The Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture (HCAC) has been awarded $130,000 for the third year in a row through the City Council’s Coalition of Theaters of Color (CTC) grant.
The $130,000 was secured by Councilmember Rafael Salamanca Jr., whose district includes the Hostos Community College campus. The grant will be administered through the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs using Fiscal Year 2024 funding.
“I am proud to once again be able to deliver this much-deserved funding to HCAC,” said Salamanca Jr. “An important cultural institution, Hostos continues to distinguish itself by uplifting the voices of our community. I am a proud supporter of the work they undertake in making higher education accessible in my district, and look forward to all the wonderful cultural events that this grant will allow HCAC to bring to the South Bronx.”
The arts center has an art gallery, experimental black box theater and two theaters with nearly 360 and 900 seats. It is located on the Hostos campus at 450 Grand Concourse.
The CTC, which was founded in 2004, helps address inequities in funding for theaters that serve communities of color, and has supported the HCAC for the past nine years.
The funding will go toward artist fees, production staff, production costs, equipment costs and marketing and outreach for all ages.
HCAC’s theater productions and cultural heritage events are by and for communities that the public college serves in the South Bronx, HCAC Director Felix Arocho told the Bronx Times. And it has been a resource for students, faculty and surrounding communities alike.
The college has tentative plans to put on Repertorio Español’s production of “La Golondrina” (The Swallow) by playwright Guillem Clua, Arocho said. The play is inspired by the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida where 49 people were killed and more than 50 others were injured.
HCAC also has plans for youth-focused programming put on by Teatro SEA, a bi-lingual Latino children’s theatre company, as well as celebrations for the Day of the Dead, Cinco de Mayo, Dominican Heritage, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, Black History Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month and Juneteenth, Arocho said.
The center has been producing multicultural shows since 1982.
Hostos President Daisy Cocco De Filippis extended her gratitude to Salamanca Jr. for his work in securing the funding, saying the grant “serves a vital function in the community, bringing world-class cultural events, exhibits, and performances that resonate with the people in the area and reflect the talents and passions of our neighbors in the South Bronx.”
“We are proud of the work the team does and delighted to see its value recognized by grants such as this one,” De Filippis said.
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, commonly known as Hostos, is part of the CUNY system, which serves more than 500,000 students across 25 colleges.
Hostos has 28 associate degree programs and a certificate program that facilitates transfers to four-year CUNY colleges or baccalaureate studies at other institutions.
Reach Aliya Schneider at aschneider@schnepsmedia.com or (718) 260-4597. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
