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Latino arts' turn in the spotlight?

Advocates prepare for long-term push before the curtain goes up on Arizona's first Hispanic arts center.

Latino arts and culture advocates are rehearsing to give the dramatic performance of their lives.

It'll take a flawless, moving script. Perfect pitch. Strong, creative direction. Savvy promotion and marketing. And a dazzling debut in front of a big audience.

And that's just in the first act.

These arts activists say that sustainability is the key: they won't just raise money to construct a Latino cultural center, but also build in the budgets to operate it.

Next month the group will formally announce the members of its board, its vision and begin its fundraising.

To sell the idea, the group's leaders say its strategic and business plans must project the economic benefits such a center will bring to the state. Studies are showing that the arts and culture industry -- and it is an industry -- should pay its own way and provide benefits to other sectors of the community.

One study by Americans for the Arts showed local non-profit arts groups in Maricopa County contributed nearly $344 million into the area's economy in 2000. That figure includes non-profits' budgets and salaries, audience tickets sold, earnings by arts-related businesses, and money spent in restaurants and hotels by people enjoying the arts.

CREATING SUPPORT

Local Hispanic arts/culture advocate Marco Albarran says he and other community members have been brainstorming on the concept of a permanent cultural center for the past year. These people include businessowners, corporate executives, attorneys, arts administrators and foundation representatives, he says.  The group's members are also talking to community-based organizations and Arizona's three universities for possible partnerships, he adds.

The consensus? It will take hard work, a committed core group, community partnerships, a clear vision and years to achieve. But now is the crucial time to start.

Albarran indicated the initial capital goal will be $25 million for a location, building, staff and programming. After forming a board of directors, the first step is to create the cultural center's strategic and business plans, he adds.

Early last year, Albarr‡n began hosting performances in a donated space near the corner of Third Street and Van Buren, dubbing it the Calaca Cultural Center. Visual artists, actors and singers shared various aspects of Hispanic culture during downtown's eclectic First Fridays events.

When the building owners asked them to vacate after three months of renovating the old building, Albarran says he realized that Latino artists and supporters must own their
own building.

"We can't depend on the generosity of others for the growth and preservation of Latino arts and culture," he says.

Albarran continues to host art shows at smaller venues. However, he is quick to vocalize his faith in building a Hispanic cultural center, even though the idea seems relegated to an understudy role among other Latino priorities.

"I don't think it's hard to get the broader community to support this idea," he says, admitting the arts sometimes take a back seat to Latino issues such as health and social services.

"They see it more like a hobby than a necessity, (but) they should be supporting the arts as part of our everyday life."

A CREATIVE SOCIETY

Vibrant Culture, Thriving Economy, a report by the Maricopa Regional Arts and Culture Task Force (MPAC), warns that without investment in arts and culture, Arizona will lose out in the race for a talent pool of workers that would keep the state economically competitive. Plus, it will be harder to attract creative industries and businesses to our state.

Dolores Valdes Zacky, director of communications and participation for MPAC, says there is no question, in her mind, that a Hispanic cultural center is vital to the entire community. She says she had been invited to work with the cultural center's organizing group.

"This is a subject near and dear to my heart. I'm Hispanic, first of all, and I am very proud of my cultural heritage," she says. "The rich Hispanic heritage is an intrinsic part of this region. It's long overdue for the cultural vibrancy of this region."

Valdes Zacky points out that quality of life, including access to arts and culture, is one of the most desirable elements listed by professionals about the cities in which they live.

And much as pre-Katrina New Orleans exemplified the "great gumbo" of diverse people, Zacky says, Phoenix has the potential to grow a similar reputation from its geographic seat.

"People are coming here from all over the world," Zacky says. "There is the space and opportunity that is here, and compared to other cities
in the nation, it's still more affordable. When people come from all over -- not only from across the U.S., but from Latin America and Asia -- that brings a very special thing to that region. It's really that diversity of culture that puts a city on the map at local and international levels. I think this could very well happen in Phoenix."

