OUR HISTORY
For more than 90 years, the Cortés Family has been committed to the social and cultural well-being of the Caribbean, as well as the interest and appreciation for art that has transcended its generations, through the Cortés Hermanos Company. In 2007, they celebrated their 70th anniversary by holding an exhibition titled "Cortés Art Collection" at Museo de Arte de Caguas with artworks from their private collection of contemporary Caribbean Art. This celebration encouraged them to create a permanent initiative using works from their art collection as educational tools for social transformation.
Fundación Cortés is an initiative that, through the arts and humanities, seeks to promote the strengthening of the values of our people. Fundación Cortés has started a philanthropic legacy through an active commitment to education that uses the visual arts as an aid to raise awareness about our values, raise awareness about our identity as a people and instill feelings of trust that promote positive and strengthening changes in the spirit of the Puerto Rican and Caribbean community.
Currently, the two exhibit halls of Fundación Cortés: the Sala Enfoque: Pedro Cortés Forteza and the Sala Colectiva: Ignacio Cortés Del Valle contain pieces of contemporary Caribbean and Latin American art, and are accessible to the public free of charge on Thursdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Calle San Francisco # 210 in Old San Juan. To date we have presented fourteen exhibits with works from the Chocolate Cortés Art Collection and five exhibits by Guest Artists, and we have documented over 85,000 registered visits.
Our theory of social transformation consists of the integration of Caribbean art, dialogue, reflection and creative expression through experiential and motivational experiences and individual and teamwork workshops, which at the same time promote the management of emotions and self-care, the development of critical thinking and other skills such as public speaking, increased self-esteem, and emphasis on social values as priorities for community well-being.
We are proud that Fundación Cortés has already become a meeting point to disseminate and promote the appreciation and study of the arts and humanities, as well as having achieved successful results to date, including having impacted nearly 14,000 children, youth and older adults by medium of educational programming, and have over 85,000 registered visits to the fourteen exhibitions presented to date.
ACHIEVEMENTS
14
EXHIBITS
Curated with works from the Chocolate Cortés Collection
5
EXHIBITS
From Guest Artists
90,000
REGISTERED VISITS
36 Tours | Educational talks
37 Afternoons | Nights of Art and Music
22,000
CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS
From schools, universities, institutions and associations, mainly low-income or disadvantaged, have participated in the Educa Cortés Program
240
SCHOLARSHIPS
FOR SUMMER PROGRAMS
Low-income students, mostly from public schools in the community of Old San Juan and Metro Area
WORK TEAM
Adelisa González-Lugo MBA
Executive Director and Lead Educator
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Ignacio Cortés Gelpí
President and Treasurer
Elaine Shehab Licha
Secretary
Adlín Ríos Rigau, PhD
Director
Alberto Bacó Bagué, Esq.
director
Eva Diaz Acevedo
Director
Javier Cortés González
director
José Morey, MD
director
Photo from left to right: Adlín Ríos Rigau, Javier Cortés González, Eva Díaz Acevedo, Alberto Bacó Bagué, Elaine Shehab Licha, Ignacio Cortés Gelpí and Efrén Pagán Beauchamp.
INVESTORS
We thank and celebrate all the individuals, corporations, foundations and institutions that with their contributions have accompanied us to make our mission of educating and inspiring with our passion for the arts of the Caribbean a reality.
.
VISIONARIES - $500,000 +
• Chocolarte, Inc.
BENEFACTORS - $101,000 - $499,999
• Ignacio Cortés Gelpi & Elaine Shehab Licha
• Cortés Hermanos, LLC
• Peter Alfond Foundation
• Fondos ARPA
• Joaquín B. Viso Alonso & Olga Lizardi Portilla
• Red Nose for Puerto Rico Fund/Comic Relief USA
ALLIES - $ 50,000 - $ 100,000
• FirstBank
• Justin Sullivan
• Tides Foundation/ Barbados and the Greater Caribbean Fund
• Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Vega Palau & Co.
• José Enrique Fernández
MANAGERS - $ 20,000 - $ 49,999
• Sajo/McCann
• Comisión Especial Conjunta de Fondos Legislativos para Impacto Comunitario
• Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
• Nabil & Lucy El-Hage
• IRS Credit Retention Incentive
• Auramer
• Compañía de Turismo de Puerto Rico
• BBS Legal, LLC
• The Boston Foundation/Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund
• Fundación Angel Ramos
• Kellogg Foundation
• Avory & Co.
• Club Rotarios de San Juan
• Robert & Edith Murray Gift for Puerto Rico
• Center for Disaster Philanthropy-Atlantic Recovery Fund
• José Enrique Fernández
• Fundación Por Pobreza / Pobreza Infantil
• Lawrence Kent
• Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico
• South American Restaurant Corp.
• Stephen Gil
• Someone Else's Child Foundation
COLABORATORS - $5,000 - $19,999
• MaryAnn Zacharia Foundation
• Fulcro Insurance
• Goya de Puerto Rico
• DARJO Foundation
• Dora Cortés
• Universidad Ana G. Méndez
• Inez Stewart
• Fundación Vilá-Biaggi
• Rob Bolt & Dr. Annie Evans
• Motorambar
• Goya de Puerto Rico
• Aida González-Lugo
• ADAMES Foundation
• Eos Foundation
• Kevin Kirk
• Margarita Suárez
• Antonio Martorell
• Ranger American
• London Consulting Group Caribe & Florida
• Grupo Reinhold de Puerto Rico
• Danosa Caribbean
• Héctor González
• Bank of America Matching Program
• Walmart
• Fundación Antonio Fas Alzamora
• Sajo & Chiqui Foundation
• Hispanic Information & Telecommunications Network
• Pfizer
• Tracy & Brian Lilly
• Programa Mano Amiga/Fundación Plaza las Américas
• David Ruiz
• José C. Figueroa Trust
• La Borinqueña Grants Program
• Navid Abghari
• Michael Ross
• SuperMax
• B. Fernandez
• Anthony Emtman
• Jeffrey Stenfors
• Kyle Wang and Natalie Salemink
• Stefaan Vervaet
• Stephanie Young-Azan
• Raymond Azan
• Brent Johnson
• The Jazz Foundation of America
• Hotel Condado Palm Inn – Tapestry Collection by Hilton
ALLIANCES
Felisa Rincón de Gautier House Museum
National Foundation for Popular Culture
The House of Buttresses
San Juan Art Students League
Museum of the Americas
Museum Library The House of the Book
Fixed Regiment of Puerto Rico
-
AARP Puerto Rico
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ASPIRA Inc. of Puerto Rico
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Clinton Foundation | Clinton Global Initiative
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Hope for Old Age
-
International Medical Corps
-
Contemporary Art Museum
-
SAGE Puerto Rico
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Susan G. Komen Puerto Rico Affiliate
-
The Jazz Foundation of America
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Carlos Albizu University
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Departmen of Art and Culture of the San Juan del Municipality
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Center for Design Thinking and Innovation in Education
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La Finca Escuela of La Perla
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Community Impact Association La Perla INC.
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Episcopal Church Divine Savior
of Old San Juan -
Museum and Center for Humanistic Studies Dr. Josefina Camacho de la Nuez