits to take control
strengthening community through the
of properties that have been abandoned
activation of public space.
or have no legal heirs, which resulted in the passage of Law 157. La Maraña is
Casa Taft 169 is a community center located
currently working with Casa Taft 169 to
in a once abandoned home, restored and
create a map of abandoned properties on
run by neighborhood residents. In the
the two main avenues in San Juan as part
words of activist and architect Marina
of a toolkit for nonprofits that wish to take
Moscoso, who helped organize the project,
advantage of Law 157. La Maraña and Casa
it is “a unique, co-created, bottom-up,
Taft 169 exemplify the potential of creative
self-run, self-sustained civic center.” The
place-making and the extent of the civic
project represents a spontaneous and
imagination in San Juan, as ordinary people
informal response to an epidemic of
take governance into their own hands,
abandoned properties in the city. In 2013,
bypassing the baroque and idiosyncratic
a woman in the Machuchal neighborhood
bureaucracy while strengthening
of San Juan planted a garden in the front
participatory democracy.
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“The truth is that life will never be the same once you have the guts to defeat our societies’ worship of the almighty notion of private property." —Marina Moscoso Arabía
Photos top and left: Sara Madandar, 2017; right: Megan Flattley, 2017
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PISO PROYECTO Santurce and surroundings, Puerto Rico Born in Puerto Rico and having completed
broader political issues of decolonization
her higher education in the United
and universal questions of consciousness.
States, Noemí Segarra Ramírez is the embodiment of the vaiven, or the fluid
Segarra is an explorer of movement
motion of interchange between Puerto
and dance, a healer, educator, massage
Rican and “American” culture and physical
practitioner, yoga teacher, and cultural
space. Her work addresses questions of
and spiritual improviser. PISO proyecto
belonging and inclusion characteristic of
permits her to integrate her need to
both the migratory condition of Puerto
understand the world through movement
Rican citizens and the disorienting effect
with her need to incite that the world
of crisis on community.
also opens its eyes, reflects about space, the other, and the trajectories that many
Segarra’s most ambitious work, PISO
times we humans find ourselves following
proyecto (STEP project) was founded in
without questioning. Her work challenges
2011 in Santurce. One of the biggest
us all to close/ open our eyes and let our
districts in the capital and once the most
bodies flow in resistance to imposed
populated, Santurce has been hard hit
societal norms.
in the last two decades by the island’s financial hardships. PISO proyecto (piso being the Spanish word for floor and also
Segarra performed at the joint opening of
the phrase, “I step”) consists of improvised
Culture, Community, and Civic Imagination
movement on a 20’ x 9’4” platform. The
in Greater San Juan and Beyond the Canvas:
platform is the size of Segarra’s living
Contemporary Art from Puerto Rico one the
room, which serves as a semi-public
evening of April 26, 2017.
movement studio. Segarra places the portable platform in urban spaces, engaging the public alternately as spectators and participants. In so doing, she “reactivates” the increasingly depopulated and blighted public space, through ephemeral, spontaneous interactions that probe
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"Limits and geographies are ephemeral." —Noemà Segarra
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PATIO TALLER San Antón, Carolina, Puerto Rico Las Nietas de Nonó (the granddaughters
self-development and independence
of Nonó) are two sisters, Michelle Nonó
in children and adults alike. Though
and Lydela Leonor, who transformed
both sisters have traveled for work and
their grandparents’ ancestral home in
education, their lives remain centered in
an industrial zone of Carolina, Puerto
this small community. Their work engages
Rico into a community space referred
their personal family history in narratives
to as Patio Taller (Patio Project). Situated
representative of the community at large.
in an area that traditionally offered few safe public spaces, the sisters seek to
A variety of activities hosted on the
build trust and community by keeping
site—from performances and exhibitions
the house open to all who wish to come
to cooking demonstrations and use of
or go.
abundant fruit trees surrounding the property—invoke the history of Puerto
Considered by its founders as a site
Rico’s black ancestry, while demonstrating
of emancipatory education, where
local abundance, often hidden by scarcity
residents decide what they want
related to a forced dependency on U.S.
to teach and desire to learn, Patio
imports. In so doing, their projects reveal
Taller regularly hosts workshops
a level of prosperity independent of the
that recuperate local traditions and
government and liberated from historically
knowledge, such as the use of local
oppressive systems.
