The Phoenix Latino Cultural Center has been years in the making, but the Phoenix City Council recently took the next steps to build a Latino Cultural Center in the heart of the city.
Mitch Menchaca, executive director for the city’s Office of Arts and Culture, said the final report published by the Latino Cultural Center Ad Hoc Committee was approved by the Council in September and Phoenix’s Latino Community will soon have a cultural center of their own that celebrates the region’s diverse culture.
“Through a long history of Mexican, Indigenous, Central American and South American presence in the region and contemporary expressions of local, national, and international Latino arts and culture, the artistic and cultural expressions of Phoenix’s Latino community are diverse and rich,” Menchaca said.
Talks about the Latino Cultural Center have been going on for a decade, according to Councilwoman Thelda Williams, District 1. In 2019, while Williams served as interim mayor of Phoenix, she created the committee. She appointed Councilman Michael Nowakowski, District 7, and former Councilwoman Felicita Mendoza, District 8, as Co-Chairs to evaluate next steps and make recommendations to the City Council.
The following year Mayor Kate Gallego added members to the committee, replaced former Councilwoman Mendoza with Vice Mayor Betty Guardado, District 5, as Co-Chair, and organized three subcommittees to tackle program and services, fundraising and partnerships and site and operations.
“I know it took a lot of work to get to this point and I am looking forward to continuing this project in the future,” Williams said. “Hopefully in the very short term we will have a Latino Cultural Center in Phoenix.”
The Phoenix City Council voted unanimously to approve the committee’s final report in late September, which included that the center should be run by the city of Phoenix for its first five years of operation.
See related: Proposed Latino Cultural Center to honor Latino and Chicano communities
Now, the next steps involve finalizing a location, securing funds and beginning construction. Menchaca said that a nonprofit, Friends of the Latino Cultural Center, will be created to fundraise and build awareness for the center before it opens.
Menchaca and Vice Mayor Betty Guardado agreed that the biggest challenge moving forward will be accumulating the funds needed to develop the Latino Cultural Center in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Menchaca said, based on research done by the committee, that estimated construction will cost between $8 million and $15 million and there is currently less than $1 million in bond funds available to kick off the project. The city is in the process of putting a request for proposal (RFP) out to hire a capital campaign consultant who will create a plan for fundraising.
“The center, like so many cultural and artistic venues here and across the country, will rely heavily on the financial contributions of donors,” Guardado said. “We know that philanthropy has taken a hard hit with the pandemic so that will probably continue to be our biggest challenge going forward.”
The committee’s report recommends the North Building adjacent to Margaret T. Hance Park on Culver Street as the best location for the Latino Cultural Center. The North Building, located at 1202 North Third St., was selected because of its central Phoenix location, the space it provides and its proximity to public transportation.
The center will not duplicate programming that other artists and organizations have already created but will provide a space to showcase their contributions within the Phoenix community. According to Menchaca, the Latino Cultural Center will offer events, performances, workshops and exhibits with the potential for additional programming to be curated in the future.
“The center will be an inclusive space that can bridge the many diverse Latino experiences in Phoenix,” Menchaca said. “The Latino Cultural Center should be a point of pride for the Latino community and educate, inspire and entertain all residents and visitors who come to the center.”
The City Council has also approved that the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture coordinate pop-up programming throughout the community and virtually in order to promote the center and get the community excited before its opening. This programming could start as early as next fall. Guardado hopes that the center will be open to the public within the next two to three years.
“We are lucky to have talented artists in so many fields including painters, dance performers, musicians and many more as part of the fabric of our city” Gallego said. “It is important to showcase Latino arts and I think it’s time to have a long-overdue cultural center to do so.”
Contact the reporter at acwoods@asu.edu.
