Buffalo Arts Studio presents a panel discussion on contemporary and folk art practices

Buffalo Arts Studio hosts the Contemporary Art and Folk Art Practices panel to discuss how artists are influenced by the intersection of their cultural histories and contemporary experiences. This discussion will examine the way(s) in which one can be a contemporary artist while using cultural and/or family practices referred to as “folk art.” The panel will examine how this category creates hierarchy and inequality for those outside of Western colonial and academic practices, and how curators, galleries, and collecting institutions can make space for artists within the art rather than in archaeological, ethnographic or popular art spaces. The panel will include exhibiting artists, Deborah Canales and Benjamin Cirino of Multinational Art Illumination; Beatriz Flores, executive director of El Batey; Maricruz Rivera Clemente, director of Corporación Piñones, Jodi Lynn Maracle, mother of Kanien’kehá:ka, artist, teacher and language learner, and Dalia Antonia Caraballo Muller, associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean history at the University at Buffalo. Spanish translation support will be available. This discussion is made possible in part through support from an Action Grant from Humanities New York.

Beatriz Flores is the founder and executive director of El Batey Puerto Rican Cultural Center, an organization whose mission is to honor and empower the people of Puerto Rico through culture, music and history. Flores believes that bomba is the encapsulated expression of Puerto Rican history and philosophy, as well as a vehicle for social change. Born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Flores maintains close ties to the island and its cultural practitioners and activists, often traveling to the island to continue her training while bringing a number of experts to Buffalo to lead workshops and forums. His cultural and historical knowledge and Puerto Rican networks are invaluable to the success of the 1 849 Millas Project. Flores introduced Buffalo Arts Studio to the artists and many scholars and activists participating in this project.

Multinational lighting artists Deborah Canales and Benjamin Cirino were born and raised in Loíza, Puerto Rico, and currently live and work in Buffalo, New York. Cirino grew up in a family of artists and artisans who passed down their traditions from generation to generation. Cirino studied with cultural visual artist Daniel Linn and began his studio soon after. Canales, whose artistic practice includes shell doll making and mask making, began studying these crafts at age 14. Cirino and Canales, who have worked together for over two decades, formed the Multinational Illumination Art collective in 2023 to educate communities. on the roots of the vejigante mask tradition, ensuring that the cultural heritage continues into the future and teaching new generations the art of carving vejigante masks.

Maricruz Rivera Clemente is an Afro-Puerto Rican activist, social worker, sociologist, and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Puerto Rico del Recinto de Río Piedras. She is the founder and executive director of Corporación Piñones se Integra (COPI), a non-profit community and anti-racist organization committed to finding alternatives to improve the quality of life of residents, families and visitors through education, community. economic development, culture, music and natural resources. She is also an active member of the Afro-descendant Regional Articulation of the Americas and the Caribbean (ARAAC).

Dr. Dalia Antonia Caraballo Muller is Associate Professor of Latin American and Caribbean History at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Caraballo Muller is dedicated to the twin (and closely related) passions of historical research in his field and the development of educational programs for social and planetary good. She currently conducts research on African and African-descended intellectuals in early 20th-century Cuba who thought about the limits of possibility as they demanded their rights, dignity, and equality in a world that denied their full humanity.

Jodi Lynn Maracle is a Kanien’kehá:ka mother, artist, teacher and language learner. Maracle uses Haudenosaunee language and material techniques, such as the hand tanning of deer skins and the twisting of corn husks, in conversation with soundscapes, projections, videos and performances to interrogate questions of place, power, erasure, story-making and responsibility to the earth. . Her research as a doctoral student at the University at Buffalo focuses on Haudenosaunee material culture, language, land, and birth practices.

About Buffalo Arts Studio:

Buffalo Arts Studio (BAS) connects diverse communities through the visual arts through inclusive exhibitions, educational programs, mentorship and public art while also providing affordable studio space, exhibition, paid opportunities and development continuing professional to visual artists. BAS is a catalyst for empowerment, innovation and action focused on enhancing our region.

Buffalo Arts Studio receives exhibition support from the Cameron and Jane Baird Foundation, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Erie County Cultural Fund, Humanities New York, John R. Oishei Foundation, M&T Bank, from the National Endowment for the Arts, by Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. . Foundation Arts & Culture Initiative, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and through the Creative Program Arts Services Inc. Impact Fund through a New York State Senate initiative supported by the New York State Legislature and the Governor’s Office, and administered by the State Arts Council of New York.

Buffalo Arts Studio is located at 2495 Main Street, Suite 500, Buffalo, New York, 14214. For more information and updates on 1 849 Millas: Al otro lado del charco, A Diaspora Journey, visit www.buffaloartsstudio. org

Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls.