City of Somerville Celebrates Latino Culture with Exhibit

November 3, 2015, Somerville, MA — Latin Jazz music reverberated through the halls as the savory smells of Latino cuisine filled the rooms of City Hall.

Somerville City Hall became La Alcaldia de la Ciudad for the opening reception of Mario Quiroz’s photography exhibit “Espiritu Latino.” SomerVIVA, in partnership with the Somerville Arts Council, co-sponsored the event. The program helps connect immigrant residents with services and promotes cultural diversity. Irma Flores, Community Engagement Liaison of SomerVIVA told Somerville Neighborhood News, “I feel so proud because the community, the Latino community especially, responds well to this event. Hopefully we’ll get more people involved.”

Mario Quiroz elaborated on the theme “Espiritu Latino” saying, “The idea is to create a visual record of what it means to be Latino in Somerville in 2015. We took the camera and went to where people live, where people work and we photographed them there.”

Mayor Curtatone celebrated the cultural diversity of Somerville in his remarks, citing that residents speak “52 languages,” with “one-third of our population from another country.”

Quiroz acknowledged the role art can play in bringing together a richly diverse community, “I think it’s really important for everybody to know about everybody, as simple as that….It’ so wonderful to have spaces and to use art to create this invisible oil that lubricates relationships.”

The photo exhibit “Espirito Latino” is on display at City Hall through January 19.

Somerville Neighborhood News is a production of Somerville Community Access Television, made by professional journalists, volunteers and staff. The half-hour news show has as its mission to provide a lively, informative newscast focusing on the events, issues and information impacting Somerville residents.