'Paper Sculptures'

CarlosNMolinaShow
Originally uploaded by paper art.

by Carlos N. Molina, a member of the Puerto Rico Sun group at flickr

Go support.

Molina reports that about 30 people attended the opening. The show will run until November 21.

Click on the photo for more details.

Albizu Campos

Albizu Campos
Originally uploaded by paper art.

Paper art says: Street art on the San Sebastian Street in Old San Juan. This is Albizu Campos, a national hero.

La Casa's Leticia Rodriguez Continues Legacy
By Ismael Nunez

Leticia Rodriguez, the new executive director of La Casa de la Herencia Cultural Puertorriqueña, Inc. in NYC's El Barrio, is working hard to keep the legacy of this cultural institution alive.
La Casa at 1230 Fifth Avenue is a non-profit community based cultural institution. Its main objective is to promote the development of the Puerto Rican culture and to preserve, enrich and disseminate cultural and literary heritage to the Puerto Rican community and others.
La Casa has a Heritage Library, which includes a collection of books, documents and other materials related to Puerto Rican and Latin American history. Rodriguez said people who visit come to research many different topics. Popular research subjects include Arturo Schomburg, Julia De Burgos, and Simon Bolivar.
La Casa also provides cultural heritage workshops and classes that are open to the public. They include learning how to play cuatro and other musical instruments, dancing bomba and plena, painting, and drawing classes.
Rodriguez is happy to work in El Barrio in an organization with a rich history.
"To come to a community which has so much history is great," she said. "I’m keeping a legacy. I'm continuing the work that this institution has been doing for 27 years."
Last year, Don Otilio Diaz, who led La Casa for more than 25 years, died at the age of 75. La Casa's board introduced Rodriguez as its new executive director at an open house reception in September. On Saturday, October 27, La Casa celebrates its 27th anniversary gala and awards ceremony at the Carlos Rios Reception Hall in El Barrio. This is the first gala under her leadership.
La Casa is located in the same building as El Museo Del Barrio.
La Casa means the house and Rodriguez encourages the public to visit.
"It means we are here for you, to serve you and not to exclude anyone," she said. "We have been here for 27 years and counting."
For more information on La Casa, go to www.lacasapr.org.

Ismael Nunez is an East Harlem based freelance writer who contributes his writings to Puerto Rico Sun.

Community Calendar

The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) and the En Foco Touring Gallery present an evening to meet photographer Enid Alvarez at her Puerto Rico Series exhibition in Pregones Theater’s lobby gallery on November 7th in conjunction with BCA’s First Wedensdays/Bronx Culture Trolley. Alvarez will be on hand from 6-8 p.m. to greet her visitors and talk about her work which will be on view through December 9th.

For more info. www.bronxarts.org

games

games
Originally uploaded by davelightseer.

Lajas, Puerto Rico

Featured news report

Pets hurled off bridge in Puerto Rico
By OMAR MARRERO, Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Animal control workers seized dozens of dogs and cats from housing projects in the town of Barceloneta and hurled them from a bridge to their deaths, authorities and witnesses said Friday. Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez blamed a contractor hired to take the animals to a shelter.
"This is an irresponsible, inhumane and shameful act," he told The Associated Press.
Fontanez said the city hired Animal Control Solution to clear three housing projects of pets after warning residents about a no-pet policy. He said the city paid $60 for every animal recovered and another $100 for each trip to a shelter in the San Juan suburb of Carolina.
Raids were conducted on Monday and Wednesday, and residents told TV reporters they saw the animal control workers inject the animals.

OLD HOUSE

OLD HOUSE
Originally uploaded by suapr.

Vejigante de Loiza

Vejigante de Loiza
Originally uploaded by paper art.

CEIBA VEJIGANTE

CEIBA VEJIGANTE
Originally uploaded by suapr.

In the Mailbox

OPENING NIGHT!
A One Woman Art Exhibit
By Puerto Rican Lower East Side Artisan:
Isabel Christina Rivera-Almonte

Thursday, October 11, 7-9 p.m.

