Highlights from the most memorable outcomes during January-May 2022
By the beginning of 2022, we have reached over 350 students, teachers and others coming from all over Puerto Rico with the different programs we offer through Educa Cortés.
In the past five months we have registered over 2,000 guests that have visited the exhibitions: Family Cortés: Art, Culture and Entrepeneurship and La Borinqueña in San Juan.
When we join forces, great things happen
We have been working to fortify our institutional allies such as ASPIRA from Puerto Rico, Espacio A and the Episcopal Church in Old San Juan in order to keep coordinating recurring visits to attend the Educa Cortés: The Art of Wellness and Mental Health Program to benefit students from the public schools from the region and the young boys in the provisional residence from the church.
Art, Wellness and Agroecology: The Future is Here
We decided to create a new semester-long curriculum to complement our Educa Cortés: The Art of Wellness and Agroecology Program due to the success that represented the past programming launched in April 2021. This initiative was possible thanks to a donation from Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico, Red Nose for Puerto Rico Fund, the collaboration with La Finca Escuela de La Perla, the Carnegie Library, and the assistance of the artists Angélica Rivera and Jerome Zayas. The students analized in more detail the importance of food safety in Puerto Rico and design techniques in three dimensional space using elements that can be found in nature. We give thanks to the Municipio de San Juan and Antonio Morales, Director of the Department of Arts and Culture, for providing us the space to make possible the workshops while in La Finca Escuela de La Perla have been doing the last renovations thanks to Peter Alfond Foundation funds.
Slide to the left to see more photos of the Educa Cortés: The Art of Wellness and Agroecology Program 2022 Semester.
The educators from Fundación Cortés participated in different activities as part of the Professional Development Program which included: Cumbre Afro 2022, Museums Association of the Caribbean (MAC Caribe), The Rotary Club from Puerto Rico, MUSEUM NEXT: Museums Health & Wellbeing Summit, Tides Foundation/Spring FIRE Program 2022, visits to Liga de Arte de San Juan, MadMi Museum, Galería de Arte de la Universidad Sagrado Corazón, attended the Medioscopio presentation that was hosted in Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico and, last but not least, we visited and talked with the colleagues from Corporación Piñones Se Integra (COPI) in Loíza.
From left to right: Dr. Adlín Ríos Rigau, Ignacio Cortés Gelpí, Elaine Shehab de Cortés, Veerle Poupeye, Adelisa González-Lugo, David Auerbach, Dr. Irene Esteves Amador and the companion of David Auerbach.
Beautiful Encounters with Beautiful People
Also, in March 12, 2022 we had the pleasure to welcome in our galleries Veerle Poupeye, art historian, curator and art critic specialized in Caribbean Art and Visual Culture and her guests. In April 14, 2022 side by side with Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez we were part of the Meet & Greet hosted in Chocobar Cortés located in Condado to celebrate the Puerto Rico Comic Con 2022. We appreciate the commitment of influencers like @soycamiliando and @little_sofiapr, whom responded to our call to promote the Activa tus Poderes con las Artes campaign so we can continue raising funds for our educational programs in Fundación Cortés.
Fundación Cortés appeared in a press review in the Spanish newspaper El País, on April 25, 2022 emphasizing the excellent exhibition La Borinqueña in San Juan and the collaboration Chocolate Cortés launched in their classic yellow bars were Social Justice is the main topic; and at the same time is one of the five values that give us direction as an Institution.
With the heart full of joy, our Program Manager, Stephanie Rivera, had the pleasure to announce our recent EducaKit Project in May 12, 2022 through the TV Program Contigo Siempre in Channel 13. During a very pleasant interview hosted by María María, Stephanie Rivera gave details about how we are going to maximize our resources and will continue being in contact with the participants of the Educa Cortés Program once they finish the workshops, engaging with them through our social media platforms.
We wish to recognize Carmelo Establier, Social Media Coordinator from Cortés Hermanos LLC, who recently joined our staff in a pro-bono capacity to assist us in improving Fundación Cortés social platforms.
Tides Foundation, through Caribbean Beyond Initiative, selected us to be part of the 10 distinguished non-profit organizations from the Caribbean region, who are participating from the C-Beyond Cohort 2022. This means a $20,000 grant for the Institution and our staff to be enrolled in the Spring FIRE Program 2022 were we are sharing, as Caribbean organizations, our best resilience practices in economic issues. This experience will strengthen our institutional plans so they can resonate better with our vision in Fundación Cortés.
See you in the Next 10x10 Concert!
Last Saturday, May 21, 2022, we launched the 10x10: Ten Concerts for the Ten Years since we opened our doors to the community for the first time. Sponsorship from The Jazz Foundation of America allowed for a magical evening with the Trío de Jazz Latino composed by Yan Artime (piano), Ramón Vázquez (bass) and Tony Escapa (drums), whom filled our Collective Room: Ignacio Cortés del Valle with music and culture to honor the ten years that we have been educating and inspiring with our passion for the Caribbean arts. If you are interested in reserving a seat for the next concert to be held on Saturday, June 18, 2022, the day before Father's Day, you can call or send a text to the following number: 787-567-4642 with a $25 donation.