Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center Inc. (The Clemente) is a Puerto Rican/Latino cultural institution that has demonstrated a broad-minded cultural vision and a collaborative philosophy. While the Clemente’s mission is focused on the cultivation, presentation, and preservation of Puerto Rican and Latino culture, it is equally determined to operate in a multi-cultural and inclusive manner, housing and promoting artists and performance events that fully reflect the cultural diversity of the Lower East Side and the city as a whole.

The Clemente is a proud member of the following organizations:

-The Bessie Presenters League of the NY Dance & Performance Awards, the Bessies

–Fourth Arts Block (FAB NYC)

–The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce

–The Alliance of Artists Communities

History and Building :

The Clemente was founded in 1993 thanks to the leadership of Puerto Rican poet Ed Vega “El Yunque’, Uruguayan actor/director Nelson Landrieu, and Dominican actor Mateo Gomez. The organization was named after the Puerto Rican poet Clemente Soto Vélez, whom for many years had been an inspiration for the Latino community of the Lower East Side.

The organization is based in a 1897 City owned building formerly known as P.S. 160 and designed by the architect Charles B. J. Snyder in the collegiate neo-gothic style. It is a representative example of the large number of school buildings that were erected in New York City in the late nineteenth century.

In the 1970s a fire caused the school to be vacated and it remained so until 1981, when Solidaridad Humana, a community based educational organization, began to use the building as a school for Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Since 1993 the administration of The Clemente has been managing a growing program of long term studios for artists, available at a subsidized license fee. In addition, the Clemente has developed an on-going performing arts and exhibition programming on its 4 theaters and 2 exhibition galleries and rehearsal studios.

Visit our website or Contact us for more information.
http://www.theclementecenter.org
info@theclementecenter.org
(212) 260-4080