CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE M A RC H 18, 2020 - M AY 27, 20 20 Curated collaboratively by the Bronx Council on the Arts staff, Arianna Reyes and Rebecca Pristoop
FEATURED ARTISTS Charlie Elo Daisy Fergusson Dennis RedMoon Darkeem Francisco Osorio Kim Dacres Kathleen Greaney Tammy Wofsey Toisha Tucker The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) is delighted to present Confidence in the Future at the Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos from March 18 - May 27. Throughout the 2020 season, BCA continues to focus on paying homage to socially conscious artwork and to art that comes from artists who are actively engaged in creating a vision of the future and expanding our understanding of the role of resistance. During this season, the Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos will be used as a space for reflection and discussion to explore artists’ commitment to social action and movement, and to examine the intersections of art and social justice. The eight artists featured in this show were chosen through an Open Call to ensure wide representation of the borough’s unending talent. CURATOR STATMENT As new technologies and materials are fabricated to increase the movement of capital around the world, the environment suffers and individuals become isolated, both intimately and economically. Confidence in the Future showcases Bronx artists that reflect on the reality of this chaos. They also offer new ways for people to relate to each other and our environment.
Drawing from the wisdom, labor, and traditions of ancestors, the artists in this exhibition explore how we can sustain and heal our planet and communities. Looking to the adaptability of nature and animal life, they illustrate possibilities for hybrid futures. Among the works presented are those depicting dystopian landscapes, the anonymous spaces of mass transit, and the absence of empathic presence as mediated through our screened lives. At the same time, works of hope and freedom inhabit the gallery. The beauty of the non-binary in gender, culture, and species take shape as traditional portraits, while swabs of our DNA stand in as portraits of our self-determined happiness. Employing a variety of media to coincide with their artistic intentions—including recycled fabrics, tires, paint, collage, and test tubes—the artists in Confidence in the Future powerfully move us through time and space to convey their concerns, and dreams, for tomorrow. — Rebecca Pristoop
PUBLIC PROGRAMS OPENING RECEPTION Wednesday, March 18th | 6:00-9:00pm PUBLIC PROGRAM (THEME TBA) Thursday, April 9th | 6:00-8:00pm CLOSING RECEPTION Wednesday, May 27th | 6:00-8:00pm LONGWOOD ART GALLERY @ HOSTOS 450 Grand Concourse at 149th St., Room C-190 Bronx, New York 10451 (718) 518-6728 longwood@bronxarts.org Winter Gallery Hours Tuesday - Friday, 12:00pm - 6:00pm Monday by appointment
LONGWOOD ARTS PROJECT The Longwood Arts Project is the contemporary visual arts program of the Bronx Council on the Arts, with the mission to support artists and their work, especially emerging artists from underrepresented groups, such as people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and women. The Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos presents solo and group exhibitions of works of art produced in various media, through interdisciplinary practices that connect emerging artists, communities, and ideas within and beyond the Bronx.
