The tradition of lacemaking in Puerto Rico spans many generations. Brought to the island by Spanish settlers, the Puerto Rican bobbin lacemaking tradition, called mundillo (which translates to "little world") became an important economic activity for women across the archipelago. Artist Glorimar Garcia, whose work is featured in Diasporic Collage: Puerto Rico and the Survial … Continued
In 1958, an emerging Puerto Rican community was displaced from the Lincoln Square and San Juan Hill neighborhoods to make way for the construction of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Utilizing never before seen archival documents made available to CENTRO by the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts and other archival materials, this exhibit … Continued
The Clemente is proud to present Esto No Tiene Nombre, a one-woman show written and performed by acclaimed queer Nuyorican poet, Denice Frohman, for three workshop productions from May 15-17th. The play chronicles the oral histories of Latina lesbian elders told through a tapestry of vignettes exploring Latina lesbian activism, expression, and desire from pre-Stonewall … Continued
The 2nd Annual Lower East Side Puerto Rican Day Parade & Festival is a tribute to the Boricuas who built this neighborhood—brick by brick, beat by beat, and struggle by struggle. In the face of gentrification, which continues to erase our stories and rewrite our history, this parade stands as a bold reminder: our legacy … Continued
Bohemia, sátira y mucho ingenio, así puede describirse el estilo musical único de Los Rivera Destino, cuyo reconocimiento se ha disparado exponencialmente durante los pasados años. Carlos, Antonio y Fernando logran combinar el humor y picardía en sus letras con ritmos como el bolero y el rock, para ofrecer al público un espectáculo creativo, dinámico … Continued
The Diasporican Cultural Summit is designed to address the pressing need for gathering spaces that bring together diasporic cultural workers, fostering connections with the next generation of scholars, researchers, and artists. By creating a multidimensional learning environment, the DCS not only facilitates meaningful exchanges between cultural practitioners and emerging academics but also builds bridges to … Continued
Authors, illustrators and editors come together to unpack Tove Jansson's influential work and consider the field of children's literature more broadly as an invocation into citizenship. M.T. Anderson, Lauren LeBlanc, Dr. Raquel M. Ortiz and Tracy Hurren will raise important, even difficult questions on how we initiate our youngest into life in society, and what … Continued
In a moment when histories of marginalized peoples are being deliberately erased—alongside the ongoing erasure of Black Puerto Ricans—this webinar dives into a special issue of the CENTRO Journal offering a multidisciplinary approach to thinking about Black Puerto Rican pasts, presents, and futures. Join moderator Sarah Bruno, and panelists Daniel Morales-Armstrong, Milagros Denis-Rosario, and Isar … Continued
UPDATE: The date for this event has been changed from the 19th to the 18th of September. Calling all students, professors, community leaders, activists, artists, and more looking to connect with their community and CENTRO! Stop by CENTRO en el Barrio on September 18th for an Open House to learn more about our upcoming renovation … Continued
Stop by for a discussion highlighting how Afro-Latin Soul and Salsa challenged existing notions of what it meant to be Puerto Rican in America in the 60s and 70s, provided its listeners with the tools needed to contest existing colonial powers, and became a source of inspiration in the face of oppression. We’re honored to … Continued
Join CENTRO Summer researchers Conor Reed, Alexandria Ramos, and Estelle Maisonett for a conversation on their research this summer. The research theme, Archives: Memory & the Present Past of Puerto Rico, invites researchers to engage with the word “archives” as concept, practice, and theory by bringing together some of the most important framings of historically … Continued
On view through Oct.4, 2025 Closing reception: Oct.4, 6—11 PM LIV GALLERY 424 E 9th St, New York, NY Mon—Sun, 11am—6pm "Rooted in his lived experiences as a native New Yorker of Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian descent, along with his formative influences in graffiti, Adrian Bermeo prompts audiences to consider a reverberating truth: intergenerational knowledge … Continued
If you’ve watched West Side Story, enjoyed the infectious rhythms of Latin Jazz, heard of musical giants like Thelonius Monk, Nina Simone, explored the Arturo Schomburg collections, or even attended events at The Palladium Ballroom in your youth, then you—in some way, shape, or form—have been impacted by the legacy of San Juan Hill. Despite … Continued
Join FIT Associate Professor José Blanco F. and independent researcher Raúl J. Vázquez-López who will present their new book, Dress, Fashion, and National Identity in Puerto Rico, in conversation with MFIT’s Senior Curator of Education Tanya Meléndez-Escalante. The book explores national identity and nation formation as well as past and current practices in Puerto Rican … Continued