CULTURAL CROSSROADS

But is a centralized cultural attraction the most inclusive concept? After all, Hispanics are not all of the same background. There are those who worry that a one-stop-center to serve all Hispanics may cater programming to the majority (Mexican Americans) in this area and slight the minority (those with Central, South American, Spanish and Caribbean roots).

Rudy Guglielmo, program officer for the Arizona Community Foundation, a non-profit charitable trust that connects individual donors with the needs of the community, says it might be smart to establish satellite venues. 

"My view is to have it decentralized throughout the city," he says. "I think we need to look at where the Latino community lives."

Guglielmo's concept would broaden support for the center from the start, with a more grassroots-style approach. A former director of MARS Artspace, Guglielmo says he thinks about what the audience wants to see, whether he/she is an acculturated Latino American, or a newly arrived immigrant. He points to Tucson, where there is an established tradition of festivals focusing on various aspects of the community, including food, holidays and music, such as its annual Norteno event.

In other words, the mix has to be right to draw large audiences. 

"What are the needs of the community? What is a Mexican national coming to (see)? How do we create those spaces to support that type of community?" 

Troy Fernandez, deputy director of AlbuquerqueÕs National Hispanic Cultural Center, says he grapples with that same idea.

"We're a national cultural center," he says. "But the Guggenheim Museum in New York has satellites. It's very viable to have satellites, to have shows go where the people are." 

Outside Arizona, states such as Colorado, Illinois, Texas and New Mexico boast cultural centers that attract both Latino and non-Latino audiences and have helped to establish cultural identities in the region. Yet in Arizona, momentum has been slow to catch on to the idea, leaving local groups to continue struggling to find venues and funding for their artists.

"I think about how large the population of Mexican and Latino people we have in our state," says Dina Lopez, executive director of Xicanindio Artes, Inc., a non-profit arts organization. "To not have some type of a center -- well, we're way behind other states. It's my opinion we have lacked in that area because we don't have the political clout some of the other cities do." 
   
Hispanic institutions outside Arizona, notably in the NHCC in Albuquerque and the Museo de las Americas in Denver, have utilized political savvy and long-term commitment to create viable cultural attractions.

TUCSON FIRST?

Albarran and company also must keep an eye on Tucson, where another team is working to achieve similar results. The Tucson coalition reportedly seeks to establish a cultural museum near El Barrio Viejo, but currently is keeping a tight lid on the project.

Albarran and fellow arts advocates are unperturbed about other groups who might be on the same track. He says his group would welcome dialogue with the Tucson group, perhaps to collaborate on efforts.  

"The thing is, we have to start from somewhere. If people who had initiated the Arizona Chicano arts movement back in the '70s and '80s had developed something like this, and we had pushed for it, we would be in a totally different situation."

The Museo Chicano, 147 E. Adams St., Phoenix, is a cultural space supported in part by the City of Phoenix and Chicanos Por La Causa. It's purpose, however, focuses on art shows, and though it has hosted receptions, is too cramped for larger audiences. (Director Liz Zamorano was unavailable for comment for this story.)

In the meantime, local arts groups keep plugging on, looking for stages and events at which to share their Hispanic talents and culture. They continue to look for support wherever it can be found. Sometimes they get Lucky.

Program director Daniel Martinez, whose Glendale-based Fiesta Mexicana dance troupe has just partnered with the Mexican Folkloric Dance Troupe from Mexico City, dreams of a cultural center where a school for Hispanic arts can flourish.

"We need to show (the public) the culture that we have. It's so rich," Martinez says. "We get a little bit of every nationality in our culture: France, Spain, China, Arabian, Caribbean, Cuban and African."

For Martinez, the absence of a Hispanic cultural center is painful.

"It's embarrassing that we don't have a cultural center," he says. "They have a Chinese cultural center and we don't have anything."