La Valentina Podcast

S2 Ep10 - Latin(X)equis | The Future of Latinx Art

In this final episode of Season 2: Latin(X)equis we take a look back at the series and look forward to the future. We hear from our guests on how they envision the future of Latinx Art. We swoon over our dynamic, expansive, complex, and vast Latinx community. We realize we are not alone. And we send a call to action to all of our listeners - Support Latinx Artists, Collect the art of Latinx Artists, and champion Latinx artists in your own sphere of influence no matter how big or small it may be. We are stronger when we are together and we are stronger when we uplift each other up!!   Stay tuned for Season 3!  Hasta Pronto!!!  -Vale n' Tina

S2 Ep9 - Latin(X)equis | Francheska Alcantara

In this week's episode we are joined by the wonderful multidimensional artist Francheska Alcantara [http://francheskaalcantara.com/]. We talk about the multiple uses of soap as a material. We consider how traveling leads to knowledge building. Highlight the importance of taking up public space. We learn what it takes to save a local park. And remind ourselves that community is a conduit for change. An Afro-Caribbean-Latinx-queer-woman raised-by-their-grandmother and hailing from The Bronx, Francheska Alcantara explores slippages in-between memories, fragmentations and longing. Their aim is to explore the specific social meaning within the realm of the domestic and public life of artifacts and interactions such as: hand-washing their underwear with cuaba soap while taking a shower, setting up buckets to catch rainwater to wash their hair, and peeling plátanos with the knife that has the right sharpness to follow the platano’s curve without cutting their hand. Francheska wants to use these subjective experiences to expand our capacity for pleasure, love and intra-connection. Francheska graduated with a MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University, a BFA in Painting from Hunter College, and a BA in Art History from Old Dominion University. Alcántara has shared their work at the Brooklyn Museum, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Queens Museum, La Mama Theater, Grace Exhibition Space, and BronxArtSpace. Website [http://francheskaalcantara.com/] Instagram  [https://www.instagram.com/francheskaalcantarastudio/?hl=en] New Latinx Art Collective  [https://newlatinxartcollective.org/] The North Bronx Collective [https://hyperallergic.com/632855/north-bronx-collective-refurbish-tibbetts-tail-nyc-parks-locked-out/]

S2 Ep8 - Latin(X)equis | Dulcina Abreu

In this episode we bring you a great conversation with latinx curator Dulcina Abreu [https://dulcinaabreu.com/]. We talk about how education leads to liberation. We dive into whether "Latinx Art" is a trend. Dulcina reminds us to respect our community elders. We discuss the problem with museum interpretations. And we consider how archive-keeping and archive-making is paramount in righting the wrongs of a “forgetful” art historical record.  Dulcina Abreu is a Dominican-born independent curator, artist, and museum advocate currently based in Baltimore, MD. She graduated with a MFA in Curatorial Practice [https://www.mica.edu/annual-events-series/2021-commencement-exhibition-3/student/dulcina-abreu/] from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a BFA in Fine Arts and Media from Parsons, The New School. Prior to living in New York, Dulcina studied at The National School of Visual Arts and Altos de Chavon School of Design, both in the Dominican Republic. Abreu’s work explores 21st century visual and material culture from the Caribbean Diaspora in the US, immigration, community organizing, and mutactivism. She serves as the Consulting Curator for the September 11th,2001: An Evolving Legacy project at the National Museum of American History; and is the Co-founder of the International Coalition of Museum Professionals and Communities alongside Armando Perla. Abreu currently manages the NYC Latino 9-11 collecting initiative and NYC Latino COVID-19 project which aims to expand the national narrative with Latino/a new yorker stories and material culture; Dulcina  will also be joining the Latinx Youth Movements project this upcoming august to support lead curator Margaret Salazar-Porzio with a curatorial assistant position at the Molina Family Latino Gallery in collaboration with the Smithsonian Latino Center and the National Museum of American History.   Show Notes: Website: https://dulcinaabreu.com/ [https://dulcinaabreu.com/] instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dulcinaabreu/ [https://www.instagram.com/dulcinaabreu/]

