Local arts collective CultivArte plans to host an art festival on Saturday, Aug. 28 to promote the work of Latinx artists in the state.
“The idea of festivals are very closely tied to our culture and our roots,” visual artist Angelica Contreras said.
“Cuentos de la Madre Tierra” Festival de Arte Latinx (“Stories of Mother Earth” Latinx Art Festival) will take place in the parking lot of Sherman Avenue Methodist Church. The event is both organized and led by a collective of local Latinx artists.
“The area, in and of itself, is also something that’s really special because it’s the Northside of Madison. That traditionally is a very Latino-populated area,” poet Araceli Esparza said.
The lineup includes Afro-Peruvian dancer Francis Medrano, a puppet-making workshop with Monica Cliff and an exhibition by photographer Zeus Corona among other talented artists. Contreras will facilitate an alebrijes workshop where participants will learn about the creation of brightly colored paper-crafted mythical creatures.
“I think that collective was really important for us to think about. We wanted it to be a kaleidoscope of all our different disciplines,” Esparza said.
Contreras said the origins of the group began during the pandemic when a group of artists began meeting over Zoom. Then, members of the group began inviting other artists.
“The idea is not to make it about one type of art specifically but to make it a multidisciplinary of Latinx artists,” she said.
The arts collective rose after an assessment pointed out the need to bridge and strengthen the Latinx artist community in Wisconsin. Esparza also said there is a common thread for more access to the arts for the community.
“This is also just a nice test of us being able to use our business skills too,” she said.
CultivArte plans to deliver access to the arts while cultivating both professional relationships and collaborative opportunities between the diverse artistic landscape among Latinxs in the midwest. Both Contreras and Esparza hope this will give community members an opportunity to support artists and vendors.
“When I see someone investing in a piece of mine, that feels very special to me,” Contreras said.
Esparza also said the diversity of art forms and artists’ experiences contributes to what makes the collective unique. She explained the collective often thinks about the legal status of artists, creating bilingual content and learning about different allegories or aspects of each others’ cultures.
Some of the artists grew up in Mexico and Latin America so we have this really rich knowledge of the arts, Esparza explained.
“I, myself, grew up in Mexico so I really have to listen to what Araceli and others have to say and consider the perspectives of second-third generations in Madison and their access to the arts,” Contreras said.
The group has also been figuring out how to blend all of their skills and experiences together to create a festival. Eventually, the multidisciplinary group of artists hopes to move into a space of their own.
“I imagine us having playwrights in the future. I imagine us having plays in the future,” Esparza said.
To find out more information about the organization and event please visit their website www.cultivartecolectivo.com.
