PEPATIÁN Bronx-based Artists and Non-profit Organizations ... · New York Yankees moved to their...
Transcript of PEPATIÁN Bronx-based Artists and Non-profit Organizations ... · New York Yankees moved to their...
PEPATIÁN
Bronx-based Artists and Non-profit Organizations Timeline, 1840-2014
This chronological timeline is an effort to further develop and highlight Bronx-based arts and non-profit organizations created by the vision and dedication of borough residents and artists.
Building on previous work by other Bronx organizations and individuals, this timeline places grassroots arts and culture organizations, as well as social and environmental justice organizations, at the center of the boroughs’ history. Significant moments in the history of the Bronx and the Puerto Rican diaspora are also included to provide context.
To make additions to this Bronx-based art and non-profit organizations timeline (and in future, we hope to find ways to develop this into an online version that can be directly added to and further entangled in a less linear approach), and bring it more up-to-date, please email your brief texts and images (with permissions and photo credits) to: [email protected]
Developed and produced for educational purposes, this window into the variety of organizations and artistic events in the South Bronx will be available on the Pepatián website (donations gladly accepted): www.pepatian.org
CreditsThis timeline incorporates information compiled by:
From Mambo to Hip-Hop: the musical landscape of the South Bronx and the music’s early years in East Harlem. City Lore, Municipal Art Society & The Point: A Place Matters Map, 2002.
Gabriels, Jane. Choreographies of Community: Familias and its impact in the South Bronx. Dissertation, Concordia University, 2015.
Yee, Lydia and Betti-Sue Hertz.“Timeline.” Urban Mythologies: The Bronx Represented Since the 1960s, edited by Lydia Yee and Betti-Sue Hertz, Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1999, pp. 104-105.
For additional historical information, please visit The Bronx Historical Society, bronxhistoricalsociety.orgDesign: Mahmoud Maamoun Images: Edgar Allan Poe Cottage: (c) Courtney Coco Mault, "Bronx Blue Bedroom Project" card designed by artist Ronny Quevedo, Jawole Zollar in "Bitter Tongue" photo Credit: Cylla Von TiedemannProduced by Jane Gabriels, Ph.D., and Director, Pepatián pepatian.org Funded by individual contributions to Pepatián.
copyright (c) Pepatián, 2017 pepatian.org
1841 1846 1851 1856 1861 1866 1871 1876 1881 1888 1891 1898
St. John's College (became Fordham
University in 1907) was established
1841
Edgar Allan Poe wrote Annabel Lee,The Bells and The Cask of
Amontillado in The Bronx at Poe Cottage.
1846
The piano industry flourished in the Bronx, with companies: the Estey
Piano Factory, Kroeger Piano Company, Schubert
Piano, among many others.
1879-1925
City of New York acquires large numbers of acres of land that becomes the foundation for the park system of The Bronx: Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx Park, Pelham Bay Park, Crotona Park, Claremont Park, St. Mary s Park, Mosholu Parkway, Pelham
Parkway, and Crotona Parkway.
1888-1890
January 1, 1898, the City of New York consolidates, and includes the Bronx as one of
its boroughs.
1898
The Bronx Zoo opened its doors.
1899
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1906 1910 1912 1915 1918 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933
The first subway connecting The Bronx to Manhattan was
built.
1906
Spooner Theatre opened for live theatre. (East
Morrisania;1807 seating)
1910
United States Congress
approved the Jones-
Shafroth Act giving Puerto
Ricans U.S. citizenship.
1917
New York Yankees moved to their new
home, Yankee Stadium.
1923
Andrew Freedman Home opened.
1924
Loew s Paradise Theater
atmospheric motion picture
theater was built.
1929
The Rise of the Goldbergs, popular,
daily radio show about a fictional
life of a Jewish family in the Bronx.
1929-1931
El Gran Éxodo de Puerto Rico -many Puerto Ricans left the
island during the Depression, this migration was later affected
by Operation Bootstrap, and peaked in late 40s/early 50s
1930
The Ascot Theatre -
one of the first art
movie houses in New York-opened in Fordham.
1935
1935
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"The Great Migration" many African-Americans left the South
to arrive in the Bronx (1910-70)
NYC Housing Authority
(NYCHA) was created and
led to housing
projects being built in the
Bronx.
