LaCasita Hosting Youth Arts Education Program Showcase April 19

Exhibits of comic book and film art, along with dance, music and song performances, will highlight the talents and creativity of young artists at this year’s Young Art/Arte Joven showcase at La Casita Cultural Center.

The work of nearly 40 artists aged six to 12 who have participated in the center’s free afterschool arts education program will be displayed. The opening event and reception take place on Friday, April 19, at La Casita’s facilities at 109 Otisco Street, Syracuse. The event is free and open to the public.

Tere Panaigua, executive director of the Office of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community at Syracuse University, says center staff take great pride in the young artists’ accomplishments. “The children’s achievements are remarkable, and programming like this allows everyone involved to gain knowledge and understanding about different creative works as well as about each other. It is a wonderful way to learn more about the many cultures that abound in our city and our region and how people make connections through art.”

More than 200 Syracuse University students serve as interns and volunteers in the programs, working together with faculty members and community artists to help youngsters in the program with a range of art projects and musical and dance performances. The children who participate include residents of the City’s West Side, Syracuse City School District students, and those from other parts of Syracuse and neighboring towns.

Paniagua says the program is valuable for more than just the way it teaches children about the arts. “The children are engaged in a culturally centered, safe environment where they are learning and gaining new skills. They also are working with older students who mentor them and provide them with some amazing role models.”

The event will highlight the work of these activities:

Open Studio (artmaking): This workshop is led by graduate student Bennie Guzman G ’25, a College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) creative art therapy major and youth programming coordinator for La Casita since 2018. Guest artists who collaborated with Bennie in designing and facilitating workshops include Kelly Gallagher, associate professor of film at VPA, who facilitated a two-week animation film workshop; and Cayetano Valenzuela, a Syracuse teaching artist who exhibited at this year’s Latino Futurism show and who led a comic book illustration workshop. Two undergraduate students assisted in the workshop programming: Sidney Mejía ’24, a political science major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and Ana Aponte ’24, Gonzalez, a dual major in communications and rhetorical studies and women’s and gender studies in VPA and the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S).

Danza Troupe: This dance ensemble will perform at the reception. It is led by Syracuse University student Gabriela Padilla ’25, a biochemistry major in A&S who has been the program’s dance instructor and choreographer for the past two years. She and the troupe plan a show for the opening event that features an original song about La Casita. The song was written by Alexander Paredes, who recently completed an executive Master of Public Administration at the Maxwell School and is now using his optional practical training year to work in administration at La Casita.

Children in the program’s piano and violin workshops will also perform along with their instructors, recent VPA violin performance graduate student Tales Navarro ’G 24 and piano instructor Myra Bocage ’26, an advertising major at the Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Students involved in the dual language literacy programs at La Casita include Andrea Perez Ternet ’24, a human development and family science senior in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, who is completing a capstone internship at La Casita, and Diana García Varo G ’25, a graduate student in the multimedia, photography and design program at the Newhouse School.

La Casita, an arts and education center supported by Syracuse University, was established in 2011 as a cultural bridge for Latino/Latin American communities on campus and throughout the Central New York region.