Mi Gente Latinx Music Festival

Mi Gente! is a community collaboration aimed at highlighting the traditional and contemporary music rhythms of Latin America, particularly in the borough of the Bronx home to the majority of New York City’s Latin American residents.

The mission of Mi Gente! Latinx Music Festival is to celebrate and honor the music that has transcended borders and time to reflect the lived experiences of migrants living in the US. Latinx music is an element of identity and resistance that mirrors the complexity of the diaspora. Our music recounts the ancestral memories of struggles and moments of happiness which still hold true to many migrants today and for the ones left behind. The term Latinx is intentionally part of the title to acknowledge the contribution of queer, trans, and gender nonconforming people, in the creation of our musical heritage.

Mi Gente! Will showcase musicians that, represent the diversity of rhythms that exist in Latin America: from the beautiful indigenous sounds honoring Pachamama (Mother Earth),to the drums of our African Ancestors, and the adoption of new instruments introduced through colonization.

Mi Gente! is a link to connect the Latinx community across The Bronx and New York City.

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Reflections: Celebrating 50 Years of the West Indian American Day Carnival

The West Indian population of the Bronx, NY is 8% or 106,000 people from various islands lying between southeastern North America and northern South America bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic and comprising the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles and Bahamas. The largest event in New York City that celebrates and honors Caribbean culture, arts, history and traditions is the West Indian American Day Carnival, which is comprised of week-long festivities and a grand finale. The grand finale Carnival reaches over one million people in attendance during Labor Day weekend with participants and tourists from all over the world.

Reflections: Celebrating 50 Years of the West Indian American Day Carnival celebrates and honors the history of the Caribbean carnival by reflecting on the West Indian population in the Bronx, NY and noting their impact and long-lasting influence on their community and NYC. Through the lens of 5 Bronx-based photographers, the vibrancy, tradition and impact of West Indian Americans are captured by the photographs on display. Artists Trevon Blondet, Ijeoma D. Iheanacho, Jonathan Joseph, Omesh Persaud and Harri “Indio” Ramkishun each take on a subtheme of inspiration from the West Indian community. Together the photographs share the energy and strength of the West Indian population and the groups influence to the political, economic and cultural vitality of the North Bronx.

Sponsored by
BxArts Factory
Pepe Coronado Studio and print Projects
The Montefiore Fine Art Program

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Men of Clay / Hombres de Arcilla

BxArts Factory, The Point CDC and Alberto Villalobos (Villalobos Brothers) Present Men of Clay / Hombres de Arcilla: Art Exhibit and Installation by Alberto Villalobos with Guest Artist Miguel Angel Mendoza Melchor.

Bronx, New York, April 1, 2016 – BxArts Factory, The Point CDC and Alberto Villalobos present: Men of Clay / Hombres de Arcilla: Art Exhibit and Installation by Alberto Villalobos with Guest Artist Miguel Angel Mendoza Melchor at The Point Campus for the Arts and Environment opening on April 22, 2017 at 5 pm. The Point Campus is located at 1391 Lafayette Avenue, Bronx, NY 10474. Exhibition will be on display until Saturday, May 27, 2017.

“Hombres de Arcilla” (Men of Clay) showcases Alberto Villalobos’ collection of 43 hand-made clay masks. These masks honor the memory of the 43 disappeared students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, Mexico. About his work, Villalobos says “for me, clay represents the fragility of life, yet the resilience of the human spirit. I hope that by giving faces to the disappeared, their memory may live on.”

Alberto Villalobos (Xalapa, Mexico, 1982) is a visual artist, violinist, and composer living in New York City. He graduated from the University of Veracruz where he studied under Mexican pedagogue Carlos Marrufo. He holds a Masters from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, Belgium, where he studied with Igor Oistrakh. Villalobos also studied with Liviu Prunaru at the International Yehudi Menuhin Academy in Switzerland and with Zakhar Bron in Vienna.

Along with his two brothers, he is a founding member of the award-winning musical group Villalobos Brothers. Their music carries messages of love, brotherhood, and social justice. Together they perform regularly around the world and have graced the stages of Carnegie Hall, The Latin Grammys, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the 60th Anniversary Gala Concert at the United Nations.

Opening reception will include performances by Juan Kanagui (BadLovePoetry), Villalobos Brothers, Outernational, Cosobi Mendoza, Mazarte Dance Company, Julieta Méndez La Julietissima, Ballet Folklórico de la Revolución en Columbia University, Zelene Pineda, and a special presentation of the short film by Semillas: “Trataron de Enterrarnos pero No Sabían que Eramos Semillas”

Additional free events include: Sunday, May 7 – 1 to 3 p.m. Community Action Day, Saturday, May 13-Collaborative Workshop after the Bronx River Alliance Flotilla, Tuesday, May 16 – 4 to 6 p.m. Clay Art Workshop with Alberto Villalobos and Saturday, May 27 – 5 to 8 p.m. Closing Reception – Writing/Poetry Night – Remembering the Missing.

The Point CDC, is a non-profit organization dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of the South Bronx. BxArts Factory, is a non-profit organization dedicated to making art accessible to everyone in the Bronx. \

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Sajata Epps – NAP Virtual Resident 2017

Sajata Epps (aka SAJATA-E) is a sustainable clothing and textiles artist running her socially responsible lifestyles brand from the South Bronx. Sajata builds most of her machines and tools from scratch using upcycled materials. She also grows plants she uses for her natural dyes in urban farms she helps develop for her community members in the Bronx. Sajata has been a designer for over 17 years and has worked with wonderful organizations like The New York Public Library, Bronx Council on the Arts, and Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center developing fun and innovative arts programming for eco minded New Yorkers.

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Gabriel Chakarji and Carmela Ramirez will be playing and singing live at our Anniversary

 

We are beyond thrilled to have the amazing Gabriel Chakarji and Carmela Ramirez playing and singing live at our anniversary!!! Their album Vida/Life will be also available for purchase!

Buy your tickets today: www.2anniversarybxaf.eventbrite.com
The young music talents Carmela Ramirez and Gabriel Chakarji get together in a creative period of their lives, where they decide to undertake a project based on their commitment to the Venezuelan and Latin American music. His constant search for new musical horizons led them to compose music thinking on the traditions of their culture approached in a contemporary way which quickly made up the personality and the sound of this duo.
After successful performances in his hometown Caracas, producer German Landaeta offers them the idea of recording an album. Combining his expertise and technical excellence with the passion and creativity of the young duo it was finished in just one day of recording. That’s how “Life “was” born.
Recorded live entirely in Chacao Cultural Center Theater, “Life” presents 12 compositions by Carmela and Gabriel inspired in their direct influences, traditional Venezuelan music, Latin American folk and Jazz. The album also features a peculiar drum/percussion sound created by two percussionists Yilmer Vivas and Orestes Gomez that blends ingeniously with the voice and piano. It also features special guests Rafael Greco and Andres Barrios, famous venezuelan composers and instrumentalists.  “Life” presents a picture of a unique moment where art, creativity and sincerity were the only rule.

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We are Longwood Art Festival

I am Longwood Arts Festival By Tasha Valentino

On July 4, 2016 the BxArts Factory participated in their 2nd event of the summer. They were one of the many artisans who came out to the “I am Longwood Arts Festival”. The event was a success as they “celebrated and promoted cultural vitality of the arts in the South Bronx”.

BxArts Factory had the opportunity to talk to many community members about how they bring art to their homes, what type of art they do and how they feel this has benefited their lives. The community activity facilitated by awesome volunteers, encouraged participants to have fun with art, stimulated teamwork and promoted creativity without competition. This was displayed as children, parents, and siblings worked together for a common goal. They all contributed their time and talents towards a community collage which will be displayed at PS 333. Members of the community continued to return to the table to see the evolution of the project. Many commented they were excited to have been a part of the project as it reminded them of the space they live in. It also bought them a sense of pride and strength to know that, as a community, they are resilient despite individual challenges.

Tasha Valentino

 

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Memories Un-Remembered: Thinking of Home (Longing)

BxArts Factory​ in partnership with Bronx Music Heritage Center​ present our 1st project of 2016!
Memories Un-Remembered: Thinking of Home (Longing).

This Arts Exhibition/Community Project was curated by Alexis Mendoza​ and include artists Francheska Alcantara​, Stephanie Mota​, Lazarus Nazario​ and Edwin Torres​.

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 6th from 6 to 9 pm
1303 Louis Nine Boulevard, Bronx NY 10459
For more details please visit our FB event page:

Francheska Alcantara’s body of work transforms a vacant space into something unique and beautiful without any outside materials, metaphorically speaking to the way immigrants arrive at a new, unfamiliar place with minimal material possessions, and transform the existing area into a beautifully unique neighborhood laden with culture.
Who am I? Where do I come from? How do I place myself in society? These questions are just the start of  Alcantara’s internal dialogue dealing with identity, feminism, psychological states, and cultural background.