1934
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947
Star of Munster Ballroom, a Bronx hub for Irish music, on East 138th Street (Mott
Haven)
Stardust Ballroom (East Tremont)
1940
The Golden Era of Mambo," and Latin music in Bronx-based clubs and dance
halls included: Casino Puerto Rico, Caravana Club and La Campana, La
Giralda/Longwood Casino, Casalegre(record store), M.S. 52 (auditorium), Tropicana, Hunts Point Palace, The
Tritons, The Alhambra, Club Cubano, Royal Mansion, Colgate Gardens,
Tropicoro, El Mambo, among others.
1947-1956
Casa Hernandez opened in the Bronx, and became Casa Amadeo record store in 1969 when Mike
Amadeo bought it; it is the oldest, continuously-occupied
Latin music store in NYC.1941
Cross Bronx Citizens Protective Association
founded to resist Cross-Bronx Expressway
1946
Teatro Puerto Rico founded in Mott
Haven (previously it was the Forum
theater, a major neighborhood venue for Irish
music and others)
1947
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1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958
Many Puerto Ricans leave the island for NYC and the South
Bronx due to Operation Bootstrap/Operación Manos a la Obra (1948-53) when the U.S.
industrialized Puerto Rico
1950
Lillian Edelstein organizes protest against Cross Bronx
Expressway
1950
Savoy Manor Ballroom on East 149th Street at Walton Avenue (Hamilton Heights).
1950
Lolita LeBron along with four men fired shots in the House Chambers at the U.S.
Capitol in support of independence for Puerto
Rico.
1954
Bronx County Historical
Society founded.
1955
Major Deegan Expressway is
built
1956
Puerto Rican Day Parade/Desfile
Puertorriqueño, Inc. founded (El Barrio/Spanish
Harlem)
1958
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1960 1961 1962 1963
John F. Kennedy visits during presidential
campaign
1960
ASPIRA organization founded to empower the Puerto Rican and Latino
community
Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education (first & oldest Latino charity) moves to 928
Simpson St.
West Side Story, nationwide film release, featuring Rita
Moreno
Bronx Council on the Arts
1962
Cross Bronx Expressway built
1963
1961
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Joan Miller hired to teach modern and folk dance,
Lehman College
1965
Wave Hill founded as non-profit
1965
1966 1967 1968 1969
United Bronx Parents, founded by Dr. Evelina
Lopez Antonetty.
1966
Hostos Community College of the City of New York: Eugenio María de Hostos
Community College established in South Bronx
as a bilingual college
1968
Young Lords (NYC) supports neighborhood
empowerment and Puerto Rican self-determination;
P alante, bilingual newspaper was published in the South
Bronx.
1969
SEBCO/South East Bronx Community Organization,
founded by Father Louise R. Gigante, offers subsidized
housing and other services.
Charles Baba Chuck Davis (one of the premiere choreographers of
traditional African dance in America) formed the Chuck Davis Dance Company at the
South Bronx Community Action Theatre, later moved
to Bronx Community College.
1967
1967 - New York City Produce Market begins operations in Hunts Point, and is the source for most of New York City’s food.
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first exhibition at The Art Program at the Hebrew Home
(Riverdale)
1971 1972 1973
BronxWorks founded to help individuals and
families improve their economic and social well-
being.
1972
South Bronx Overall Economic Development
Corporation / SoBRO was founded to rebuild
community and create jobs
Save Hostos College community mobilization struggle to prevent the
Board of Higher Education from closing the college
down.
1973-1978
Hip-Hop is Born (Nov 12, 1973 - official birthday of Universal Zulu Nation,
founded by Afrika Bambaataa at community center, Bronx River Houses;
Nov 12, 1974 - official birthday of Hip Hop). August 11, 1973 marks Kool DJ Herc sfirst party held in basement community
room of Sedgwick Houses (1520 Sedgwick Avenue). Cindy Campbell, his sister, known
as The Mother of Hip Hop, organized this gathering, and was the first Hip-
Hop promoter.
1973-1974
Bronx Museum of the Arts
founded
1970 1971
1970
Joan Miller's Dance Players established in
residence, Lehman College
Bruckner Expressway was
built1973
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El Puerto Rican Playwrights'/Actors
Workshop founded by Miguel Algarin, Miguel Piñero, Bimbo Rivas, and
Lucky Cienfuegos
1974 1975 1976
Boricua College was first founded in Brooklyn New
York.