THE BRONX COUNCIL OF THE ARTS Founded by visionary community leaders in 1962, the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) is dedicated to advancing cultural equity in the Bronx. From creative placemaking and arts advocacy to the provision of services for artists and programming for youth and seniors, BCA was the first organization in the Bronx to focus equally on supporting local artists, serving the community, and catalyzing relationships between the two. BCA serves a constituency of some 1.4 million residents, 1,500+ artists and 250 arts and community-based organizations with cultural services and arts programs, including grants, workshops, arts advocacy, and cutting-edge exhibitions. Over the years, BCA has adapted its programs to serve the ever-changing needs of the borough’s cultural ecosystem, evolving into an acclaimed cultural hub for the entire Bronx. www.bronxarts.org THE HOSTOS CENTER FOR THE ARTS & CULTURE An integral part of Hostos Community College/ CUNY since 1982, the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, which includes two state-of-the-art theaters of 900 and 360 seats each, a black box experimental theater, and a museum-grade art gallery, is a resource for students and faculty in addition to serving the cultural needs of South Bronx residents and neighboring communities. Recognized nationally as a leader in Latin and Africanbased programming, the Hostos Center creates performing and visual arts forums in which the diverse cultural heritages of its audiences are celebrated and cultivated. In meeting that objective, the Center is dedicated to the development of emerging artists and the creation of new work. www.hostoscenter.org
LONGWOOD ARTS PROJECT YOUTH ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM SPRING WORKSHOPS MARCH 18, 2020 - MAY 27, 2020
** Workshops are FREE and on appointment basis. Our scheduling is flexible with your group’s needs. The following are sample workshops*** Please contact longwood@bronxarts.org or call 718.518.6728 to schedule a workshop for your group. Workshops are best suited for participants ages 14-25. 10 participants minimum to book. A GLIMPSE OF US: ART IN THE EYES OF BRONX ARTISTS Breaking it down – tools for interpreting and making art. Gallery tour and art making in response to the exhibition, what choices can we make as young artists to depict our realities? POETRY FOR SERVICE: VOICES UNHEARD This workshop will explore the ways spoken word can be used as a platform to amplify the voices of those whose stories are untold and unheard in the Bronx community. Discussing how poetry is a tool to bring visibility and social change. THE BRONX: WHAT YOU SEE IS (NOT) WHAT YOU GET How to create solo and group self-published zines and books as an accessible, uncensored way of sharing thoughts, ideas, and artwork on your own terms. Zines can be a way of manifesting new ideas, healing from traumas, and to express issues ranging from family life to politics and social justice. HIDDEN IN PLAIN SITE: THE MAGICK OF THE BRONX Multi-media workshop including discussion on community building, navigating art spaces as people of color, and herbalism. Participants will create a mixed-media piece that reflects how the Bronx has informed their personal stories. This workshop will conclude with sharing resource lists of accessible spaces around the city.
Illustration by Ruben Ramirez
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Kim Dacres ARTIST STATEMENT “I am a Jamaican American visual artist and educator from the Bronx. My work considers the texture of a person - the style and journeys of black individuals, and the fragments of their identities that hold them together. In my indoor and outdoor installations, I explore the presence of black bodies and cultural identifiers in relation to the space and social environment. The figurative works highlight hair and facial features and charisma to explore themes of presence, historical resistance and journey, sustainability, and transformation to adjust for our future. The materials—various auto tires and bicycle rubbers—represent skin and hair and have mobility in the face of long-lasting resistance. In my childhood, these ubiquitous objects have represented connected commerce, and a hardworking aesthetic of being used, repaired, and reused. This tradition of using found and free materials is emblematic of my West Indian heritage and of being mindful of the resources within the economic and social environment around us. I see these nonbiodegradable materials as tough, flexible, forgiving materials that will outlast our modern surroundings. By combining my intersectional voice with adaptive reuse of materials, I’m investigating how black women and people of color can change the world to be a softer place; to broaden the perception of presence in public space; and the idea of who is deserving of honorifics and monuments.” BIO Kim Dacres is a Bronx born, first-generation Jamaican American artist and teacher. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Williams College as a dual Major in Art Studio and Political Science, with a Minor in Africana Studies. She received her Masters in Education (Teaching English as Second Language K-12) from Lehman College at the City University of New York. Dacres worked for ten years as an educator in New York City public and charter schools prior to transitioning her career to full-time artist. She digs on documentaries, sports, civics, examining social spaces, teamwork, and the idea of a universal spirit. Dacres approaches her work with enthusiasm for life and accountability for the stories of everyday people of color. In 2018, Dacres had her first yearlong public art installation, Peaceful Perch, in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park. In 2019, she completed her first solo exhibition, Swerve Team Meeting, as an
emerging artist fellow at the A.I.R. gallery in New York City. This coming fall, Dacres will be a fellow of the 40th cohort of the Bronx Museum’s AIM program.
Derek, 2017 Auto tires, bicycle tires, screws, MDF, wood, black spray enamel 31 x 14 x 14 in.
