Next Thursday, September 5 in Central Park, artist Edra Soto will unveil a new sculpture from her Graft series (2013–), made from corten steel and terrazzo and inspired by the wrought-iron fencing often seen outside residences in Puerto Rico. The work, which she describes as”a monument to working class Puerto Rican communities,” will mark the first phase of Historias — a comprehensive three-year arts and cultural initiative centering Latine narratives across New York City, led by the Lower East Side’s Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center.
“It is up to us to archive our histories in order to preserve them and share them with future generations,” Soto said in an email to Hyperallergic. “We know what is important about us more than anyone else.” Born and raised in San Juan, the artist and educator is well-versed in this storytelling practice, drawing connections between her homeland and her present residence in Chicago.
This fall, the citywide Historias project will roll out an extensive lineup of cultural programming, research-driven endeavors, arts commissions, and oral history presentations that aim to cast a more comprehensive and intersectional view of New York’s steadily growing and diversifying Latinx population. A collaborative effort with the LxNY Consortium, which represents 45 arts and cultural groups, and a cluster of institutions like the Public Art Fund and the Brooklyn Public Library, the $2.5 million project is supported by a grant from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
Through the efforts and advocacy of groups like the Cultural Equity Coalition of New York City and LxNY, the city has taken steps to increase Latine representation in its public arts and culture programming, noted Libertad Guerra, executive director of the Clemente since 2020.
Still, she stressed that “funding inequities persist,” pointing out that programs for communities of color “are rarely expanded and are often among the first to face the chopping block.”
Divided into three phases, Historias will formally kick off on the last weekend of September with an art-filled block party on Suffolk Street outside the Clemente, which has been undergoing costly renovations that have cut off access to many of its facilities including exhibition galleries, outdoor plaza, and several artist studios. The cultural center is moving ahead with the 27th edition of its Open Studios, which will be held in unaffected studio spaces during the same weekend as the Historias launch event. Those interested in learning more information about additional programming this fall can check the Clemente’s website, where the organization will release a full lineup next month.
“To have a multiyear platform dedicated to build a record of Latinx perspectives through various forms of engagement is remarkable,” Soto told Hyperallergic.
“I greatly admire and respect the Latinx community’s commitment to culture in New York City,” she added. “It is palpable and like no other … like a perpetual celebration.”