En Foco, dedicated to cultural diversity in photography, is
founded as a non-profit in the Bronx.
Barrunto Dancers is founded in Manhattan by choreographers from Puerto Rico: Beti Garcia
and Myrna Renaud.
Bronx River Restoration Project formed by
community activists
Planned shrinkage begins with withdrawal of police, fire,
health sanitation, and transportation services.
Community organizations are founded: Mid-Bronx Desperados,
Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, People s
Development Corporation.
1974
El Puerto Rican Playwrights'/Actors
Workshop, incorporated as Nuyorican Poets Cafe, relocates from Miguel Algarín's apartment to
the Sunshine Cafe
Disco Fever dance club, run by Sal Abatiello, featured hip-hop
artists (Grandmaster Flash, Run-D.M.C.) and became the most famous hip hop club in NYC.
1975
Community organizations are founded: Banana Kelly
Community Improvement Association, Bronx Frontier Development Corporation
1976-1986
Largest number of fires in the Bronx, over 30,000, in one year
1976
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Bronx Arts Ensemble was
incorporated
1978 1979
President Jimmy Carter visits the Bronx.
1977
Flag of Puerto Rico fastened to the forehead of the Statute of Liberty (October 25) by Puerto Rican nationalists demanding
release of four political prisoners: Lolita LeBron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores
and Oscar Collazo
The last Bronx piano manufacturer, Krakauer,
left the borough.
The Fire Next Door, CBS television broadcasts
documentary by Bill Moyers.
Grandmaster Flash, hip-hop musician and DJ, innovated the
backspin technique, punch phrasing, and scratching
New York City Blackout(July 13)
Ladies and gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning - televised image
during live coverage of World Series at Yankee Stadium
Mind-Builders non-profit community arts center
founded
1978
Writers Bench meeting place for graffiti writers at the 2/5 train platform,
149th Street/Grand Concourse
Late 1970 s 1980 s
Rock Steady Crew:breakdance crew
organized by b-boys Jimmy D and JoJo in the Bronx (and continues today)
1979 early 1980s
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1977
Chema Soto built Rincon Criollo/Downhome Corner
1978 1980 1981
Fashion/Moda helped redefine art and spotlight
graffiti artists (most active: 1978-1985)
1978-1993
Tats Cru graffiti artists established (founding members: bio,
Nicer and BG183).
1980
Key Skate & Dance Family Center ( Skate Key )
Bill Aguado becomes Executive Director, Bronx Council on
the Arts (1980-2010)
Public housing: MorrisaniaAir Rights built.
Ronald Reagan, campaigning for President, visits the
South Bronx.
Soviet Peace Committee delegates tours Bronx as local government
official seeks foreign aid to rebuild.
Funky Four Plus One/Funky 4 + 1 (with a female MC) was
the first Hip-Hop/Rap group from The Bronx to secure a
record deal.
Richie Perez founded National Congress for
Puerto Rican Rights in the Bronx.
1981
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Nuyorican Poets Cafe bought current site of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (236
East 3rd Street)
1981 1982 1983 1984
Fort Apache, The Bronx film release, Dir.
Daniel Petrie.
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founder of Urban Bush Women, created dance
works in the Bronx.
Forces of Nature Dance Theatre Company founded in the Bronx
by Exec Artistic Director/Choreographer Abdel
R. Salaam and Exec Managing Director Olabamidele
Husbands.
Bronx Council on the Arts founds the Longwood Arts
Project (formerly P.S. 39).
Tim Rollins and Kids of Survival began
creating visual art works
1981
Pregones Theater (originally founded in 1979) is first non-
profit professional Puerto Rican theater in the Bronx. Pregones
first home: Longwood Arts Project, and in 1986, moves to St.
Ann's Church (Mott Haven)
Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture is founded at
Hostos Community College/CUNY
1982
Pepatián is co-founded as an artists collective by
Pepón Osorio, Patti Bradshaw and Merián
Soto.
1983
Los Pleneros de la 21 - was founded in the South Bronx,
performing bomba y plena
Jesse Jackson, running for Democratic nomination, spent
a night in a public housing project in the South Bronx to draw attention to the plight
of the poor.
1984
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Judaica Museum founded at
Hebrew Home (Riverdale)
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
En Foco established bi-lingual photographic magazine Nueva
Luz
1985
Fred Wilson (MacArthur Fellow) directs Longwood
Arts Gallery
Sculptor John Ahearn received commission to create works for
South Bronx Sculpture Park
1986
Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade founded.
Vamos a La Pena founded by Nieves Ayress and Victor Toro.
BRAC, Bronx River Art Center founded
1987
BronxNet and BronxNet Television
Programming founded
The Hunts Point Economic
Development Corporation
established as a non-profit
1988
Merián Soto and Viveca Vasquez co-
produce Rompeforma: Maraton de Baile, Performance and Visuales in Puerto
Rico to support international Latinx
artists creating experimental work.
1989-1996
Renny Molenaar founded Black and White in Color Gallery in
the Bronx.1988-1991
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1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Bronx Tourism Council
established
1990
WHEDco, Women s Housing and Economic Development founded
to serve the Bronx
1991
The South Bronx Clean Air Coalition
founded.
Pepón Osorio sretrospective at El Museo
del Barrio (NYC).
Mothers on the Move / Madres en
Movimiento (MOM) founded.
Nos Quedamos/
We Stay founded
1992
The Point C.D.C./ Community Development Corporation
founded by Paul Lipson, Mildred Ruiz, Steven Sapp, and Maria
Torres (Hunt s Point).
1993/1994
YMPJ, Youth Ministries for
Peace and Justice founded
1994
President Bill Clinton designates
South Bronx as Federal
Empowerment Zone
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1997
Rocking the Boat founded
Full Circle Souljahs Productions is co-founded as a non-profit
Hip-Hop collective byKwikstep and Rokafella.
Bronx Lebanon Medical waste incinerator is shut down by local
community and environmental organizers
1996
President Bill Clinton visits the South Bronx
Partnerships for Parks convenes the Bronx River
Working Group.
First Lady Hillary Clinton visits South Bronx to launch
a project to fight asthma.
Bronx is named an All-America City by the National
Civil League as a result of collaborative work of local
residents and government to rebuild the South Bronx
1997
19961995
FABB, For a Better Bronx emerged out of South
Bronx Clean Air Coalition to serve the South Bronx
community
Pregones Theater moves to a new theater at 700
Grand Concourse
National Puerto Rican Day Parade founded as a nonprofit organization.
1995
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Two Bronx visual artists receive MacArthur Fellowships: Pepón Osorio and Fred Wilson
Amadou Diallo, a weaponless man, was shot and killed by four plainclothes officers (Wheeler
and Westchester Aves).
For A Better Bronx successfully targets the closing of a medical incinerator in which
burned 48 tons of medical waste from three states every day.
1999
President Clinton offered clemency to 16 members of FALN Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion
Nacional / Armed Forces of National Liberation
Vieques Campaign stops bombing exercises and closes the U.S. Navy Base
1998
Arthur Aviles and Charles Rice-Gonzalez co-found BAAD! Bronx
Academy of Arts and Dance at the American BankNote Building (Hunt s
Point).
Mosaic Literary Magazine is launched
1998
Bronx celebrates its 100th Anniversary
1999
1999-2003
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The Bronx Hispanic Festival
founded
2000 2001 2002 2003
Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre officially incorporates as a
non-profit organization.
Tats Cru paints mural (corner Rogers Place
&Westchester Ave) dedicated to Big Pun
Voices UnBrokenfounded as a non-profit by Victoria
Sammartino
2000
Sustainable South Bronx founded by
Majora Carter
Bronx Tourism Council launches
the Bronx Culture Trolley
2001
Bronx River Working Group creates Bronx River Alliance
as an official non-profit organization.
2002
BAAD! and Arthur Aviles Typical Theater found
the Bronx Dance Coalition and Bronx
Dance Magazine.
The Green Worker Cooperatives is
founded by Omar Freilla
Hunts Point Fish Parade founded
2003
United States Navy agreed to leave the
Vieques base on May 1, 2003 after non-violent
protest.
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Mi Sala interdisciplinary performance and visual art project at studio of Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz with Jose "Original Mr. Bless" Ortiz (Pelham Bay)
INSPIRIT, a dance company founded by Christal Brown supported a range of Bronx-based and women
dancers/choreographers of color.