Dennis RedMoon Darkeem ARTIST STATEMENT “Confidence in the Future acts as an open discourse for artists to express their rich views and the impact they want to leave for the future. As an artist, my works are motivated and inspired by the history and trajectory of the Bronx. I explore the loss and maintenance of identity. My work also speaks to the fear and resistance that comes with transformation, gentrification, and displacement. Furthermore, being an artist and art educator in the South Bronx, it is important for my art to empower young people to find their voice and be able to confront their existence in their often underserved communities. I believe in the philosophy ‘Art is Power.’ Art is a tool, used to inform, engage, inspire, educate, embrace, and celebrate one’s uniqueness. When one is open to the arts one is open to the world.” BIO Dennis RedMoon Darkeem is Bronx born and raised. He is of the wind clan of Yamassee Creek-Seminole Native American tribe and African American descent. Darkeem has been an artist and art educator for over ten years working in the DOE, and private and charter schools, and has been the head art teacher at South Bronx Early College Academy for six years. He was an artist in residence at Wave Hill, The Laundromat Project, The Point, Bronx Children’s Museum, Guttenberg Art Center, ICP, and Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning. Darkeem has exhibited his work at Bronx Museum, Brooklyn Museum, La Mama Theater, MoMA, BronxArtSpace, Longwood Art Gallery, Rush Gallery, Derfner Judaica Museum, and Smack Mellon, and has received fellowships and scholarships from NYFA, NYC Teachers Foundation, Puffin Foundation and Price Waterhouse. He is also the creator and founder of Bronx Artist Day, RedMoon Bronx Soaps and Teas, and The RedMoon Arts Movement Inc., an organization that brings art and art resources to young people of the South Bronx. He received his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts and his Master’s in Art Direction from Pratt Institute.
LandOwners, 2019 Gouache, paint, and collage on collected land deed 14 x 8 in.
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CHARLIE ELO
ARTIST STATEMENT “The work surrounds itself with elements meant to depict the communal travel space shared by inhabitants of a metropolis. While the infrastructure may change aesthetically, the form of travel and interaction is timeless. The figurative aspect of these pieces serves to define the space by way of demonstrating how we interact within the confines of a mass transit system. The work is intended to demonstrate how we have been traveling together for hundreds of years despite societal division in class, race or gender. The silhouettes serve to highlight the humanistic factor without regard to these factors, and focus on how we will continue to share these trains and tunnels (or a form of them) far into the future. With the same level of scrutiny, the viewer can place the figures far into the future or look back upon them as if seeing them in the past.” BIO A New York native, raised between his birth city and the Dominican Republic, Charlie is a natural born artist. A graduate of LaGuardia High School of the Arts, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Lehman College (CUNY). Elo’s reverence for fine art, street art, cinema, and music have been a primary and consistent source of inspiration to him, and have greatly influenced his artistic expression. A love for the interactive and shared energy provided by the Live Art experience led him to reach new plateaus in his artistic career, participating in events throughout New York City. He has painted murals as a part of several community beautification projects across NYC, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Since 2015, Elo has led a summer children’s art workshop at Casa Ana a family care center for orphaned and abandoned children in the Dominican Republic. He is one of the founding members and the Managing Director of Art Culture NYC (@ artcultureNYC), a collective of prolific Latino Artists primarily based in NYC.
Showtime, 2020 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas 24 x 18 in.
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DAISY FERGUSSON
ARTIST STATEMENT “I like to create a space where conveying emotions and the expression of femininity are seen as strengths. As a transgender woman, it is important to me that softness and feminine nature can be embraced and accepted. Just because something lacks virility doesn’t make it any less impactful or powerful. There aren’t many works that I know of that highlight androgyny and transgender individuals. So I like to play with shadows and sharp lines within my figures to add an ambiguous factor to them. This gives the observer a chance to view the painting as anyone, allowing empathy to play a role in the experience. That’s something that I want to continue to explore and develop in future works. My paintings are a representation of who I am and who I am becoming, the strength and beauty I see in those who surround me, and the power of emotions freely expressing femininity and the confidence we bring to the future. The strength and beauty I see in those who surround me. The power of emotions, freely expressing femininity and the confidence we bring to the future.” BIO Daisy Fergusson is a Bronx-based artist. Originally from Ohio, she moved to New York five years ago with a degree in Fashion Design. Her love of art was put on hold to focus on a career in the bridal industry. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 that Fergusson realized she wasn’t pursuing her true passion. She began painting again that year, rediscovering the creative and emotional outlet she had left behind. Fergusson’s acrylic paintings are heavily influenced by her experience as a transgender woman, what it means to be feminine, and the power behind it. Portraits with sharp shadows and floral ornamented backgrounds have become her signature style. Now that Fergusson is cancer free, she hopes to continue to grow as an artist and share her work with the world.