Isabel C. Rivera-Almonte is an accomplished Puerto Rican Artisan. Her art expresses many aspects of Puerto Rican history and culture. All of her beautiful and important art will be in display.

This will be the first time that Isabel's total works will be on display.

Enjoy wine n cheese soft music , a wonderful crowd of people, artist, poets, musicians, photographers, live radio show.


Boricua College
186 N. 6 Street (Williamsburg area)
Brooklyn, NY, 11211
Tel:1718-782-2200
L Train Bedford Ave Stop
One stop from 14th street @ 1st Avenue

This is a Boricuation.com sponsored event!

--
Jose Medina
Boricuation.com

Tania Ochoteco

Tania Ochoteco
Originally uploaded by prsuncom

Frees Herself with Art, Community and Big Hopes
By Robert Waddell

In 2002, Bronx actress Tania Ochoteco was taking classes at the Raul Julia Training Unit of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre and working with dramatists.
Today, she works for a Bronx politician, but she is not all about politics. She is still an artist at heart who is pursuing her love for acting and writing.
“I have gained more experience and joined a company," she said about her acting. "I’m a member of the Puerto Rican Intercultural Drama Ensemble, the Pride Theatre Company and I’ve had the opportunity to work with Frank Perez, Eugene Rodriguez, Rene Valentin, Lou Torres.”
She studied with the late artist Raul Davila and did a staged reading of Nuyorican poet Pedro Pietri’s play “Come in We’re Closed.”
Serving her community in the Bronx is important to her. She’s currently deputy director for Council Member Annabelle Palma of the Bronx.
“It’s a great j-o-b because it’s in my community, the Bronx," she said. "I’m able to do something in a direct or indirect way that’s helping the community, so I’m happy about that."
She enjoys the flexibility this job gives her as she acts and writes.
“It’s been really good, but the results are only as good as the effort,” she said. “I’m happy with where I am so far, for the experience I’ve gained and for what I have to look forward to.”
Ochoteco considers herself an up and coming artist who is still paying her dues.
“She’s a wonderful actress,” said actor and playwright Eugene Rodriguez. “And as a person in the community, her heart is in the right place. She knows her lines and takes direction well.”
In a performance of Rodriguez’s “San Juan Shakespeare Company,” Ochoteco played Cindy who is a new actress that wants to perform with established actors. Ochoteco said she could relate to this character.
In addition to acting, Ochotecto said she is also learning the art of playwriting. She wants to write about her experiences in a memoir entitled “Memoirs of a Wifey.”
“This project involves a plethora of issues,” she said. “It involves immigration, deportation. It’s a very intimate piece of work. It brings me back to a difficult and interesting time in my early 20s…I’m so excited about it. Just when I think I don’t have any more energy, I start writing, and I’m filled with adrenaline. The next thing you know it’s 3 a.m. and I have to get up at 7 for work. I’ve been tired, but it’s good tired. I’ve been productive.”
The term “wifey” refers to a woman who lives with a man without being legally married. “It’s an urban term for shacking up,” she said. “A lot of people can relate…marriage is slowly diminishing. There's a lot of women who have their partners and their children and that’s what it is.”
She described her six-year experience as life changing.
Out of a love story comes the intimate experience when one is left alone, she said. There are no divorces or alimony.
“There’s redemption in this story,” she said. “There are experiences in life that mark you for a long time.”
Ochoteco said the story is about freeing herself from a difficult situation and gaining redemption.
“In the next five years,” Ochoteco said, “I hope to have a lot more productions under my belt; I hope to be doing film; and I hope to be part of a movement that is putting our efforts to open more spaces for artists to put up their work.”

Robert Waddell is a Bronx-based freelance writer who contributes his writings to Puerto Rico Sun.

la coca

la coca
Originally uploaded by anaivette64.

UnBuenCamino

UnBuenCamino
Originally uploaded by TatoBrujo.