With the opening of Colores, the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Art Museum’s first exhibit featuring Latino artists, the school aims to do several things, said the museum’s art director, Kenneth Rodgers.
Acknowledging both the state’s rapidly changing demographics and the absence of a venue to recognize the artistic contributions of that community, Rodgers said, “It seems natural that we would reach out and pull the walls down.”
Rodgers said for several years, the museum has looked forward to presenting an exhibition devoted to the work of Hispanic artists who live in North Carolina and have worked in the state extensively.
“Few inclusive exhibitions of the work of Latino artists have been presented in North Carolina,” said Rodgers. “An objective here is to explore the work of some of the artists who have been overlooked and have not been shown in any great measure to Triangle audiences.” North Carolina’s Triangle area encompasses the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
He added, “Colores also recognizes how North Carolina’s and the Research Triangle community’s growing Hispanic population enriches our state and strengthens North Carolina’s cultural and economic ties to Latin America and beyond. We hope that the occasion of this exhibition will serve to increase public awareness and appreciation of the richness, variety and strength of the continuing evolving work of these talented artists.”
The exhibit, which runs through September 21 during Hispanic Heritage Month, is curated by Rafael A. Osuba, “someone who is familiar with the work of these artists,” said Rodgers. Osuba has presented exhibitions through Artists Studio Projects at venues across North Carolina.
The six artists featured in the Colores exhibit hail from Puerto Rico and several South American countries, including Argentina and Colombia and “represent a cross-section of expertise and craftsmanship,” said Rodgers.