Desire, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 14 x 12 in.
Kathleen Greaney KATHLEEN GREANEY ARTIST STATEMENT “Depiction of the landscape is a practice longstanding amongst different cultures and time periods throughout the history of art. Until now, as a species, we have had a sense of stability in the natural world around us. However, in a very short amount of time, we have begun the demise of our planet as we know it. As an artist and as a human, I am gravely concerned with climate change and global warming. This work explores the idea of a dystopian future. A landscape so alien from our own, it appears to be a different planet entirely. It brings into question how our landscape will be altered in the future from contributing human factors. Content isn’t necessarily representational, but alludes to a landscape that is teetering between what still appears to be a serene scape. Through the use of acidic and non-traditional color and brushstroke, it also evokes the feeling of a polluted and toxic reality.” BIO Kathleen Greaney is a native to New York City and currently maintains a studio in her home in the Bronx. She holds an MFA from CUNY Lehman College and has a background in traditional landscape painting. For the past five years, Greaney has been exploring landscape through abstraction, incorporating compositional qualities of traditional landscape while experimenting with a non-traditional palette and application of paint. Primarily using acrylics and watercolor, Greaney’s work is informed by climate change and global warming. She has shown with the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition, Lehman College Art Gallery and was published in Vellum Magazines’ latest issue, Forest of Illusion. In 2018, Greaney completed an artist in residence at the Lodestar School of Art in Co. Limerick, Ireland and since 2014, has been working as an art teacher in the Bronx for the Department of Education.
Untitled (Landscape), 2019 Acrylic on canvas 60 x 48 in.
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FRANCISCO OSORIO
ARTIST STATEMENT “Art is a meeting point with oneself and with the other, with the inner and the outer, with good and evil, with building and destruction, with being and not being. It is within art as a medium, as process, as result and end where the thin line of light and darkness exists and meets a sense of being, a logic of belonging, a reasoning of us. Art is a bridge between the impulsive being and the transcendental being. As beings, we inhabit a world that we share. It is our responsibility to treat it with respect. Just as we should respect the world, we should respect each other. Whether left or right, your God or my God, there is no difference. In our current world, material things are more significant than life itself. We exist in a world where those who need art the most don’t have it, and those that need art the least, have too much of it. Still, together we live, we exist, we survive. One must be mad/ insane/crazy to create ART/be an ARTIST. However, one must not be one to appreciate it. Art is a small sea that grows huge. It is a need that all humans carry. It is a way that one can free themselves, and therefore all of us.” BIO Whenever anyone asks Francisco Osorio, “where are you from,” he immediately wanders into his thoughts and asks himself: Where is someone from? Where were they born? Where did they grow up? Where are their traditions from? Where did they spend most of their life? Where would they like to be from? Osorio has three nationalities, he is half Austrian, half Colombian and was born in the United States. He has spent half his life in Colombia and half in the States—going back and forth between the north and south of the continent. He hopes to spend the rest of his life in Austria. He was born December 26, 1983 at a puzzle of a circumstance that he’s still trying to figure out. It was set in motion according to a defragmentation of facts that are still unfolding today. He came to life like a stroke of suffering. A beautiful existence covered in lies. A beauty that hides, shines, and is polished with pain and love. It is within all of these ups and downs where the need to create is born. What is a life without a sense, without a purpose? Art is it.
The Alchemist 2, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 27 x 19 in.