Come join Dr. Raquel Ortiz for a special book talk on When Julia Danced Bomba /Cuando Julia bailaba bomba at the Bronx Library Center Auditorium on October 10th. The booktalk will be followed by a screening of the award winning Julia's Dance: A Bomba Flamenco Bedtime Tale and an interactive dance lesson. Suggested ages prekindergarten … Continued
Little is published in both the academic and lay literature about the ties between Spiritism, women, and colonialism. However, Puerto Rican women as practitioners of Spiritism, helped transform Puerto Rican society during its disruptive colonial transition from Spain to the United States.Join Rooted + Relational faculty presider, Jillian Baez, and author Dr. Clara Román Odio, … Continued
Celebrate the work and legacy of photographer Frank Espada with his son & Poet Martin Espada alongside a multi-generational cohort of acclaimed Nuyorican photographers including Máximo Colón, David Gonzalez, and Erika P. Rodriguez! Nuyorican photographers have long sought to document and preserve Puerto Rican history in the city and beyond. Their talents have gifted us … Continued
A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Blanca Vázquez Erazo Join us in celebrating the life of Blanca Vázquez: mentor, educator, activist, advocate, journalist, and creative spirit! Blanca Vázquez’s life (December 1947-July 2025) was defined by an unyielding commitment to justice and solidarity. She carried that same fierce energy standing against U.S. Navy bombings … Continued
Join CENTRO and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe for another exciting night of poetry! Come listen to (and recite!) some poetry and connect with your favorite poets in the heart of El Barrio. Across cities, islands, and generations, Boricuas remain connected - by memory, by struggle, by love. This open mic invites poets and performers to … Continued
The struggle of labor and workers’ rights is directly intertwined with the struggle of undocumented laborers - Kathy Andrade knew this and made an everlasting impact on the lives of all laborers in NYC. Grab your lunch and join CENTRO archivists Herbert Duran & Grace McKenna virtually for a Library & Archives Lunch Hour as … Continued
CENTRO and the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival (IPRHFF) present a conversation with talented Puerto Rican actors and directors who will share their experiences, challenges, and insights into the future of Puerto Rican representation in film and television. Join us as we bring together some of the most talented Puerto Rican actors and directors to … Continued
The CENTRO Diasporican Arts in Motion Docuseries is being screened at Regal Battery Park as part of this years International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival! The DAM Docuseries presents in-depth testimonies from 10 Puerto Rican artists living and working in the NYC area, documenting their diasporic experiences while exploring how cultural memory, identity, and resilience … Continued
Join us for the New York premiere of STREET SMART: Lessons from a TV Icon, a new feature documentary that celebrates Sonia Manzano—known to millions as “Maria” from Sesame Street—who made history as the first Latina on American television in a regular role. Through candid interviews, archival footage, and animation, STREET SMART explores Sonia’s groundbreaking … Continued
Did you know Bilingual Education in New York has direct ties to the struggle, leadership, and advocacy of the Puerto Rican community? From Sonia Nieto, Diana Caballero, Alice Cardona, Evelina Antonetty and more, the fight for equity and accessibility in bilingual education lives on today! Skip class 😉 and RSVP today to celebrate the 25th … Continued
Moderated by Jessica Lopez Lyman, this panel features muralists Olivia Levins Holden and Colectivo Moriviví, and highlights how artivism—a combination of art and activism, solidarity movements, and mural traditions rooted in Chicanx feminism—is essential to how they work in community. Co-sponsored by the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota. This event is … Continued
Looking to expand your reading list? Join CENTRO for a virtual Library & Archives Lunch Hour on December 2nd as we highlight new books in Puerto Rican Studies. The field of Puerto Rican studies is rich and diverse in both its subject matter and those who write about it, and there’s something for everyone this … Continued
On December 3 at 4:00pm at the Seminario de Historia del Arte in the Faculty of the Humanities, join us for a screening of West Side Story (1961), a film based on a musical of the same name released in 1957, precisely at the time when the relocation of the Puerto Rican neighborhoods of Lincoln Square and San … Continued
Immerse yourself in the vibrant world of cultural paintings made by Nelson Host Santiago, Nuyorican artist. Deeply rooted in my heritage. Spreading the love of my people through my artwork.
