ArtsWestchester Features Latin American Art Exhibit

"Papalotes y Obras en Papel," a recently opened exhibit at ArtsWestchester in White Plains, is all about colorful paper art by various artists from Latin American countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Paraguay.

Visitors can expect to see life-size Mexican puppets made of paper mache by artist Fernandez Romero for the annual Cinco de Mayo festival in Yonkers and papalotes, or Guatemalan festival kites, designed by Port Chester residents Yvonne and Herbert Diaz.

Also featured in the exhibit are eye-catching sketches, masks and Day of the Dead paper figurines by artist Aurelia Fernandez-Romero.

Jim Ormond, the manager of communications for Arts Westchester, emphasized the importance of recognizing artists from other cultures.

"This exhibit is all part of our folk arts program. What we are trying to do is highlight people who are carrying on their cultural traditions—it's a little below a lot of people's radar screen," said Ormond. "Sometimes folk artists don't consider themselves 'artist's artists,' so we are shining a light on them."

The exhibit held a well-attended reception for its Oct. 30 opening.

"It was a good event. We had a lot of visitors to the exhibit. We get people trickling in— it's amazing what you can create with paper," said Ormond.

One of the paper artists, Jessica Fuentes, has a series of silkscreen artwork on display, including a self-portrait painting and a study of Restaurant 42 at The Ritz-Carlton.

Fuentes, who received a B.F.A. from Manhattanville College and an M.A. from the College of New Rochelle, said one of the reasons she was asked to participate in the exhibit is because of her Cuban-American heritage.

"I was born in America, but both sides of my [family] are from Cuba. My father was born there, so that's one of the reasons I was asked to participate in this celebration of Latin American history," said Fuentes.

Tom Van Buuren, the folklorist at ArtsWestchester, explained the exhibit's myriad works from different cultures.

"The common denominator is the material," said Van Buuren. "There's different kinds of visual arts — a lot of paper mache masks, the giant puppets, or mojiganges, the smaller paper arts, such as the skeletons, and Mexican folk dance masks. We also have some contemporary folk art by two artists, including Mexican artist Saul Arevalo, who specializes in making paper look like stone or wood."

Visitors can see "Papalotes y Obras en Papel" at ArtsWestchester on Saturdays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12 – 5 p.m. until Dec. 4. Admission is free. For more information on other exhibits, log on to http://www.artswestchester.org or contact ArtsWestchester at 31 Mamaroneck Ave, White Plains, NY 10601 or 914-428-4220.