Were you here? Estuviste aquí? Celebrating the History and Legacy of Centro de Arte

ABSTRACT WERE YOU HERE? ESTUVISTE AQUI? CELEBRATING THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF CENTRO DE ARTE Rosa Maria Ramirez, MA in Exhibition Design Corcoran College of Art + Design, 2014 Thesis Advisor: Assistant Professor Clare Brown Assistant Professor Nigel Briggs Assistant Professor Cory Bernatt This project explores the history and legacy of Centro de Arte, a Latino Art Community Center that functioned from 1976 to 2001 in the Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights neighborhoods of NW Washington DC. This exhibition proposal aims to recover, preserve, and celebrate an important yet forgotten part of the Latino history of Washington DC. Centro de Arte or El Centro, as it was affectionately known, was established by a group of South American artists living in Washington, DC. The center served as a gathering point for the Latino community of Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan neighborhoods. Its founders developed three main creative programs: a theater group called Teatro Nuestro or Our Theater, Inti Gallery and a musical group, Rumisonko, or heart of stone in Quechua. Additionally, Centro de Arte worked with local organizations in order to develop programs for the youth, and promote local Latino artists. Some of the art developed by these artists is still visible within the community, especially in the form of murals. Worth mentioning are the "A people without murals" and "Unity" murals. The majority of the information gathered for this study comes directly from revealing interviews conducted with former members of El Centro that still live in the area. Therefore, this thesis is a compilation of available information, interviews and images, which provide a starting point in the reconstruction of the history of Centro de Arte and the Latino community of Mount Pleasant.

Author

• Ramirez, Rosa Maria

Language

• English

Keyword

• Local History
• Art Community Center
• Latino History
• Art

Date created

• 2014

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Exhibition Design

Degree

• M.A.

Advisor

• Briggs, Nigel
• Brown, Clare

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/v118rf556