Puerto Rican music has made many headlines over the last few years due to its global cultural impact. However, the influence and development of Puerto Rico’s musical genres, rhythms, and songs have roots that have evolved over and across generations. Don’t miss this Cafecito con…Professor José Cruz and moderator Elena Martinez as they discuss Cruz's … Continued
Sentido is a word layered with meaning. Sense, feeling, awareness, direction. It’s also a way of moving through the world. Join author Alison Rand for a conversation exploring how sentido shapes how we make sense of who we are, where we come from, and the systems we’re part of. Drawing from her forthcoming book with … Continued
Join CENTRO and El Museo del Barrio for the exciting book launch of P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance! Through a series of original interviews that include artists like De La Ghetto, iLe, Jowell & Randy, Tainy, MAG, and others, this book traces Bad Bunny's career from … Continued
Pivotal Puerto Rican feminist figures like Julia de Burgos, Yolanda Sanchez, Antonia Pantoja, and countless others have laid the groundwork for community-centered activism. Don’t miss our upcoming panel with authors Vanessa Pérez-Rosario and Emma Amador as we work to understand and contextualize the stories of women like Burgos, Sanchez, and Pantoja and how they overlap … Continued
First-ever Puerto Rican film to win a Spirit Award, ESTA ISLA, Opens March 20th in theaters in NYC at Village East by Angelika Winner of Best Director, Best Cinematography, and the Jury Award at the 2025 Tribeca Festival! Filmmaker Q&As with Directors Cristian Carretero & Lorraine Jones: Friday, Mar. 20 @ 7:20pm; Saturday, Mar. 21 … Continued
First-ever Puerto Rican film to win a Spirit Award, ESTA ISLA, Opens March 20th in theaters in NYC at Village East by Angelika Winner of Best Director, Best Cinematography, and the Jury Award at the 2025 Tribeca Festival! Filmmaker Q&As with Directors Cristian Carretero & Lorraine Jones: Friday, Mar. 20 @ 7:20pm; Saturday, Mar. 21 … Continued
Tune in as we explore the Fall 2025 CENTRO Journal on Puerto Rican migration. Recent decades have witnessed economic, political, ecological, and socio-demographic changes that have engulfed Puerto Rico, with out-migration being a common response to such transformations. While the Puerto Rican diaspora was once concentrated in New York City and Chicago, Puerto Ricans from … Continued
Historias is excited to partner with MCNY to present a conversation on Printing Nueva York with author Kelley Krietz. Krietiz’s groundbreaking study maps the vibrant world of nineteenth-century Spanish-language print culture in New York, tracing networks of Cuban émigrés, political exiles, and Puerto Rican intellectuals who used newspapers, pamphlets, and literary journals to shape public … Continued
Join CENTRO Rooted + Relational Archives Fellow, Gianna Brassil, as they explore the connections between the Raquel Ortiz Mi Puerto Rico Film Collection and the Cerro Maravilla Hearings VHS Video Recordings Collection. Brassil seeks to understand how each collection contributes to distinct yet important facets of Puerto Rican history, especially in relation to US imperialism … Continued
Join us in celebrating Dr. Arlene Torres, retiring associate professor in Africana, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies (AFPRL) at Hunter College. Dr. Torres has had a rich career and leaves behind a lasting legacy. Before her time in the AFPRL department at Hunter College, she served as University Dean of Recruitment and Diversity and the … Continued
“Julia VIVE” (“Julia LIVES”- in English) is an award winning feature-length dramatic documentary selected for the 2026 Latino Film Market's opening-night program in NYC. Our film harmonizes the narrative lyricism of fiction with the educational character of the documentary genre, in a joyous artistic convergence that honors the life, work & legacy of the iconic … Continued
Save the date for the official launch of the latest book released in the Diasporican Library collection of the CENTRO Press, ser islas/being islands by Victor Fragoso and translated by Paul Orbuch! Victor Fragoso (1944-1982), a Puerto Rican writer, made his mark in poetry, playwriting, and essays. His work traversed disciplines and boundaries, leaving an … Continued
Last Request presents the story of a corpse discovered in the lobby of a pre-war Bronx apartment building in the 1950s. Written approximately two years before his death in 2004, the play is a rare theatrical work by the Poet Laureate of the 1960s Puerto Rican revolutionary organization, the Young Lords. Last Request presents the … Continued
Last Request presents the story of a corpse discovered in the lobby of a pre-war Bronx apartment building in the 1950s. Written approximately two years before his death in 2004, the play is a rare theatrical work by the Poet Laureate of the 1960s Puerto Rican revolutionary organization, the Young Lords. Last Request presents the … Continued
