The Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center and Arizona Barrio Stories partnered to bring a television series featuring local artists and stories from the barrios.
This program called “Arizona Barrio Stories” releases episodes every Sunday telling the stories of about two to three people a week. Gil Bivens is the series host and has been working with ALAC for many years.
“I thought it would be important for us to marriage both so that not only can we pay tribute to the artists that are working and coming out of the ALAC, but to also create a bridge with Arizona Barrio Stories to complement both,” Bivens said.
Each barrio story pays tribute to many of the barrios – or neighborhoods – that have now vanished. Bivens said that it’s important to educate young people about these once-thriving communities because they produced a lot of talent—people who are now lawyers, philanthropists, entrepreneurs and civic leaders.
“I’m a product of that generation and I want to make sure that people understand where their roots came from,” Bivens said. “It pays tribute to a lot of the older generation that grew up in these barrios.”
Bivens said that some of the people they are filming for the latest episode are Rudy Barcelo and Cathy Garcia. Barcelo grew up in the barrios and is from a band called Power Drive. His band goes back to the 70s and still entertains today after 40 years.
Garcia is an artist and business owner at ALAC who will talk with a group of her best friends about growing up at Carl Hayden High School and reminisce about their past.
“It’s a very positive platform so those are the types of stories we’re going to be telling the entire year,” Bivens said. “Our whole project is really two-fold. One of them is to take us back into time with great stories and the second one is where are they now.”
Danny Ortega Jr., an attorney who grew up in the barrios, interviewed with Givens and talked about the impact that Arizona Barrio Stories had in his life.
“At the end of the day, nobody is going to tell our stories, nobody is going to tell our history, nobody is going to promote who we are unless it’s about our barrios,” Ortega said. “If somebody doesn’t come back and say hey these were living thriving communities and tell that story to everybody who didn’t live there, then we’re going to lose it. Remember, the history belongs to those who tell it.”
The program will broadcast on LATV Phoenix channel 44 and Cox Cable channel 116 on Sundays at 11 a.m. MST.
ALAC recently opened back up after closing in December due to COVID-19. Elizabeth Toledo, the executive director of ALAC, said that they received funds to reopen through a grant offered from the City of Phoenix, which helped the group move forward with the show.
“One of our main goals is to promote the artists of the community,” Toledo said. “We mentor and teach them how to present their pieces to a gallery, how to market their work and how to price them.”
Cora Jean Quiroz, an artist who recently moved to Arizona from Detroit, never heard of ALAC until a friend introduced her to it, but after she toured the gallery, she said she was impressed by the opportunities. Quiroz said she appreciates that ALAC provides studio spaces to their resident artists.
“I’ve been more encouraged to express my cultural heritage,” Quiroz said. “In Detroit, there wasn’t a very huge Latino population and since I’ve been here, I just feel much more empowered, and I feel like my art finally has a home.”
ALAC provides the platform that local artists need to share their stories and collaborate with other artists. Quiroz, who is now a resident artist at ALAC, said that every painting she does takes a great deal of time but what makes the biggest difference is when she can find people who can understand her work.
“The smallest sale makes my day and I know the other artists here it makes their day as well,” Quiroz said. “Even if we can just sell one piece and find someone who actually connects with the painting, that’s what’s really important.”
Contact the reporter at igallard@asu.edu.
