Latino Cultural Center Launches New Initiative

July 7, 2021 – Sarasota

CreArte Latino was founded in 2012 as a creative hub for the Spanish-speaking Latino/Hispanic community in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. In 2021, that community numbers more than 100,000. CreArte Latino Cultural Center’s new ambition for the future is to serve and reach out to all of them. Its “Para el Futuro/For the Future” initiative includes plans to re-open a new 4,500-square-foot space at 8251 15^th St. East in Sarasota and expand its schedule of theater productions, events, and activities. 

“It is our mission to be a connector between the Latino/Hispanic community and the community at large through the arts,” says Artistic Director and President Carolina Franco. 

The initiative, supported by a $71,000 grant from Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, targets four specific areas: community outreach, scholarships directed toward Latinos/Hispanics, professional salaries, and operational expenses. According to Franco, the organization has used the funds to hire the organization’s first part-time paid employees, including a director of programming; a director of education; and a director of marketing. 

Franco says that the Para El Futuro/For the Future initiative also includes adding more classes, workshops and plays. 

“We can recover from the devastating impact of COVID, move forward with fundraising and finetune our Spanish-speaking and bilingual programming,” Franco says. 

Among other projects, CreArte Latino Cultural Center hopes to partner with arts organizations in the area, develop children’s theater performed by adults and start a class for exclusively Spanish speakers called “Conversations in English.” It is also continuing to enhance its collaborations with Latino/Hispanic artists from Sarasota, Manatee, and Latin America.

The first re-opening activities include book clubs for adults and children, bilingual painting workshops for adults and children and an acting workshop. In cooperation with The Hispanic Association of Sarasota and the health departments of Sarasota and Manatee counties, CreArte Latino has hosted two vaccination pop-up clinics. 

Franco expresses her deep gratitude for CreArte Latino’s volunteers, community supporters and Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. 

“We have always believed in hard work from the heart and aiming high. This generous grant empowers us to realize our dream of inclusivity through the arts and the possibilities going forward seem endless.” She adds, “Our ‘Para el Futuro/For the Future’ goal is to offer everyone cross-cultural experiences to learn from each other and create a space where diversity is not only welcomed but celebrated.”

To find out more about CreArte Latino Cultural Center, to donate or register for programs and events, visit www.creartelatino.org  or CreArte Latino on Facebook.