Our Stories: Art At Home by Yolanda Rodriguez

BxArts Factory began with a vision in mind.  That vision is the collection of the experiences of an amazing group of people, including me.  I have seen how art and community made a difference in my life as I made The Bronx my new home in 1997.  I wrote, and served and that connected me to this new community.  It helped me cope with the new world and language around me.  Art was familiar, it was a language that I knew how to speak, it was a recognizable force that drove me closer to achieving my dreams.    I saw myself in art, in a time when I didn’t belong any place or any time.  Art help me remain sane, navigate my soul, my mind and my feelings as I suffered prejudice, was misguided, taken advantage off, or made fun off.  I knew where to go to feel safe.  Art took me back to that moment when I wrote my first poem and I loved it, took me back to the sounds of waves, of the wind, the smells of fresh brewed coffee, took me back to my mother and father’s voices, art took me back where I belong, now.
My father was a teacher, a farmer and an artist.  My mother created beautiful dresses, arts and craft projects, macramé, baking goods and work as a case worker. Both my parents surrounded us with creativity.  I created many memories with them. I watched my father work the clay that he collected from the banks of the river in Maunabo, and made beautiful vases.  I saw how my mother turned a piece of fabric into beautiful master pieces.  The patience and the love will forever stay with me.  I will always remember that my parents wanted us to learn and create with them.  My siblings and I became little apprentices.  We worked with clay, we painted, we baked, we cut fabric, we went to collect materials to create art to the beach or country side.  We were all a creative family.  That was part of my upbringing.  I just can’t imagine a life without art.
BxArts Factory is born out of that understanding.   We know first-hand the power that art has in the lives of the misplaced.   Art does make a difference in the lives of those that create it and in the lives of those that need to experience it.  No one should be denied the right to create.