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TOISHA TUCKER ARTIST STATEMENT “alone together is an immersive conceptual installation that explores our simultaneous presence and absence in a rumination on our screened lives. The viewer is confronted with the lack of face-to-face engagement involved in having our relationships continuously mediated through technologies. Each thread is a placeholder for an absent body and each floating red line is dually a placeholder for an absent mind and the various portable screens we privately engage with in public and social settings. Walking within the installation, the viewer’s body becomes a potential weapon of destruction for the fragile bodies that aren’t even present. Purposefully difficult to photograph with cell phones, there are also moments of invisibleness for the naked eye—you lose the thread in the same way that we have lost the connections to people around us: even when we are sharing the same spaces we are reaching out to each other through our technologies or to other absent humans, for engagement; you no longer have to be present to be present. Our digital devices are the biographers of our curated life, always with us, always documenting, but the story they are writing is one in which we are losing our capacity for solitude and our empathy for each other – without empathy we lose the last thread that separates us from machines. Relevant research material: Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together. “C. x paradisi is a collaborative artwork that questions what authorship will mean in a transhumanist future where thoughts and ideas are not mutually exclusive to any one person, but stem from a truly collective consciousness. Using curated instructions from Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit moments of inherited happiness are generated by engaging the human senses of touch, taste, hearing and sound. The piece offers a counterpoint to what I believe will be the inherited trauma of the loss of human individuation, and empathy by creating a cache of ‘inherited happiness’ while our bodies and minds are still physically unmerged with technology. The documentation of the work exists in the shared memory captured in the DNA swabs provided by participants at the end of the piece.” BIO Toisha Tucker is an interdisciplinary conceptual artist and writer. Their work uses epistemological, literary and linguistic investigation to respond to contemporary events, illuminate and question social constructions, and delve into
the relationship between technology and human empathy. Tucker uses art as a mode of cultural activism, reacting to contemporary societal and cultural issues or events. Through text-based prints, photographs, video, performative pieces, and sculptural installations, they explore accepted social constructions around race, gender, and identity. Tucker’s creative process is largely rooted in research, a desire for precision in material, firsthand experiential evidence, and fabrication that reflects these elements. Their practice is processed based and many of the pieces are ongoing and mutable. Tucker has a BA in Philosophy and History from Cornell University, a Post Baccalaureate in Visual Arts from UC Berkeley Extension, and an MFA from the UPenn Graduate School of Design. Tucker was the 2018/19 Alice C. Cole Fellow at Wellesley College. They have exhibited artwork throughout the US, in addition to publishing short stories and curating exhibitions. Tucker resides in the Bronx with their partner.
C. x paradisi, 2016 Inherited happiness in DNA swabs Dimensions variable
TAMMY WOFSEY ARTIST STATEMENT “If someone were to ask me if I am confident in the future, my answer would be no, I don’t feel positive about the future. From my vantage point I see missed opportunities, failed communications, and false information about climate change. This winter in New York we have had a tiny bit of snow. Disappointed kids with brand new sleds wait for what will be an early spring. How can one truly love spring without experiencing a winter? I begin my story with the title for my print, “Lifeboat.” In this story our little lifeboat raft is called the earth and we are living on it, floating about on choppy seas with no direction. There is no map to guide our decisions or agree upon charting a plan to save us from an uninhabitable future. Then, at the arc of my story the hibernating animals spring awake! They become the alpha animals. They push us aside and steer our boat to clean water, healthy food, and fresh air. At the end of the story we thrive as one living organism. This is where our real-life story needs to start, by looking to nature and animals we can imagine ways to care for our planet, we can begin to envision a positive future.” BIO Tammy Wofsey is a printmaker, publisher and artist, who creates hand printed limited-edition prints and artist’s books out of Plotzing Press, her studio in the Bronx. The printmaking studio houses traditional analog letterpress, typesetting equipment, and etching presses. In addition to making her own work, Wofsey designs and leads printmaking workshops in community gardens and parks in the Bronx. She has shown her work at various museums, galleries and libraries and is in a number of private and public collections. Tammy holds a BFA from SUNY College at Purchase and an MLS from Queens College, CUNY. She previously worked at Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop.
