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Por la Avenida (On the Avenue)
Highlandtown Neighborhood Art Series

Por la Avenida is an intergenerational, neighborhood art series in which new and older generations of immigrants, refugees and longstanding residents of Highlandtown, east Baltimore, use their cultural traditions and experiences to make and perform art. Held at Creative Alliance at The Patterson, Luisa Bieri de Rios is establishing this initiative through an Open Society Institute Community Fellowship.

Some of Por la Avenida’s events include, What Makes You Happy, which exhibited photography by students from Sudan, Somalia, the Congo, and Russia in partnership with the Baltimore Refugee Youth Project, BCCC, International Rescue Committee, BOPA and Baltimoregallery. A Bilingual Celebration of the Life of Monseñor Romero with an original play was performed in March by the congregation of San Miguel and San Patricio to commemorate the death of a martyred leader of El Salvador, whom many call “Saint Romero of the Americas.”

Central to Por la Avenida is Belong-ings, a full length play directed by Luisa, created from neighborhood stories with roots in a wide range of countries and cultures, and performed by locals and professionals. The title’s double meaning is intentional. It refers to the feeling of belonging to a family or community, as well as the things we carry with us from place to place that create a sense of home. Some of the belongings, the idiosyncratic objects that define home for us, will be installed in an exhibition at The Patterson.

Join them for Salsapolkalooza ’07 on July 28, a multi-cultural Highlandtown festival On the Avenue and in The Patterson free and fun for the whole family!

Contact Luisa for further information: luisa@creativealliance.org

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