22 Artists in Puerto Rico awarded NALAC Grants

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) announces the artists who will receive grants from the NALAC Fund for the Arts for work taking place in 2020. The grants will support the creation and presentation of new artistic works in all creative disciplines on the island.

“We are proud to continue supporting artists in Puerto Rico who are working to uplift their communities at high levels of artistic excellence and innovation,” said NALAC President & CEO María López de León. “These artists play an incredible role both speaking truth to power and also responding to continuing ecological and sociopolitical challenges.”

Twenty artists will receive NALAC Fund for the Arts grants of $5,000 in the Puerto Rico Artist category made possible due to a continuing partnership between NALAC and the Flamboyan Arts Fund. The Flamboyan Arts Fund works to strengthen the arts and preserve cultural connections in Puerto Rico.

“Flamboyan is excited to work with NALAC to fund this group of talented and committed artists. It’s an honor to collaborate with these artists so that they can keep doing what moves them and inspiring communities and the whole island with their passion for art and the belief that art can really transform us”, Flamboyan Foundation Executive Director Carlos Rodríguez Silvestre said.

Additionally, two artists have been awarded $10,000 NALAC Fund for the Arts Artist Grants as part of a group of awardees announced this week from across the United States and Puerto Rico.

The awardees have been selected by panels of peer artists and cultural workers as part of a highly-competitive process. They represent nine different communities on the island, including San Juan, Ponce, Trujillo Alto, Vieques, Caguas, Aguadilla, Mayaguez, and Toa Baja.

In response to continuing seismic activity on the island, NALAC is supporting efforts organized by the Pregones / Puerto Rican Traveling Theater based in New York City to provide direct support to artists and their families on the island.

Based in San Antonio, Texas, NALAC works to support Latino artists and community arts organizations through grants, professional development programs, and other resources.

This represents part of the fourteenth cycle of grant awards made through the NALAC Fund for the Arts. To date, NALAC has awarded over 634 grants to the Latino arts and cultures field, reflecting an investment of $3.2m million across 36 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and México.

The NALAC Fund for the Arts: Puerto Rico Artist grant is possible due to support from the Flamboyan Arts Fund. The 14th edition of the NALAC Fund for the Arts is also possible thanks to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Southwest Airlines, and Surdna Foundation.

NALAC’s work is also made possible thanks to the continuing support of NALAC’s membership and individual donors.

NALAC Fund for the Arts: Puerto Rico Artist Grant ($5,000), In Partnership with the Flamboyan Arts Fund

Alejandro Cirilo (San Juan, PR) multidisciplinary

Awilda Rodríguez Lora (San Juan, PR) multidisciplinary

FuzionArte (Bayamon, PR) visual arts

Kairiana Núñez Santaliz (San Juan, PR) multidisciplinary

Lazum (Vieques, PR) media arts

Leila Mattina (San Juan, PR) folk & traditional arts

Lizbeth Román (Toa Baja, PR) music

Maribel Canales Rosario (San Juan, PR) visual arts

MIMA (San Juan, PR) music

Nirvania Quesada (San Juan, PR) theatre