Hispanic Dramatists To Bring Talents To Miami In Artists Residencies

Teatro Prometeo and MDC Live Arts with the Koubek Center are among the 53 winners of the Knight Arts Challenge awarded by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation on Nov. 30,  2015.

The $35,000 award to the Wolfson Campus-based Spanish-language Teatro Prometeo is meant to foster Hispanic theater in Miami and raise its prominence nationally, through a partnership with the Washington DC-based national Latina/o Theatre Commons. The grant will allow the College to host a prominent Latino playwright in residence. Teatro Prometeo is the only Spanish-language theater conservatory in the United States, with more than 20 different courses and professional workshops.

The $100,000 award to the Wolfson Campus-based MDC Live Arts and the Koubek Center, located at 2705 SW 3rd St, is meant to cultivate emerging Latino artists through an artist-in-residence program that provides them the space to produce work that reflects and engages the surrounding Little Havana neighborhood.

“I am excited to work with other artists that celebrate our community,” said Joann Yarrow, Executive Director of Teatro Prometeo.

To do that, she plans to bring two award-winning playwrights from the La Carnaval of New Latina/o Plays that took place in Chicago this past summer, which focused on the U.S. Hispanic experience.

The Knight Foundation’s mission is to make arts and culture more available to the public. Both College organizations have won Knight Arts Challenge Awards in previous years. Organizations must find matching funds from other supporters. The grants period runs for two years.

“In order for us to develop a thriving arts ecosystem, we need to create spaces where artists can create and experiment with new work,” said Bahia Ramos, Arts Program Director of the Knight Foundation. “Through Teatro Prometeo and the residency at the Koubek Center, Miami Dade College is providing that for many artists of many genres.”

The MDC Live Arts project asks at least three artists to join in the residency through an open application process. A committee will choose the participants. The residency aims to reflect stories from the Little Havana neighborhood such as the newly arriving immigrants in the community.   

The artists will be given six months to complete the project. The first three months the artist will focus on research within the community. In the second three months the artist will develop their project which could be a play, art exhibition or video.

“The Koubek Center has a strong tie to the neighborhood,” said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of MDC Live Arts. “Artists have an important voice, through research and talking to people. Artists will change the community. We want to give a chance for artists to showcase their talent but also to let the people know more about their surroundings.”