In partnership with the Mi Museo Committee, the Springfield Museums are delighted to announce the third annual Latino Arts Festival on Friday, September 5, from 5-8 pm. Leading into National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Festival is a celebration of the myriad arts and rich cultures of the Puerto Rican, Cuban, Afro-Cuban, Portuguese, Mexican, Dominican, and Central and South American populations of Greater Springfield. Festival activities are free and open to the public.
The Festival will open with a salsa demonstration by Latin Wildfire Youth Dancers. Attendees will enjoy music by The Goza Latin Band and DJ Cowboy, Afro-Puerto Rican dance and musical performance by Bomba de Aqui, floral installation by Idalia Long of Social Haus Displays, hands-on activities, complimentary hors d’oeuvres, and a cash bar.
“It is truly an honor to be a part of such a meaningful event–one that brings together individuals and families of all backgrounds to celebrate the richness and vibrancy of Latino Heritage,” says Lydia Martinez-Alvarez, chair of the Mi Museo Committee. “Events like this not only foster unity and understanding but also highlights the cultural contributions that continue to shape our communities.”
This year’s Latino Arts Festival marks opening of two exhibitions in the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Ats featuring works from the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Docent guided tours of the exhibits will be available throughout the Festival. Legacies of Surrealism highlights painters working throughout Latin America and exemplifies the deep influence of Surrealism in the region. Although created in the latter half of the 20th century, these works emphasize thematic and stylistic features that first appeared in the region during the 1930s and developed over the following decades. Through their exploration of the unconscious mind, they give form to dreamlike landscapes, ominous creature-like entities, and strange, non-representational organic shapes that seem inspired by nature.
Featuring Puerto Rican artists such as Miguel Pou y Becerra (1880-1968) and Myrna Báez (1931-2018), as well as others from across Latin America, Markets, Foodways, and the Essence of Place showcases artworks generously loaned from the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico. The works’ subject matter ranges from tightly cropped still lifes to colorful aerial vistas of Puerto Rican markets and mountainside plantations. In conversation with images from the D’Amour Museum’s permanent collection, this exhibition highlights 20th-century depictions of the landscape, culminating in contemporary works that continue to explore the enduring theme of colonial depictions of paradisiacal locations.
Funded in large part by a state earmark sponsored by Rep. Carlos González, Sen. Adam Gomez, and the Springfield Legislative delegation, the Latino Arts Festival was organized by the Mi Museo Committee and is supported by Baystate Health, El Sol Latino, Full Power Radio, MassLive Media, and New England Public Media.
Works in Legacies of Surrealism and Markets, Foodways, and the Essence of Place are generously lent by Museo de Arte de Ponce as part of Art Bridges’ Partner Loan Network; exhibitions sponsored locally by Connecticut Public.
MassMutual is the season sponsor of the Springfield Museums.