Street Talk: Public Art in East Harlem

Members of El Puerto Rican Embassy Conduct Art & Cultural Action Against Censorship and Repression in Puerto Rico @ Pedro Pietri Mural

A 'Hood By Any Other Name?

Rafael Merino comments on "The South Bronx, and Proudly" by David Gonzalez of The New York Times.

In a media-centric society, branding has become everything. It is scary to see how a small group of shortsighted individuals can sway the masses, or at least give it a good try.

Here, in El Barrio/ Spanish Harlem, we’re fighting a very similar battle. Although the generic moniker of “East Harlem” has gained more ground than “Downtown Bronx,” El Barrio and Spanish Harlem designations are well respected, engraved in a large amount of small businesses, defended by local politicians and civic groups, and immortalized in popular culture. How do you turn your back on that? Some have tried. Yes, there was a “SpaHa” café that opened up once — they didn’t last a year. A feeble attempt to vandalize our neighborhood with an “Upper Yorkville” mark was met with immediate and almost violent reaction.

Congressman Serrano was right about respecting the roots, struggle and unabridged history of a community — or person; embracing the complete story is what builds character — and brand name recognition. And to poor and working communities that don’t have much in the way of real ownership of land, these names and symbols create an important physiological bond to the closest thing we can call “home.”

Puerto Rico is a larger example of that. It may be a colonial possession; the people’s will to incorporate into the global economy may be curtailed by the US government; their soldiers keep getting killed even though they can’t vote for their Commander-in-Chief; and they have no real voice in the same US Congress that controls their destiny; but mess with their flag and you’re gonna get cut.

You build on that kind of passion, you don’t paint over it.

— Rafael Merino, NY Latino Journal

Bronx Latin American Art Biennial Comes to Boricua College in the Bronx

Latin American Art Show Review
By Robert Waddell
September 30, 2008

It is a foregone conclusion that art biennials, the Whitney Museum’s especially, haven been known to be a visual mish-mosh, higgledy-pigeldy compilation of good art, bad art, also-rans, hilarious and complete dreck, with an occasional great work in the mix.

This is true for the Bronx Latin American Art Biennial 2008’s “Exhibition: Legends of Identity,” which falls in the category of laughably incongruous and outlandishly bad works of art.

Too much of the art is derivative of Dali, Picasso, Rivera and Lichtenstein. Derivation is fine if it’s done with élan, finesse and as homage, but this Latin American art biennial is so damned hard on the eyes. There’s Felix Moya’s portrait of what looks like multi-colored glass bubbles on Mars covered with chocolate chip covered cookies. There’s a bizarre canvas with splattered paints, a skull in the corner of the frame and dream figures. The artist must have thought that globs of compacted colorful paint caked to cold perfection would be great art.



Some of the highlights of the show include “Festivell” by Victor Cuya, two companion pieces, the first looks like a farmer working his land on one canvas and in the second canvas his hands are raised in praise for rich crops. The 2 pieces in rust color are done in an impressionist style. The other two pieces of note are realistic portraits “Orpheus” by Isabel Echeverri, of what could be a Santeria prince and princess, respectively. The works are done in vibrant red and capture facial expressions and body language beautifully of the artist’s subjects. Pancho Guerra Garcia’s “Untitled” show crowds of a ghost-like crowd where the people are together but separate and anonymous. Then there are the well intentioned political drawings of Carlos Fajardo of what seems like unfinished scratching of George Bush and Ronald McDonald as ghoulish monsters. The anchor to the show comes from Jose Gomez’s 3 large panels resembling the inside of a fish market. The colors are, however, muted and lifeless.

More important, this version of Latin American art should not have been considered just because it was by Latin American artists. There are thoughtful, provocative and energetic artists today of all ages who could have been asked to create a quilt that could have been a dynamic montage of the greatest of Latin America, instead, the Bronx gets this. Huh?!

This can’t be the best art Latin America has to offer --- Diego, Frieda and Oroxco must be turning in their graves. There’s so much better stuff at the Met, MOMA and El Museo Del Barrio. (In full disclosure, this reviewer is an educator at Boricua College.)

What’s most disturbing of “Legends of Identity” is that it’s in the Bronx, where one of the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans have lived and continue to live for generations, presented at “Boricua” College, however a contemporary Puerto Rican artistic point-of-view is non-existent. The curators of this colossus of art could have tapped Puerto Rican artists for their exhibition, say, off the top of my head, Nicholasa Mohr, Antonio Martorell, Sandra Maria Esteves, Fernando Salicrup, Raphael Tufino, Marcos Dimas, Wanda Ortiz, Enid Alvarez, Marisol Diaz, James de la Vega, Manny Vega, Ruthy Valdez, and these are the ones I know at one sitting. Think how this show could have been greatly improved with contemporary Puerto Rican artists, the ones I know about and the ones I could have easily looked up.

For vibrant, fascinating and thought provoking Latin American art, try El Museo del Barrio. Or, wait for the S-Files, another compilation art show presented by El Museo in the spring. Longwood Arts Gallery at Hostos Community College has wonderful exhibitions year round, as does Taller Boricua. Other upcoming art exhibitions are worth the wait. In the meantime, skip “Legends of Identity,” it’ll only give you bad dreams and a sour knot in your stomach.

