Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

Exhibitions, Film Screening Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Wednesday, September 13, 2017, By Kevin Morrow
Share
La Casita Cultural Center

The Office of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community at the College of Arts and Sciences, in partnership with various campus and local organizations, is gearing up for Hispanic Heritage Month 2017 (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) with several events.

LA CASITA CULTURAL CENTER

Fusion Caribe poster“Fusión Caribe: The History of Our Music” at La Casita Cultural Center, is an exhibition of historic photos, videos and memorabilia of the artists who propelled Latin music around the globe, along with dozens of traditional instruments used in this genre. The displays highlight the musical heritage of Latin music and its fusion of Spanish, African and Taíno roots. Guided tours are available in dual languages (English and Spanish) by appointment (315.443.2151) Monday through Friday from noon-6 p.m. at La Casita, 109 Otisco St., Syracuse.

An opening reception will take place Friday, Sept. 15, from 6-8 p.m. at La Casita. The event features salsa music and dance performances, as well as classic recordings of son montuno, guaracha, guaguancó, cha cha chá, mambo, bolero, merengue, bomba and plena, and reguetón.

During the reception, the Hispanic Syracuse coalition will recognize a dozen artists and scholars for their contributions to the enrichment of Syracuse’s Hispanic community: Victor Antonetti and Jorge Colón (Orquesta Antonetti); Brian Bromka and Roberto Pérez (La Familia de la Salsa); Elisa and Joshua Dekaney (Samba Laranja); José Mora (Pleneros d’ Borikén); Edgar Pagán (Grupo Pagán); Sammy Avila; Edgar Paiewonsky; Henry González Rosado; and Setnor School of Music alumna Sara Silva G’07 (Symphoria).

Free transportation will be provided—courtesy of Coming Back Together 2017—from campus to the reception and back via the Connective Corridor bus and the CBT Shuttle Bus, with departure from the Waverly Avenue entrance of the Schine Student Center at 5:55 p.m. and return from La Casita at 7:45 p.m.

Partnering with La Casita on the “Fusión Caribe” exhibition are Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) and the Department of Art & Music Histories in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Classic vinyl records on display

Classic vinyl covers from the Bell Brothers Collection.

The project includes music from the Bell Brothers Collection of Latin American and Caribbean Recordings, a massive repository of 15,000 recordings—primarily 45-rpm discs—acquired by the University in 1963 from the Bell Music Box, a New York City record store. The collection includes examples of bolero, bomba, chachachá, charanga, danzón, guaguancó, guajira, guaracha, mambo, merecumbé, merengue, música jíbara, pachanga, plena, seis fajardeño and son montuno. This past spring, the SCRC began a major digitization project to preserve and make accessible this unique collection. To date, more than 900 discs have been digitized and 500 have been made available for streaming.

Co-curators of the show are Sydney Hutchinson, associate professor of music history and cultures in the Department of Art & Music Histories, and local artists Liamna Pestana and Daniel Yost, with assistance from faculty and staff from Syracuse University, Onondaga Community College and Hobart & William Smith Colleges.

Cuban-born Pestana is a string instrumentalist and singer who has been a member of performance groups in Argentina, Cuba and Mexico; she also formed and directed for 10 years the early music group Cantiga Armonica, with which she participated in national and international festivals and concerts in Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Sweden. Yost, from Argentina, is a multidisciplinary musician experienced in choral conducting and pedagogy and stringed-instrument making; he is the founder of Cultural Bridges—a space in which vocal and instrumental groups from various countries have the opportunity to communicate and interact—and he has directed choirs and opera choruses for more than 20 years.

Daniel Yost and Liamna Pestana

Daniel Yost and Liamna Pestana

Hutchinson has loaned 40 pieces from her private collection; many are antiques, and most are handcrafted musical instruments. Pestana and Yost also have loaned instruments from their collection, including instruments they have built, such as a Spanish guitar in the traditional style for baroque Latin American guitar music and a mayohuacán, a beautiful slit drum handcrafted in the native Taino (Indo-Caribbean) tradition. Other items have been provided by alumna Damaris Mercado ’92 and her family, including historic photos and documents from the famous RMM Records, founded by Ralph Mercado.

