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Placita Latina Festival hosting artist showcase at Decatur Visitors Center

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Placita Latina Festival hosting artist showcase at Decatur Visitors Center

The Placita Latina artist showcase is open for daily viewing at the Decatur Visitors Center until Oct. 14. Photo by Cristina Montesinos.
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Decatur, GA — Placita Latina’s artist showcase is back this year with another show and closing reception on Friday, Oct. 14 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. This year’s show, “Celebrating Our Collective Culture,” is on display at the Decatur Visitors Center, 113 Clairemont Ave.

The showcase launched on Sept. 19. It is open for viewing Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to a press release.

“Each of our artists brings a unique perspective to their work, based on their life experiences and collective cultures,” the press release states.

Placita Latina organizer Cristina Montesinos said the show highlights artists with backgrounds from Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

“Placita Latina put together the Latinx Artist Showcase as part of our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration so that our community can experience the richness and diversity of our Latinx art culture,” Montesinos said. “We also wanted to extend to an often underrepresented community the opportunity to share their art in a public space. For many of the younger artists, this is their first big exhibition, and we’re delighted to give them this chance to share their views, talents, stories and art.”

The showcase features seven artists and one author. Placita Latina focused on finding artists who represent multiple Latin American backgrounds, ages, styles and mediums, Montesinos said.

“We’re delighted to feature a highly diverse group of artists,” she said. “The exhibit features detailed visual stories of beautiful memories of a life full of love and loss, strong voices of protest and diverse points of view; dreamy surrealist works that express personal stories full of emotions and deep experiences; intricate, detailed, playful illustrations; a visual documentary of Mexican American traditions in the Southwest, and nature photography that captures gorgeous, natural moments in time.”

She added that for many of the artists, Latinx culture is tied closely to their artistic expressions.

“It’s where we came from, what we grew up with, it’s our family traditions, our food, our music, our way of life,” Montesinos said. “All of who we are goes into work in one way or the other, and it’s an honor to share a bit [of] our collective cultures with the world.”

The closing reception will feature Alexandra V. Méndez, an author from Decatur with roots in Mexico and Mississippi. She has written her first novel, “What the Jaguar Told Her.” The book is based partially on her experiences as a Latinx girl, straddling between two cultures. Méndez will be reading from her novel, signing copies of the book and offering her book for sale at the event.

The event will also include Latin food and refreshments, as well as a small market featuring the artists in the showcase, their work and merchandise.

To learn more about the artists, click here.

Placita Latina has another event coming up this month. The festival will conclude with the “Haints and Saints / Day of the
Dead Parade” on Sunday, Oct. 30, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The parade will start at the Decatur Cemetery and end at the Decatur Square.

“What the Jaguar Told Her” author Alexandra V. Méndez will be at the Placita Latina artist showcase closing reception on Oct. 14 at the Decatur Visitor’s Center. Photo by Cristina Montesinos.

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