Taller Puertorriqueño

Taller is a nonprofit Latino arts and cultural organization located in the new El Corazón Cultural Center at 5th and Huntingdon Streets (2600 N 5th Street).

Taller is located in the Fairhill section of Northwest Kensington in Philadelphia. Taller’s programs work at the nexus of arts, culture, human rights, and social advocacy to catalyze social change towards community advancement.

We offer programs for youth and adults, operate an art gallery dedicated to Puerto Rican and Latin@ artists, the region’s only Spanish-English bilingual bookstore, sponsor musical and theater events, and organize a wide range of engaging cultural art education programs. Our education programs for at-risk inner-city children and youth offer unique art and educational experiences as an effective vehicle to build creative and competent community members. Over the years, Taller has thrived in a community struggling with high unemployment and dropout rates, drugs, prejudice, and violence. This stands as a testament to the role Taller plays in celebrating this community’s strength, resilience, diversity and cultural richness.

Taller’s Programs

• Cultural Exploration Program: Introduces young students to local artists, performers, and educators who guide the children on a year-long journey of self-discovery. 150 participants annually.

• Youth Artists Program is a two-year program for up to 15 talented high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Students develop their artistic skills and produce a solid portfolio of work they can use to apply to highly-competitive arts colleges.

• Visítenos (Visit Us) engages K-12 students in creative exploration of Latino cultures through videos of traditional dances, music records, and hands-on experiences with vejigante masks, drawing and painting, dance and more. Long-term residencies in schools fill the gap of decreasing arts experiences in Philadelphia School District Schools. Currently serving ~700 students.

• The Eugenio Maria de Hostos Archives is a resource center that includes a varied collection of books, periodicals, articles, oral histories and research- often out of print- focusing on Latino culture and history. The Archives are a resource for students and scholars.

• The Lorenzo Homar Gallery is the region’s only art gallery dedicated to Latin American and Caribbean art, many of the exhibitions highlighting contemporary artists from the Philadelphia region. 3,000 visitors annually.

• Julia de Burgos Gift Shop, a destination for original Latino artwork, crafts, handmade jewelry and collectibles, serves as the only Spanish-English bilingual bookstore of its kind in the Pennsylvania, Delaware and South Jersey region. Augmenting the store is an ongoing series of author presentations. 2,000 visitors annually.

• The Annual Feria del Barrio, a collaboration between Taller, Congreso, Raíces Culturales Latinoamericanas, HACE, and GALAEI, just marked its 30th year in September, 2014. Feria presents six hours of live Latin rhythms and dance performances. Community organizations provide information; artists demonstrate their work; and corporations promote their products. 10,000 participants annually.

Taller’s programs annually result in the following outcomes:
- 360 children and youth from the immediate community participate in on-site afterschool, summer programs, and classes at collaborating organizations during the highest-risk out of school time.
- Over 5,000 student encounters annually via workshops, artist residencies and Taller’s Visítenos program, supplementing school arts curriculum and filling a void of Latino arts programming.
- 15,000 adults from throughout Philadelphia and the region attend gallery exhibitions, festivals, lectures and performances, bringing foot traffic to Taller’s community and boosting economic participation.
- Over 80,000 adult audiences have access to Taller’s off-site art exhibits at community partner organizations such as Congreso de Latinos Unidos, among others.