PUNTO DE CONTACTO-POINT OF CONTACT

Artwork from "ALEPH"

Artwork from “ALEPH”

The exhibition “Aleph” by Argentine artist Pedro Roth is open through Oct. 6 at the Point of Contact Gallery in the Nancy Cantor Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse. An artist talk and reception will be held Thursday, Sept. 28, from 5-8 p.m. at the gallery; the event is free and open to the public. Regular gallery hours are Monday through Friday from noon-5 p.m.

Roth was born in Budapest and raised in Buenos Aires, where he currently lives. He holds a degree in filmmaking from National University of La Plata in Buenos Aires; he also studied photography, specializing in portraits, and is a self-taught plastics artist. His work can be found in collections of the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Latinoamericano, La Plata; Jewish Museum of Prague; Museo de Bellas Artes de Azul, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Museo Contemporaneo de Santa Fe; and the Jewish Museum of Buenos Aires.

"ICAROS" posterThe film “Icaros: A Journey Through the Peruvian Amazon,” presented in collaboration with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), will be shown Friday, Sept. 29, at 4 p.m. in the Gateway Center on the SUNY-ESF campus. The presentation will include a photography exhibit, plus a discussion and reception with the director of photography and co-producer of the film, Matías Roth, will follow the screening. Admission to this event is free.

“Icaros” explores the spiritual universe of the Shipibo indigenous people who live by the Ucayali River, one of the main tributaries of the Peruvian Amazon.

For more information on Point of Contact events, call 315.443.2169 or visit puntopoint.org.

  • Author

Kevin Morrow

  • Recent
  • Syracuse Views Summer 2025
    Monday, May 19, 2025, By News Staff
  • Awards Recognize Success of Assessment Through Engagement and Collaboration
    Monday, May 19, 2025, By News Staff
  • Professor Bing Dong Named as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
    Sunday, May 18, 2025, By Alex Dunbar
  • Summer Snacking: What to Try on Campus
    Sunday, May 18, 2025, By Jennifer DeMarchi
  • Falk College Sport Analytics Students Win Multiple National Competitions
    Friday, May 16, 2025, By Cathleen O'Hare

More In Arts & Culture

Spelman College Glee Club to Perform at Return to Community: A Sunday Gospel Jazz Service June 29

As the grand finale of the 2025 Syracuse International Jazz Fest, the Spelman College Glee Club of Atlanta will perform at Hendricks Chapel on Sunday, June 29. The Spelman College Glee Club, now in its historic 100th year, is the…

Alumnus, Visiting Scholar Mosab Abu Toha G’23 Wins Pulitzer Prize for New Yorker Essays

Mosab Abu Toha G’23, a graduate of the M.F.A. program in creative writing in the College of Arts and Sciences and a current visiting scholar at Syracuse University, has been awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for a series of essays…

School of Architecture Faculty Pablo Sequero Named Winner of 2025 Architectural League Prize

School of Architecture faculty member Pablo Sequero’s firm, salazarsequeromedina, has been named to the newest cohort of winners in the biennial Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers, one of North America’s most prestigious awards for young practitioners. “An…

A&S Cool Class: Chinese Art

Exploring diverse artistic traditions is one way students in the College of Arts and Sciences develop global perspectives and enhance their cultural awareness, necessary for success in today’s connected world. Artworks from around the world, including those from China, offer…

Jane Austen Returns to Syracuse Stage With Fresh and Fun ‘Sense and Sensibility’

Syracuse Stage continues its 2024/25 season with celebrated actor and playwright Kate Hamill’s whirlwind adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility.” Directed by Jason O’Connell, “Sense and Sensibility” will run April 23-May 11 in the Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage,…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.