Home to more than 50 percent of Nassau County’s immigrant population, the Town of Hempstead attracts a robust group of newcomers, many of whom hail from Latin American countries like El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador, among others.
This past weekend, Nassau residents had the chance to celebrate the music, paintings, and poetry that define Hempstead’s diverse culture through a new art exhibition series called “Our Cultural Connections.”
To kick-off the series, the Ikarus Gallery Cultural Program showcased its community of local Hispanic artists and filled Hempstead Village Hall with paintings that convey the Latino immigrant experience. The exhibition, “Multicultural Color: Heritage, Diversity and Integration,” runs through June and features works by local artists like Ikarus Gallery Director Jorge A. Guzman, who came to Hempstead from El Salvador 11-years-ago; and first-generation American Luis C. Velasquez, a painter from a long line of Colombian artists,—including his poet mother, Luz, who read at the event.
Here’s a sampling of the artwork and some perspective on the exhibition from the Latino immigrant artists who call Hempstead home:
