Develan el Monumento La Familia Puertorriqueña

Hartford, Connecticut: ARTE, CULTURA E HISTORIA fue lo que se compartió el dia 23 de septiembre de 2009.

Día donde un gran numero representativo de Puertorriqueños de la isla conmemora el Grito de Lares reuniéndose precisamente en el pueblo donde nace la Historia. Para aquellos que no están a tono con lo sucedido, un 23 de septiembre del 1868, un grupo de patriotas puertorriqueños llevó a cabo un levantamiento contra los españoles. Este levantamiento se conoce como el Grito de Lares.

En Hartford, CT, sin embargo se hace otra historia. La de-velación del monumento a La Familia Puertorriqueña. El evento comenzó a las 10:00a.m. en el "Learning Corridor", Hartford, CT. Como maestro de ceremonia el Sr. Luis C. Cabán, Director ejecutivo de SINA, Inc. dio la bienvenida a los que allí se congregaron para ver lo que para ellos seria ser parte de la historia, ya que el monumento es único en el mundo.

La ceremonia fue dedicada a a cuatros jóvenes, dos de la escuela Elemental Betances: Ashely Vargas y Zachary Cabán y dos de la escuela Elemental Sanchez: Luis Castro y Naysmarie Cosme. En la oratoria se destacó el Alcalde de Hartford, Hon. Eddie A. Pérez entregando una proclama, el cual le dedicaba el día 23 de septiembre del 2009 al Sr. José Buscaglia-Guillermety, el escultor de dicha pieza.

El Monumento de 8 por 10 pies de alto fue develado entre medio del "The Greater Hartford Academic arts" y el "Performing Arts", ubicado entre la Vernon y la Washington Streets. El mismo tiene en frente una inscripción que dice: "Honoring the contribution of the Puerto Rican Families to the development of the United States of America".

Atrás tiene la bandera Puertorriqueña seguido por todos los pueblos de la Isla del Encanto.
El comité Amigos del monumento los son: Aura Alvarado, Fernando Betancourt, Kate Bolduc Lynch, Luis Cabán, Luis E. Cotto, Francis Dávila, Ken Kahn, Julio Mendoza, Pedro Segarra, Marcelina Sierra e Ivette Quiros..

Los fondo provinieron de: Office of the Mayor, City of Hartford, Hartford Court of Common Council, Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA), Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P), Fannie Mae, Foxwoods Casino, Hartford Insurance.
Fondos adicionales: Hartford Federation of Teacher, SAMA, Tomasso Brothers, Smith & Whiley Investment, State Workers Union Wilson Maestre. Donaciones individuales: José Buscaglia, Jose Centeno, Bobby Clark, Zaida Colón Cortez, Hervin Kinsella, Robert Medina, Armando Nieves de Armando & Son, Freddy Ortiz, Rivera Riera, Iván Rivera, Juan Rivera, Iris Rivera Acosta y Pedro Segarra. Se le dio las gracias a los miembros de la comunidad por el esfuerzo y su contribución. También se reconoció y se dio las gracias a los miembros de Puertorriqueños Unidos (OPU) quienes trabajaron y tuvieron la visión bajo el liderazgo de María Pérez Colón, Mildred Torres Soto fue la que vislumbró y trajo la idea de que este monumento será un legado para las futuras generaciones de Puertorriqueños.

Por mi parte tuve que estar alli para validar lo sucedido en ese día tan significativo para muchos Puertorriqueños.

PRIAA ARE VERY PROUD OF OUR SCULPTOR JOSE BUSCAGLIA

JOSE BUSCAGLIA ONE OF THE WORLD’S FINEST AND MOST ACCOMPLISHED SCULPTORS AND ONE OF PUERTO RICO’S FOREMOST ARTISTS.
Photos: Alfonso Acevedo

Warwick, Rhode Island: José Buscaglia was born in the capital city of San Juan in 1938 and live in Johnston, Rhode Island. His involvement with art dates from the precocious age of eight. During this early phase in his career he underwent intensive training with the Catalonian teacher Ismael D’ Alzina. While a student at Harvard University, he spent a year abroad in Barcelona, Spain, working at the studio of world-renowned sculptor Enrique Monjo. He also took courses at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Jorge where Picasso, Dalí, and Miró had studied earlier. Following his 1960 graduation he collaborated with Monjo working as his assistant. Returning to Puerto Rico in 1962, Buscaglia held positions for 18 years at the University of Puerto Rico as a professor, sculptor in residence, and director of fine arts.

His lifelong interest in the nature of the creative process and thinking skills, led to his participation in the designing and implementation of experimental educational programs in Venezuela from 1979 to 1985. A joint effort by Harvard University and the Venezuelan government led to an innovative program known as “Project Intelligence”.

Buscaglia is perhaps one of the most prolific artists in the field on monumental sculpture, with major shows at Harvard University, Yale University, Rockefeller Center in New York, and several time in (Washington, D.C.) as: “Unofficially the most important gift to the gallery since its opening…” Artist/Professor Ben Shan said of José Buscaglia: “There are few sculptors, young or old, who have the courage to go their own ways, not to be overwhelmed by trends and by journalistic approval; there are fewer still that have the competence to do the kind of work that José can does.”

Buscaglia has authored close to 40 public monuments in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the United States. He is a Fellow Member of the National Sculpture Society and a founding member of the Academy of Arts & Sciences of Puerto Rico. As an educator he has taught and lectured at leading institutions in Europe, Latin American and the United States, and has published considerably on the teaching of intelligence and the voluntary control of the creative process.

First Photo: Buscaglia was the speaker for Past, Present Santos of Puerto Rico Exhibition. Exhibition brought from Puerto Rico in 1999.
Sponsor by the Puerto Rico Institute of Puerto Rico in collaboration with the Puerto Rican Institute for the Arts of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Foundation.

Second photo: Holiday card sent to Lydia Perez by Jose Buscaglia.
Join us at the Dedication of this Monument to the Puerto Rican Family, Wednesday, September 23, 2009
10:00a.m.
Learning Corridor (Corner of Vernon & Washington Streets), Hartford, Connecticut
Be part of history in the making....unveiling of the only monument in the world dedicated to

LA FAMILA PUERTORRIQUEÑA


More information about José Buscaglia sees: www.josebuscaglia.com

MONUMENTO A LA FAMILIA PUERTORRIQUEÑA

Join us at the Dedication of the Monument to the Puerto Rican Family
Sculptor: José Buscaglia

Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 10:00 AM

LEARNING CORRIDOR
(Corner of Vernon & Washington Streets)
RSVP by: Friday, September 18, 2009
by calling (860) 493-1618
or email: iquiros @sinainc.org

Limited parking at Trinity & Learning Corridor

Be part of history in the making....unveiling of the only monument in the world dedicated to

LA FAMILIA PUERTORRIQUEÑA

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE PUERTORRICAN FAMILY MONUMENT

Four heroic-size figures dominate the central area of the composition. Husband and wife stand together and, in front of them their daughter and son, which jointly carry the Lamb of God which constitutes both the heraldic and official symbol of Puerto Rico. The general theme of the various areas surrounding the family group represent the historical and psychological drama of migration.

The upper left hand corner depicts a typical town in Puerto Rico, thus setting the point of departure. The path that leads away from the town, shows the migrant leaving on a mare. This is in direct reference a segment of the best known poem by our poet laureate Luis Lloréns Torres” which expresses the anguish of departure – “El Valle de Collores”.

Adiós, malezas y flores

de las barrancas del río,

y mis noches del bohío,

y aquella apacible calma,

y los viejos de mi alma,

y los hermanitos míos.

Qué pena la que sentía

cuando hacia atrás yo miraba,

y una casa se alejaba,

y esa casa era la mía.

From the lower left to the mid-central area, a long line of migrants are represented as they go up a movable staircase to board the plane that will bring them to the mainland. They carry with them various symbols of their cultural heritage.

In the lower triangular area below the staircase, an allegorical representation evokes the dreams and aspirations of the migrants. This is signified by a female figure, day dreaming in the plantain grove – “el sueño en el platanal”. In front, two girls jump rope and, in the left corner, a motif of tropical fruits completes the symbolism.

The lower right triangular area provides the psychological counterpoint to its equivalent area on the left side. The main figure shows a mother with two children struggling in a poorly lit basement. The corner motif, which on the left side is an array of tropical fruits, has turned into an entanglement of thorns.

From the lower right to the mid central area, a progression of people struggle to help each other rise to higher grounds. The boarding staircase is replaced here by brick steps suggestive of tenant housing. The last top figures complete the process and point to the city of Hartford in the upper right hand corner of the relief.

As on the left side, the central right area carries a poetic inscription which completes the narrative by telling the story of the migrant’s efforts and their final triumph in his new homeland.

Vencida la pesadilla

del prejuicio y del destierro,

forjé del sueño

de la patria ausente,

nuevos senderos …..

de amor y de esperanza.

Cúan largo fue el caminar,

y que laborioso el trasiego,

persiguiendo el reencuentro

de mi cuerpo con alma.

Plena music and dance workshop at CityArts

Registration on line : www.providencecityarts.org

Galardón al Mérito 2010 a Lydia Perez , (Artists from Warwick) en Artes Folcloricas de la Rhode Island State Council on the Arts

Photo: Alfonso Acevedo

Providence, Rhode Island: La "Rhode Island State Council on the Arts", (RISCA) envió una misiva, fechada 8 de julio de 2009, a la carismática artista de Warwick en el Folclore Afro-Puertorriqueño Lydia Pérez, para notificarle que fue seleccionada para recibir el Premio "2010 FELLOWSHIP MERIT AWARD IN FOLK ARTS". Este premio se le otorga a los artistas en finas artes para reconocer el arduo trabajo que realizan a través de los años. Se dan dos premios en diferentes rubros, estos son el de "Fellowship" y el de "Fellowship Merit Award".
Entre las disciplinas a competir se encuentran: "Craft", "Film and Video", "Folk Arts", "Fiction","Poetry", "Play and Screenwriting", "Photography" y "Three dimension arts". Los artistas que someten sus calificaciones deben de estar bien preparados para tan fuerte competencia. Los competidores tienen que demostrar un sin números de habilidades para siquiera entrar a esta competencia. Son evaluados por un panel de profesionales compuesto por profesores, antropologos y doctores en artes de diferentes universidades, profesionales en Galerías, Historia, Arte y Cultura , Los mismos son profesionales seleccionados de los siete concilio que compone la Nueva Inglaterra.Se requieren a los artistas ser sumamente competitivo para poder llegar a alcanzar estos premios.
Sabemos que este no es el primero que le dan a Lydia en ese rubro en particular, En el año 1998 se llevo el primero en Merito, el segundo se lo llevo en el 2000, como máximo galardón "FELLOWSHIP IN FOLK ARTS" y ahora el tercero como el Premio 2010 al merito. También sabemos que alcanzo en el 2001 el Fellowship, máximo Galardón de la Rhode Island Foundation, y en los años 1999 y 2000 el de "American Tradition", a nivel nacional.
Son ya 25 galardones en total lo que tiene nuestras embajadora y máxima exponente del folclore antillano, tanto estatal, regional y nacional. Como parte de su arduo trabajo en poder compartir sus destrezas, habilidades, con jóvenes, niños, familia y comunidad en nuestro estado de Rhode Island, Lydia ha desarrollado un programa llamado "Caribbean Island". El mismo ha corrido las escuelas en Rhode Island y actualmente corre en los currículos escolares del Distrito educacional en Springfield, MA, bajo el programa "EXPLORATION in Puerto Rican Culture".

Este programa trabaja en colaboración con el Distrito escolar de Springfield y el Concejo Cultural de Massachussetts y es auspiciado por "Arts Model Development and Dissemination Grant from the U.S.", "Department of Education".


En hora buena Lydia...

77th U.S. Conference of Mayors in Providence

Photos: Alfonso Acevedo

Providence, Rhode Island: The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,139 such cities in the country today. Each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. During the Annual meeting, (every June) members elect a President, Vice-President, and advisory Board Chair, who serve one-year term. The President, currently Miami (FL) Mayor Manny Diaz, is the National spokesman for the mayors.

I will like to share photos with some of our Latino Mayor and guests. They were visit Providence, Rhode Island for the US Conference of Mayors, 77th Annual Conference.

1er Photo: Right to Left: Mr. Abel Nazario, Mayor of Yauco, Puerto Rico, Lydia Perez and the Hon. Alvaro Uribe, President of Colombia.

2cd photo: Lydia Perez and Mr. Manny Diaz, Mayor of Miami.

3th photo: Lydia perez and Mr. Antonio R.Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles.