Through his work, Martenes explained, he hopes to encourage more Latinos to make art, regardless of the resources they have, and his workshop with Semana Cultural Latina was one way he could showcase this, alongside celebrating the Latino community, though he said he wishes it were longer than a week.
“Really, that’s what it’s all about, just shining the light on our community and hopefully opening doors for other Latino artists, but also finding doors to knock on so those can be open too,” Marentes said. “I’d like to see it happen more than just that time of the month. I want to see it happen every day, every week, every month, we’re celebrating something about our accomplishments, and we’re really solidifying that idea that we can do anything that we want to do.”
Similarly, Sam Hernandez, the lead dance instructor for Fuerzas Culturales Ballet Folklórico, which performed at the Iowa City Public Library on Oct. 2, spoke about the importance of celebrating culture through art because people who watch a performance are able to connect with and appreciate a culture simply by watching.
“Especially right now, I think being proud of our culture or just culture in general, and expressing it through dance, it’s a very beautiful and creative way to express it,” Hernandez said. “Showing people we’re here, we’re proud.”
The library also hosted West Liberty-based Eulenspiegel Puppets’ performance, “Nacho and Yoyo’s Escapades,” as a part of Hispanic Heritage month and Semana Cultural Latina, which tells the story of an escaped circus monkey and a chihuahua, with Iowa City’s first Mexican neighborhood as the backdrop.
The barrio, which first appeared along the railroad tracks located between South Dodge Street and South Van Buren Street, was made up of boxcar homes that housed the initial inhabitants of the neighborhood, primarily men who worked on the railroads and their families.
The neighborhood was eventually destroyed in 1936 after the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railway began removing the boxcar homes after facing complaints from residents, according to the University of Iowa’s Migration is Beautiful project.
