Story by Heather Ah San
Photos by Nick Cote
Last Friday at the University of Oregon’s Buzz Café, Eugene Arte Latino with support from the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) showcased the artwork of local group Juventud FACETA. Coordinators, young artists, and other attendees came to view the artwork and meet the artists while the mariachi band, Herradura de Oro, performed.
“Eugene Arte Latino’s focus is promoting Latino arts in Eugene,” YEP creator and organizer Karen Olch says. “We’re encouraging and bringing arts to kids who come from marginalized communities.”
Olch, who founded YEP in 2009, says kids need a positive visibility in the community to teach them “self respect, self esteem, awareness, and self empowerment.” Olch has worked with young people from a variety of backgrounds, including homeless and migrant youth. Last year YEP hosted an art show at Eugene’s Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts (DIVA) featuring the art of youth from many different backgrounds, including artists from Juventud FACETA.
Friday’s show served as a test run for their next art showing at the Mills International Art Show coming up in May at the U.O.’s International Center.
Many of the young artists featured originally immigrated to the United States from Latin America and retain strong ties to their culture, says Eugene Arte Latino coordinator Jessica Zapata.
“They want to represent their heritage and their family,” she says. “They use a lot of colors and drawings from Latin America.”
The young artists of Juventud FACETA are already planning their next project to share with the community: a video inspired by the struggle of Latinos without documents who are given the option to attend school but are often pushed into the military. The piece will be called “Poison Dream” or “Sueno Envenenado,” Juventud FACETA student Blanca Flores says.
Every project goes toward fighting the “negative light” Olch says many have of youth from marginalized communities. From what she’s seen, “the youth I work with are really active and do amazing things in the community.
Read more about another YEP artist, the graffitist Marc Mercado.
