Exhibit at Springfield Pulse art gallery features the work of Latino artists.
SPRINGFIELD – Scenic images of tropical flowers and birds and more abstract and graphic art pieces created by Latino artists will be on display through October at Springfield Pulse.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15- Oct. 15, Springfield Pulse has put on an exhibit which features the work of Latino and Caribbean artists from across Western Massachusetts and Connecticut.
“I wanted to focus mainly on Latino artists but also on artists form the Caribbean,” said Brenda Coss, who works at the gallery and organized the exhibit.
Springfield Pulse was established by Nehemiah Ministries in April of 2010 as an initiative to promote art in the city, said Shiloh Bradshaw, director of the gallery and art space.
“We are a community art space. Our goal is to draw people together from across many different social economic conditions,” he said.
There have been several exhibits at the gallery in the course of two years including the most recent called “Re-imagine.”
“We wanted to promote recycling and thinking green so artists who work with recycled materials were featured,” said Phoebe Stewart, the administrative director of the art space.
Stewart said a big goal of Springfield Pulse is to make art accessible to people.
“We want to make it easy for people to see art without having to spend a lot of money. We also want people to be able to create art,” she said.
There are several rooms besides the small gallery at Springfield Pulse on Pearl Street. There is an unfinished room which currently serves as an open art studio which local artists can use.
“We make the space available by appointment to people who might not have the money to rent a studio of their own,” Stewart said.
Nadine Llewellyn, of Springfield, is one of the many artists who have used the studio to work. Llewellyn, a native of Jamaica, is featured in the current show.
“I like to create paintings that remind me of home. A lot of flowers and birds,” she said.
She said she is grateful for the art space.
“I can come here and just work and forget the rest of the world,” she said.
Besides Jamaican artists there are also Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian and Mexican artists featured with more than 30 pieces on display.
Ray Escribano, of Springfield, included two of his pieces in the show. One features a man playing a conga and another features a scenic view of a small house in Puerto Rico.
“I like to do work that reminds me of Puerto Rico where I grew up,” he said. “Visually the island is so different from here and while I like living in New England there really is no comparison to one’s native country.”
Coss said she hopes the exhibit will showcase the talents of Latino artists.
“I’m not an artist, but I am Puerto Rican and I just think this is a nice way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage and show some great work,” she said. Â