House Under Water, 2013 Linocut 78 x 46 in.
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confidence in the future All works courtesy of the artists unless otherwise noted.
Kim Dacres Poppa, 2008/17 Auto tires, screws, wood, black spray enamel 25 x 12 x 14 in. Courtesy of William Thompson
Kim Dacres Derek, 2017 Auto tires, bicycle tires, screws, MDF, wood, black spray enamel 31 x 14 x 14 in.
Kim Dacres Sharese, 2018 Auto tires, bicycle tires, bicycle tubes, wood, zip ties, screws, black spray enamel 33 x 20 x 20 in. Kim Dacres Whitney, 2019 Auto tires, bicycle tires, bicycle tubes, wood, bicycle parts, zip ties, screws 39 x 18 x 18 in. Photo credit: Sebastian Bach
Dennis Redmoon Darkeem Flags, 2019 Old clothing, pillow cases, found fabrics, and powwow supplies Dimensions variable
Dennis Redmoon Darkeem LandOwners, 2019 Gouache, paint, and collage on collected land deed 14 x 11 in.
Dennis Redmoon Darkeem LandOwners, 2019 Gouache, paint, and collage on collected land deed 14 x 11 in. Dennis Redmoon Darkeem LandOwners, 2019 Gouache, paint, and collage on collected land deed 11 x 14 in.
Dennis Redmoon Darkeem Seasons, 2019 Collage, acrylic paint and glitter on canvas board 10 x 8 in. each
Dennis Redmoon Darkeem We Protest, 2019 Acrylic paint, collage, and ink on watercolor paper 8 x 26 in. each
Charlie Elo Culture Mingle, 2019 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas 40 x 30 in.
Charlie Elo Elovated Platform, 2019 Acrylic and spray paint on wood composite 20 x 28 in.
Charlie Elo Rounding Edges Uptown, 2019 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas 60 x 60 in.
Charlie Elo Showtime, 2020 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas 24 x 18 in.
Daisy Fergusson Endearment, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 36 x 36 in.
Daisy Fergusson Desire, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 14 x 12 in.
Daisy Fergusson Devotion, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 20 x 16 in.
Daisy Fergusson Enchanting, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 25 x 18 in.
Kathleen Greaney Beginning Melt, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 26 x 38 in.
Kathleen Greaney Orange River, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 30 x 48 in.
Kathleen Greaney Untitled (Landscape), 2019 Acrylic on canvas
Kathleen Greaney Untitled (Landscape), 2019 Acrylic on canvas 48 x 60 in.
Francisco Osorio The Alchemist 2, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 27 x 19 in.
Francisco Osorio Divided Planet, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 25 x 35 in.
Francisco Osorio Blue Moon: City of Paint, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 42 x 31 in.
Francisco Osorio Within the Bottle: That’s Where We All Are, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 36 x 52 in. Toisha Tucker alone together, 2016 Filament, chalk marker, red flagging tape, text, mindful bodies Dimensions variable
Toisha Tucker C. x paradisi, 2016 Inherited happiness in DNA swabs Dimensions variable
Tammy Wofsey House Under Water, 2013 Linocut 78 x 46 in.
Tammy Wofsey Life Boat, 2020 Linocut with mulberry chine collé and watercolor on Arches Rives with abaca 49 x 142 ½ in.
The Bronx Council on the Arts is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; Arts Midwest and the National Endowment for the Arts; The Coalition of Theaters of Color and City Council members Andrew Cohen and Vanessa Gibson. Also supported in part by the Booth Ferris Foundation, Ovation, the New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund, Con Edison, the Hispanic Federation, the City of New York, and the Department of Youth and Community Development. Special thanks to Hostos Community College and the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture for their support. Bronx Council on the Arts 2700 E Tremont Ave Bronx, New York 10461 www. bronxarts.org
Cover Image Credit: Front Image: Charlie Elo, Culture Mingle, 2019, Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
@BronxArtsOrg