S2 Ep7 - Latin(X)equis | The House of Abundance

In this episiode we bring you The House of Abundance!!! Mr. Vale and Miss Tina bring us tons and tons of Latinx artist resources and goings-on in the art worlds. show notes below with everything that was mentioned!  Galleries:  * Calderon (NY) [https://calderon-ny.com/] opened late last year with the mission to exhibit Latinx artists and Latin American,  * Ruiz-Healy Art [https://ruizhealyart.com/] (San Antonio, with a new location in  NY) has had a strong showing of Latinx artists  * Kiara Cristina Ventura’s roving Processa [https://www.processa.art/] arts space now has a permanent home in the Queens’s Ridgewood neighborhood in NY Museums: * The Cheech! [https://riversideartmuseum.org/visit/the-cheech-marin-center-for-chicano-art-culture/] Joining the Riverside Art Museum family on May 8, 2022 is Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture. * Perez Art Museum [https://www.pamm.org/] * De la Cruz Collection  [https://www.delacruzcollection.org/] * The Molina Family Latino Gallery [https://latino.si.edu/gallery] the Smithsonian’s first gallery dedicated to Latino contributions to the United States, the Molina Family Latino Gallery [https://latino.si.edu/gallery/about] serves as the preview of the National Museum of the American Latino, currently in the works. The Smithsonian Latino Center will open the 4,500-square-foot gallery in the National Museum of American History in May 2022. * El Museo del Barrio  [https://www.elmuseo.org/] relaunched La Trienal exhibition, curated by Rodrigo Moura, Susanna V. Temkin, and artist Elia Alba, and as Maximiliano Duron writes for art news “it felt like a rebirth for an institution roiled by protests over a lack of Latinx art at the museum during the past couple years. “ Organizations and Grants: * NALAC [https://www.nalac.org/]:-Since 1989, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures has delivered programs that stabilize and revitalize the US Latino arts and cultural sector via funding, leadership training, convenings, research, and advocacy. NALAC envisions a cultural landscape that fully values and integrates the essential contributions of an expanding Latino arts field and its dynamic workforce. * The NALAC Fund for the Arts [https://www.nalac.org/grants/] (NFA) grant program offers various funding opportunities to Latinx artists, arts administrators, ensembles and organizations in the United States and Puerto Rico. The grant program is undergoing evaluation after NALAC shifted focus to pandemic relief funding for artists in 2020-21 w their Actos de Confianza grants. * LATINX PROJECT AT NYU [https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/] - The Latinx Project was founded by Arlene Davila who serves as the founding director. The Latinx Project at New York University explores and promotes U.S. Latinx Art, Culture and Scholarship through creative and interdisciplinary programs. Founded in 2018, it serves as a platform to foster critical public programming and for hosting artists and scholars. We are especially committed to examining and highlighting the multitude of Latinx identities as central to developing a more inclusive and equitable vision of Latinx Studies. * THE U.S. LATINX ART FORUM [https://www.uslaf.org/] CHAMPIONS ARTISTS AND ARTS PROFESSIONALS ENGAGED IN RESEARCH, STUDIO PRACTIC, AND WRITING. They GENERATE AND SUPPORT INITIATIVES THAT ADVANCE THE VITALITY OF LATINX ART THROUGH AN INTERGENERATIONAL NETWORK THAT SPANS ACADEMIA, ART INSTITUTIONS, AND COLLECTIONS * US Latinx Art Forum is also behind the monumental Latinx Artist Fellowship [https://www.uslaf.org/latinx-artist-fellowship] which over the next five years will award 75 Latinx artists with an unrestricted $50k fellowship.  * Latinx Spaces [https://www.latinxspaces.com/] : Latinx Spaces is at the intersection of Latinx art, politics, and culture. Our mission is to create engagement with the ideas and histories that make up diverse Latinx cultures. More than an identity project, we are the voice for the Latinx movement.  * Latinx Art collective [https://latinxartcollective.org/about.html]: is the first online digital platform for Latinx Arts, it is available for artists, cultural producers, curators and arts organizers. The platform exists so that museums and institutions will no longer have the excuse, that they “don’t know where all the Latinx Artists Are” – if you are a Latinx artists or curator or just interested in Latinx Art make your profile!  Books: * WE ARE HERE Visionaries of Color Transforming the Art World [https://gallerygurls.net/] by Jasmin Hernandez (founder of Gallery Gurls) —-> We Are Here presents the bold and nuanced work of queer Black and Brown visionaries transforming the art world. * This winter, Aperture magazine released LATINX [https://aperture.org/magazines/aperture-245/], a collection of dynamic visions of Latinx photography across the united states. We are SO EXCITED for this! Political resistance, family, community, the complexity of identity in American life are just a few of the subjects the issue touches on. Tompkins Rivas, noted: the issue is “creating a visual archive whose edges are yet to be defined.”  * And of course there is our latin(x)equis bible! the Latinx Art: Artists, Markets, and PoliticsBook [https://www.xn--arlene-dvila-jbb.com/books] by Arlene M. Dávila SHOUT OUT: to get a snap-shot of all the goings-on with Latinx art in 2021 we recommend the recent article by Maximiliano Duron in ArtNews titled: “Latinx Art Got More Visibility Than Ever in 2021. What Will Change Going Forward?”  [https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/latinx-art-2021-1234614727/]

S2 Ep6 - Latin(X)equis | Justin Favela

In this week's episode we bring you a super upbeat interview with rising Latinx artist Justin Favela! Some of you may know him as FavyFav from the popular podcasts Latinos Who Lunch [http://www.latinoswholunch.com/], and The Art People Podcast [https://artpeoplepod.libsyn.com/]. In this episode we get real about wedging ourselves into spaces of power, we dissect a piñata mosaic, discuss the qualifications of taco experts, get into Latinx art history, and we find out how the Favela Family Fiestas come into being in museums across the United States.  Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and known for large-scale installations and sculptures that manifest his interactions with American pop culture and the Latinx experience, Justin Favela has exhibited his work both internationally and across the United States. His installations have been commissioned by museums including the Denver Art Museum in Colorado and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. He is the recipient of the 2018 Alan Turing LGTBIQ Award for International Artist and is a current Joan Mitchell Fellow, 2021 [https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/justin-favela]. He holds a BFA in fine art from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.   Follow Favy on instagram [https://www.instagram.com/favyfav/]