The Bronx Latin American Art Biennial 2008, Exhibition: Legends of Identity is exhibited daily at the Boricua College Bronx Center, Exhibition Space, 412-424 E. 147th Street, 2nd floor. The show runs from September 26 to October 19. Curiosity Seekers Beware.

Rachel/Raquel “Rusty” Villegas (January 16, 1933 - February 10, 2008)

Courtesy of William Gerena-Rochet

There is an old but at times useful cliché that says “It takes a village to raise a child.” If that child grows to become one of our village’s elders – whose life was marked by a degree of dedication to the wellbeing and welfare of the village – and who upon passing away, we could add: “It takes a village to say farewell …” to that person. And so last week at Johnston Funeral home, family and members of the community of El Barrio/East Harlem said farewell to Raquel Villegas.

The following is from the funeral brochure for “Rachel/Raquel “Rusty” Villegas” (January 16, 1933 - February 10, 2008).

There are three things we definitely know about Rachel Villegas: her spirituality and faith; her love for her family; and her love for the community where she always lived, El Barrio.

Rachel Perez was born in Harlem Hospital and raised in East Harlem. Always a hard worker, she began her career at Sylvie’s, a women’s clothing store located on 105th and 3rd Avenue. With the advent of the War on Poverty, in 1963 Rachel entered a jobs-training program to obtain her GED. She then began to show her true talents in helping people and perfecting systems at Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital.

Rachel had the fortunate experience of working on the staff of newly-elected Congressman Charles Rangel, in 1970. This was the position where Rachel’s reputation for empathy and dedication for the people of this community grew by leaps and bounds.

After leaving the Congressman’s staff, she continued her career with the New York City Blood Bank and subsequently with the Board of Education as a paraprofessional working with special-needs children. Her last position was serving the needs of the senior citizens at the Casaba Senior Housing Project.

Regardless of the positions, Rachel’s love for the people of El Barrio governed her tireless efforts to see it become all that it could be educationally, economically and culturally. One of the driving principles that made Rachel exceptional was her respect and concern for everyone she encountered. She never refused to help anyone, or any cause, and everyone was met with her sense of humor and exceptional warmth, which made her a well-known “magnet” in El Barrio.

The following are excerpts or messages of farewell for Rachael.

From Bob Espier

“By way of Farewell”

Although I had known Rachel for years, it was only peripherally, as Casabe Founder Ernesto Martinez' assistant in setting up the social & food services at Casabe; although her name would come across my desk more often than I could count.

Then, suddenly, she & Yolanda invited me to join the Casabe Board in the Summer of 2006, & I joined in September. This began a close & rewarding working friendship. I didn’t know much about Rachel's formal education, but after observing the skill with which she scrutinized financial reports, I concluded (in the back of my mind) that she was a CPA or equivalent. However, she was not. It was just the natural skill for incisive analysis that Rachel brought to everything she did. Of course, the tendency was then to pay less attention to the reports, since Rachel could be counted on to do such a thorough job. Regardless of my extensive experience in community organizations & governance, I had never come across a board member with that keen an eye for financial reports. After that momentary lapse of responsibility, I realized that I owed it to myself & the organization to bring the same intensity to these reports.

When Rachel began to drop out because of her illness, we had a telephone chat & she wondered if she could continue to fully serve on the board. My response was, 'come to meetings when you can but just make sure that you continue to pay close attention to the financial reports.' That is where we left it with respect to Rachel's role as a board member. She attended the December meeting, functioned perfectly well, & we were all encouraged. However, shortly after that, the hospitalizations became more frequent as her health deteriorated more rapidly -- until we learned the sad news of her passing on Saturday, 9 February 2008.

Goodbye Rachel,
Bob Espier
Chairman of Casabe Board

From Gloria E. Quinones

“An unforgettable and regrettable lose for El Barrio”

Rachel Villegas is a model of courage and integrity, a sincere and loyal friend, a fierce defender of the Puerto Rican community. Not surprisingly, she is a founding member of Women of El Barrio/Mujeres de El Barrio, established to develop the leadership capabilities of Puerto Rican women. She was so much fun to work with, as a talented lover of arts and crafts; she would have us go to her home to work on the center pieces she had designed for our annual New Year's Gala and Women's History Month events. It was Rachel who kept a checklist of all the event details: invitations, the food, drinks, entertainment, set-up, reception, clean-up, etc. and we had better be sure it was covered! For the past two years Rachel volunteered one evening per week at the office of Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito to serve constituents with problem around housing, government benefits.

Rachel loved to make you laugh and she thoroughly enjoyed a good joke. Rachel Villegas is an unforgettable and irreplaceable loss to her family, her friends and to El Barrio.

Gloria E. Quinones is an East Harlem Activist

Rachel is survived by her sons, James Benjamin Gwynne and Juan Villegas, Jr. (Michelle); her grandchildren, Mariko Gwynne, Rachel Mary Gwynne, James Paul Gwynne, Benjamin Gwynne, Insiah Villegas and Akil Hicks; her great-grandson, Nasseer Ogbourne; her sister, Olga DeLeonardis (Bepo); her niece and nephews, JoMarie Pierson (Scott), Stephan Santini (Teresa) and John DeLeonardis, Jr. (Rosalie); and their children, as well as numerous cousins and friends. All were greatly influenced by her love and wisdom. All will miss her.

Panel Discussion on Grand Jury

Resist Grand Jury

Dissent Is Not A Crime