The relationships, dreams, hopes, and cultural values that support the series of mixed media sculptures created by Stehanie Mota titled “Mi-Pietā” es nothing less than a personal exploration in which the portrait take a form of a domestic object, a sentimental/conceptual expression of identity. Every material she used in the series (wood kitchen cabinets, stovetop coffee pot, rice, etc) are a further representation of the nuances of her nostalgia associated with her mother. Lazarus Nazario mixed painting with other media such as: printmaking, and found objects to confront social practices concerning her ancestors’ homeland that celebrates cultural differences while underscoring our shared history and humanity. Whether in public spaces or intimate settings, her painting explores the human figure from the intimate osmosis between essences and appearances. Her work shows the fusion of many languages to point out a clear reference of a sense of belonging.

In the same reflection Edwin Torres use as a subject his own family. “I am certain that in conclusive form, this work will have multiple layers of meaning for my family and will serve as a document to the Puerto Rican diaspora. This work is a journey of self-discovery and careful looking, where I will clarify my cultural identity and reconnect family together”. In the on-going series “Close to Home: Mi Familia and the Diaspora” we can feel the overwhelming reflection of two aspects “memory” and “place” negotiating the physical and psychological aspects of acculturation built into immigrants’ daily lives through adaptation and integration. For the past year, Edwin Torres have focused his work on documenting traumatic events and daily life in his immediate family

 

 

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Lovie Pignata – NAP Virtual Resident 2016

Lovie Pignata creates her works by using the spaces around her subject to develop the composition through pattern and light, often using elements of shadows and reflections, a theme most apparent in her photos.  Lovie works in a variety of mediums to achieve the desired end result for her work.  She regularly combines photography, collage, cut paper, acrylic paint and pen and ink.  Lovie studied undergraduate fine art, majoring in sculpture, at Pratt Institute.  She has also been a participant in the Botanical Drawing program at the New York Botanical Garden,  as well as advanced figure drawing at the Art Student League of New York.  Lovie also instructed the first outdoor drawing classes at Van Cortlandt Park thorough the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy in 2014

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BORI-CUBA 2×2

BxArts Factory presents BORI-CUBA 2×2 Art Exhibition at
Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center
November 6th to December 6th 2015
107 Suffolk Street, New YorkArtists:
Alejandro Epifanio, Alicia Leal, Annex Burgos, Carlos Mateu, Clara Morera, Diogenes Ballester, Elizam Escobar, Frank Guiller, Ibrahim Miranda, Ivelisse Jimenez, Jesus Rivera, Josue Guarionex Colon-Rosado, Juan Fernando Morales, Juan Si Gonzalez, Juana Valdes, Juanita Lanzo, Lissette Solorzano, Luis Stephenberg, MarcosDimas, Maria Dominguez, Nelson Alvarez, Nestor Otero, Nitza Tufino, Rafael Velez, Raul Villarreal, Renelio Marin

BORI-CUBA 2X2 seeks to provide an overview of how visual artists in two contemporary Caribbean cultures, Cuba and Puerto Rico, address the continuous dialogue between island and diaspora. For different reasons, a sizable sector of both islands’ populations has become diasporic, and the ongoing dialogue between both sectors has come to define their identities. It has been repeatedly said that both islands are “wings of the same bird” or mirror images of each other. To begin with, they share a strong Taino strand in their pre-Columbian history and a common Spanish colonial heritage. Both islands were, in fact, the last remnants of the Spanish empire in the Americas and were administratively treated in much the same way. The two islands’ culture was also shaped by a strong African presence and both have acted as ciphers of geopolitical brinksmanship since colonial days. Around the mid 20th century, this situation was reinforced by the relationship each island developed with the United States during the Cold War, with each one assuming a diametrically opposite relationship to its northern neighbor. Cuban visual culture, both that of the Island and that of the Diaspora, has had an overt political tone according to its pro or anti Cuban Revolution stance, reflected in its pro or anti U.S. position. The visual culture of Puerto Rico, on the other hand, has frequently displayed a covert political undertone, frequently addressing its colonial relationship to the United States. Are contemporary Cuban and Puerto Rican artists aware of this common tradition or are they distancing themselves from those concerns? Given the no less contrasting situation of the latest U.S. attitudes toward both islands (while there is a definite rapprochement with Cuba, there seems to be a great indifference toward helping solve Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis), it is certainly pertinent to study whether those attitudes are being addressed in the current art production of both countries, both by the artists who live on the islands and those who are part of their diasporas.

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