As the COVID-19 cases continue to slow, the Rhode Island Latino Arts’ La Galeria del Pueblo will be reopening to the public. The gallery was proud to announce it will also serve the Latino community as a cultural hub.

The gallery will feature vibrant art by multi-talented artist, Francisco Hernández. 

There will also be an exhibit from Stephannie Cames, Tamara Díaz, Rene Gómez and Pablo Youngs, called The Traveling Puertas.

In addition to the reopening, RILA also announced it  will be hosting many events, such as artists talks, arts demonstrations, poetry readings and community conversations about Latino art. The meetings also talk about the many ways to preserve and protect Latino culture.

The venue will welcome visitors on weekdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. throughout July.

There will also be eight-week workshops to promote art education, such as sketch classes, spray paint visual art and theater. Do note, there is a small fee to participate in these workshops.

The nonprofit organization was founded in 1988 by Marta Martinez, who was born and raised in El Paso, Texas and is of Mexican heritage. 

She has focused on highlighting and encouraging the Latino community in Providence, Rhode Island to display their contemporary artwork.

“We became that hub, that centralized organization where Latino artists know that when they move here, they can display their art, live their culture,” she told Rhode Island Monthly. “It’s a home for the arts, the Latino arts and it’s a home for the artists.”

Many events and exhibits were born out of RILA, with the most recent project is La Galería, the cultural space of RILA. It is home to many art displays.

The gallery is located in a vintage, colonial New England home at 209 Central Street in Central Falls, Rhode Island. The home is unlike any other gallery because it is more like a home, with a welcoming presence. 

Along with events and workshops, Martinez tries to engage the community by adding potluck dinners, and walking tours.

One specific walking tour coming up next month is the story of the first two Dominican bodega owners, who opened their bodega in the 1960s in ‘La Broa’, or Broad Street.

Tony Rosario and Fefa Rosario, were the couple to open the first Dominican-owned grocery store on Broad Street in Providence in the early 1960s. With the help of the Rosarios, many other Dominican businesses emerged, making South Providence one of the biggest Latino communities in the country.

The event will take place on Aug. 1 between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

La Broa is a community that’s seen a major influx of Latino immigrants. Usually, the stores and restaurants in La Broa are owned and operated by Latinos.

“It really is the heart of the Latino community,” Martinez told the Providence Journal.

For more information on RILA please visit their website.