produce and medicinal plants, and organizes popular, participatory theater events that explore themes relevant to the community, among them incarceration, education, and state violence. The Nietas’ primary focus is helping community members find abundance and education within their immediate surroundings, fostering
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"We are cultivating alternative economies of subsistence, based on local knowledge, indigenous medicine and ancestral memory." —Michelle Nonó
Photos by Sedrick Miles, 2017
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EL DEPARTAMENTO DE LA COMIDA Punta Las Marias, Puerto Rico A vegetarian restaurant and CSA (community-supported agriculture) might seem an unusual endeavor to consider as social practice art, yet co-founder of El Departamento de la Comida (the Department of Food), Tara Rodríguez Besosa, credits its inception to an artist residency at San Juan’s groundbreaking arts organization, Beta Local. During her residency, Rodríguez (who trained as an architect) encountered an intellectual and political community that inspired her total rethinking of issues of food security and Puerto Rico’s forced colonial dependency (the island imports 95% of its food from the U.S.) on fundamentally creative terms. A legacy of monoculture in Puerto Rico (the government supported the singular production of sugar) had eradicated virtually all farming on the island—a paradox, given its rich agricultural potential. Rodríguez and her partner Olga Casellas Badillo began working with local farmers and small private gardens (including an organic farm started by Rodríguez’s mother) to bring a variety of produce to San Juan. Eventually they opened El Departamento de la Comida, the only
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vegetarian farm-to-table restaurant San Juan, in part because locals who were accustomed to a limited diet of rice, beans, and plantains did not know how to use the products they were providing. El Departamento de la Comida works closely with the community, supporting an increasing number of urban gardens emerging in vacant lots and abandoned properties throughout the city and offering educational programs for children and adults. As an artist and activist, Rodríguez sees the implications of her work as transcending agriculture. The agricultural notion of “polyculture” (the simultaneous cultivation of several crops) becomes a metaphor for bettering Puerto Rican society. “It strikes me that we do not see the importance of cultivating a diverse society, with different types of people, different beliefs and tastes, and ways of being happy,” Rodríguez remarked, “I personally identify myself as ‘queer’ and in everything I do, including the Department of Food, there is a prodiversity proposal.”
“Polyculture is much better than monoculture. This applies to communities, too. We need to recognize the importance of cultivating a diverse society.” —Tara Rodríguez
Photos by Sedrick Miles, 2017
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EXHIBITION ARTISTS & ACTIVISTS
clockwise from top left: Lydela Leonor, Michelle Nonó, Noemí Segarra Ramírez, Sofía Unanue Banuchi, Jossie Serrano, Tara Rodríguez Besosa. Portraits by Sedric Miles and Sara Mandandar
This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Jennifer Wooster (NC ’91), Don Peters (A&S ’81), and the Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University.
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STUDENT CURATORS
Back: (L-R) Sedrick Miles, community organizer Jossie Serrano, Sara Kittleson, Ericka Sanchez, Jade Madrid, Kelsey Reynolds, professor Edie Wolfe, advisor Laura Wolford, Megan Flattley, artist Jorge Gonzalez; Front: Chen Yu, Linett Luna Tovar, Hanna Dean, Eunice Lee, Katalina Euraque, Lindsay Bartlett, Sara Mandandar, Lucia Lozano-Hughes, artist Chemi Rosado
ABOUT THE MUSEUM The Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University builds on the Newcomb College legacy of education, social enterprise, and artistic experience. Presenting inspiring exhibitions and programs that engage communities both on and off campus, the museum fosters the creative exchange of ideas and cross-disciplinary collaborations around innovative art and design. The museum preserves and advances scholarship on the Newcomb and Tulane art collections. The academic institution for which the museum is named was founded in 1886 as the first degree-granting coordinate college for women in America. The H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College was distinguished for educating women in the sciences, physical education, and, most importantly, art education. Out of its famed arts program, the Newcomb Pottery was
born. In operation from 1895 until 1940, the Newcomb enterprise produced metalwork, fiber arts, and the now internationally renowned Newcomb pottery. The museum today presents original exhibitions and programs that explore socially engaged art, civic dialogue, and community transformation. The museum also pays tribute to its heritage through shows that recognize the contributions of women to the fields of art and design. As an entity of an academic institution, the Newcomb Art Museum creates exhibitions that utilize the critical frameworks of diverse disciplines in conceptualizing and interpreting art and design. By presenting issues relevant to Tulane and the greater New Orleans region, the museum also serves as a gateway between on and off campus constituencies. 15
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