2003 - 2012
2004 2005 2006 2007
Mi Sala in Mott Haven studio
of Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz with Jose
"Original Mr. Bless" Ortiz
Literary Freedom Project is launched as a development of Mosaic Magazine to
host the Bronx Literary Festival
Action Lab: a two-year collaborative arts and community project between the Bronx Museum
of the Arts and The Point C.D.C.
2004
Pregones Theater moves from the Grand
Concourse to 571-575 Walton Avenue.
Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, visits the South Bronx and sets-
up charitable foundation for South Bronx organizations
Bronx Museum of the Arts expands, adds new
gallery and educational facilities.
2006
South Bronx Greenway project is
announced
Fulton Fish Market moves to Hunts Point
20072005
2004-06
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DreamYard moves to South Bronx (161st &
Gerard)
DreamYard Prep High School opens
Bronx Hispanic Festival begins the Bronx Latin American Art Biennial
2008 2009
Bill Aguado retires from BCA after nearly 30 years as Director of the Bronx
Council on the Arts.
BronxArtSpace founded by Linda Cunningham &
Mitsu Hadeishi
DreamYard Art Center opens (166th & Washington)
Concrete Plant Park opens
Foundry Theater s The Provence of Beauty/A
South Bronx Travelogue
2009
The "Bronx Blue Bedroom Project" artist run space in founded by artist
and cultural promoter Blanka
Amezkua
The Rebel Diaz Arts Collective founded
as a Hip-Hop community center
by brothers Gonzalo and
Rodrigo Venegas, and other artists.
Barretto Point Park opens
2008
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Bombazo Dance Company, founded by
Milteri Tucker Concepción
Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art
Collection (combining art &
museum program, Hebrew Home, Riverdale)
2010 2011
Boricua College moves to E. 161st St.
and Third Ave
2010
Lolita Lebron dies peacefully at age 90 in
Puerto Rico.
Spofford Juvenile Detention Center closes
2011
Bronx Documentary Center founded to support
photography, film, and new media
Bronx Artists Now: Showcase & Conversation event founded by
Pepatián during annual APAP conference to support artists,
and local non-profits and theaters.
Dancing in the Streets moves to South Bronx as company in residence at Casita Maria
The Young Roots Performance Series at Hostos Center for the
Arts & Culture features emerging Latinx artists in spoken word, dance, music:
Caridad De La Luz/La Bruja; SitaFrederick; Oreste Abrantes, Jason González, and Nelson Matthew
González; Antonio Ramos; Raquel Rivera; Rokafella; and Noemi
Segarra.
2011-2013
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No Longer Empty exhibition This Side of Paradise at Andrew Freedman Home
and Longwood Art Gallery Home is Where The Bronx Is exhibition.
2012
Hunts Point Landing public space opens near the Fulton Fish Market, as part of
South Bronx Greenway (which includes a network of pedestrian and bicycle pathways to connect Starlight Park with Bronx Park
and Concrete Plant Park, Hunts Point Riverside Park, and Barretto Point Park).
Sustainable South Bronx (under new leadership) along with Greenworker Cooperatives and Bronx
Council on Environmental Quality join with other residents and allies as South Bronx Unite to fight
against the relocation of Fresh Direct to the Harlem River Yards (2012-2013)
BMHC, The Bronx Music Heritage Center is foundedStarlight Park opens
Bronx Creative Community Trust marches in Puerto Rican Day Parade in the
South Bronx
Boogie Down Rides, bicycling and art project, begins
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Dancing in the Streets & Casita Maria launchSouth Bronx Culture Trail
& produce Paseo, traveling celebration of local Latin music & dance history
2012 2013
The Laundromat Project begins work in Hunts Point.
2012-13
Bronx Arts Alliance collective founded
Rebel Diaz Arts Collective evicted
from their space (478 Austin Place)
2013
BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance displaced from 841 Baretto Street and
move to a new venue in Parkchester (2474 Westchester Ave.)
Pregones Theater merges with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
(Times Square, Manhattan)
Wally Edgecombe, Director of HostosCenter for the Arts & Culture, retires as
Director after 30 years
The Future - This legacy of
artist- and resident-led
community building will
continue to grow,
strengthen and empower
the South Bronx.
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