Last Request presents the story of a corpse discovered in the lobby of a pre-war Bronx apartment building in the 1950s. Written approximately two years before his death in 2004, the play is a rare theatrical work by the Poet Laureate of the 1960s Puerto Rican revolutionary organization, the Young Lords. Last Request presents the … Continued
Last Request presents the story of a corpse discovered in the lobby of a pre-war Bronx apartment building in the 1950s. Written approximately two years before his death in 2004, the play is a rare theatrical work by the Poet Laureate of the 1960s Puerto Rican revolutionary organization, the Young Lords. Last Request presents the … Continued
We’re celebrating our Rooted + Relational Research initiative with the second annual symposium centering the 2025-2026 theme, Boricuas in Relation. We invited researchers, students, and artists to engage with the phenomenon of Boricua archipelagic and diasporic community formation with other racial and ethnic groups. Through special screenings, presentations, and panels, the current cohort of CENTRO … Continued
I am pleased to present Bajo el Lino: The Guayabera, Colonial Gender Systems, and the Decolonial Possibilities of Dress, my senior thesis project, realized as a one-night exhibition. Developed in collaboration with Seventh House Gallery and Julia de Burgos Bookstore at Taller Puertorriqueño, this project examines the guayabera as both a material object and a … Continued
Join a one-day educator institute exploring diasporic histories and identities through panels and workshops that engage with primary sources Join us for a full-day educator institute presented by NYPL’s Center for Educators and Schools in partnership with CENTRO (The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College). This gathering invites educators to explore how diasporic … Continued
Join author Steve Howell and Professor Sandy Placido as we explore Howell's latest book, Cold War Puerto Rico: Anti-Communism in Washington’s Caribbean Colony, a gripping history of FBI surveillance, political repression, and the fight for Puerto Rican independence. In Cold War Puerto Rico, Steve Howell examines how J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI targeted Puerto … Continued
Join us for the launch of "Dome Cartographies" by artist Natalia Nakazawa at Jackson Heights! The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center and Kinfolk Tech are excited to announce the Jackson Heights, Queens edition ofHistorias in Motion, featuring "Dome Cartographies," a new AR monument by artist Natalia Nakazawa paired with historical contributions from the … Continued
Join us for the launch of "Dome Cartographies" by artist Natalia Nakazawa at Jackson Heights! The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center and Kinfolk Tech are excited to announce the Jackson Heights, Queens edition ofHistorias in Motion, featuring "Dome Cartographies," a new AR monument by artist Natalia Nakazawa paired with historical contributions from the … Continued
The second stop of Los Pleneros de la 21's 3-city Por La Plena tour is our return HOME. We are excited to present a weekend of talleres, community gatherings and musical celebrations in The Bronx and El Barrio, in partnership with Bronx Music Hall and La Casita de Chema/El Rincón Criollo. The weekend kicks off … Continued
Cecilia Brunson Projects is pleased to present José Jun Martínez: At the centre there is a stillness, the Puerto Rican artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, opening during London Gallery Weekend 2026. The gallery will host an exhibition walkthrough with the artist on Saturday, 6 June at 5.00pm. Bringing together a new body of … Continued
Join Mariame Kaba, Garrett Felber, and Corey Devon Arthur for a conversation about the life, work, and ideas of Black Puerto Rican revolutionary Martin Sostre. As a founding figure of both the prison abolition movement and contemporary Black anarchism, Sostre’s eminence as a political thinker and tireless activist continues to gain wider recognition. The event … Continued
Save the date for this 2-day symposium that seeks to bring together scholars, artists, and activists from the inhabited US territories and their diasporas to learn about shared struggles, relational coalitions, and expand networks of solidarity. For over a century, the U.S. federal government has defined the relationship of U.S. territories to the political, social, … Continued
Join us for a FREE, family-friendly community event open to everyone. Enjoy a day of hands-on art activities, live music, local vendors, and more. While you're there, stop by my booth to browse my newest collection of handcrafted candles and elegant soap dispensers—thoughtfully designed to add style and warmth to any space.
Join us for a FREE, family-friendly community event open to everyone. Enjoy a day of hands-on art activities, live music, local vendors, and more. While you're there, stop by my booth to browse my newest collection of handcrafted candles and elegant soap dispensers—thoughtfully designed to add style and warmth to any space.