Month: September 2023

Ciudad Museo – Celebrating Seven Years of Art

By Yaritzel M. Reyes Romero

 

 

 

 

 

If you ask me, how did we got here? My answer would be with a lot of effort, dedication and love towards art and our island. Even though I have only been in the Organization for 6 months, I can say that those who are part of it do their best to continue its mission and vision, which from the beginning has been to rehabilitate dead or lost places, extol the arts in our community and continue giving love to the land where we were born. I have seen in such a short time how Ciudad Museo continues leaving its mark in every place it goes and although it started as a community work project between two students, today you can see that they have gone much further.

In the blink of an eye, seven years passed, and its needless to say that the joy I feel is immense. Despite the difficulties, Ciudad Museo continues to grow both as an organization and within each of its members. At the level that we manage to organize an entire event from the “idea” of a celebration to having the coordination, logistics, creation of elements, etc.; and see how on February 5, 2022, it came out with great success.

What for many thought it was going to be something small, ended up being one of the most impressive activities we have done. It was gratifying seeing all those people who have supported the organization from day one and those who have joined over time and notice how they came excited and ready to celebrate with us.

Having the opportunity to see how the activity unfolded from a “backstage” perspective was unique. The way it was design how the guests entered, for me it was perfect. The guests checked in at the entrance of the Workshop and were given a personalized ID, then they passed through the workshop salon until they went out to the patio and came upon an installation of the letters “ART” to have the opportunity to take photos. Everything looked like a red carpet!

See how they enjoyed every moment of the celebration, from sharing our achievements, future projects, the new website, the creation of Lydia Abreu University Scholarship, named after the teacher who helped us and believed in us from day one, Ciudad Museo’s new logo, the announcement of the MeJunje exhibition to the improvisation show that the group from the Puerto Rican League of Theatrical Improvisation, LIPIT, performed.

We even did a sale-booth! The interesting thing about it is that it created more curiosity in our guests. We had merchandise with various arts from our organization, such as stickers, shirts, prints, etc. Giving the opportunity to others to take home a little piece of Ciudad Museo.

I must say that all the hard work of many months was worth it. Not even the rain managed to discourage us. On the contrary, it gave a magical and natural touch, and we as a team collaborated in a way that everything flowed. At the end of the celebration, the things we heard the most were positive, including comments of how successful it was and that they never imagined that the activity would be like this. In other words, the word “proud” stood out the most. From what I can tell that night, was The Night, and it was perfect. We did it!

 

And you know what was one of the most rewarding things? The next day, family members texted me saying, “Look at El Nuevo Día Newspaper!”. It turned out that Ciudad Museo made it to the front page with two pages of content in the “Flash & Culture” section.

After Celebrating Seven Years of Art the night before and seeing this the next day, there were no more words left to say than: THANK YOU!

Thanks to all those people who in one way or another have provided support so that this Organization continues growing and mostly, to each of the Official Members and Leaders of the team. I know that this is part of the process and that many more things will come. I feel extremely proud to be part of this organization and I know that together we will continue doing beautiful things for Puerto Rico and the Arts.

I invite you all to continue celebrating with us and to follow us through our social media platforms: @ciudadmuseopr.

Ciudad Museo, Seven Years of Art!

 

Yaritzel M. Reyes Romero

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Operations Management and Human Resources Management

Minor degree in Visual Arts

Official member since October 2021

Public Relations Leader

By Aidilys “Didi” Matías

 

 

 

 

It was approximately several [a lot] of days between brushes, ladders, buckets, paint cans and pieces of tape that led us to the great final event known as the Inauguration of the Macromural at Cerro Cabrera in Aguadilla: Amanecer Borincano by a great diversity of artists and organizations, where we were included. All this happened during the last months of the year where hands from all over the island joined together to form what today is known as one of the most exquisite places in the town of Aguadilla.   As the days went by, we ran out of paints, adhesive tapes, brushes, but above all, we ran out of energy. They were some of the longest, hottest, and most intense days we experienced in the entire journey of our organization, however, there was always something to talk about so that we did not lose the desire, interest, or motivation to be there. In fact, there was never a box of fried chicken that did not lighten the mood and keep us energized, even if it was late at night. It was a long journey full of memories, paint marks and people who would walk around and give us words of encouragement.   Some of the murals done there cover marine and coastal themes, for this and many other reasons, this mural is dedicated to all those fishermen in the area. We had the objective of impacting two buildings, however, shortly after we started, they approached us and let us know that we had to paint a third building so that the piece would have a congruence and be even more exquisite than it already would be. At the entrance to the community, you will see a gigantic mural depicting fishermen casting their colorful nets over the houses on the walls of three huge buildings and this is what makes it an open-air art museum.   Amanecer Borincano came to an end approximately four years ago on that afternoon of the hot and full of emotion, Saturday, December 29, 2018. Among laughter, worries, and ‘pachangueo’ we were able to put the final touches to this mural that undoubtedly impacted the lives of many people since the first day we took the luggage [brushes, rolls, ribbons, rulers, etc.] out of the cars. That day we enthusiastically set up our tent and along with it, all our merchandise. As many of you already know, we are a non-profit organization, which means that to stay afloat we needed your help to create more murals near you. We were expecting over 1,000 people that day, so it was our time to shine and make the most of all our work.   Fireworks adorned that cold and at the same time so hot December night, sparkles all over the sky reflected the colors that were captured on those walls. We inaugurated this monumental and amazing piece by cutting a red ribbon, in a moment in which every one of the people presents were participants. Hugs, tears, and smiles flooded the Macromural that we finished that night with so much sweat and sacrifice. So, we closed drawers, put on our bags, adjusted our pants, and got on our carts, ready for a new adventure full of brushes, paintbrushes, and paints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aidilys “Didi” Matias  Former Member of Ciudad Museo (2018 – 2021). Collaborated with the Public Relations and Quartermasters teams on the organization.  Undergraduate in Bachelor of Kinesiology and Exercise from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus.  Minor degree in Adapted Physical Education.