CEARTE
Raises the Cultural Bar in Ensenada
with Two Extraordinary Inaugurations
text by connie ellig; photos by connie
ellig & david hopps
 On April 23 & 24, 2008, the Centro Estatal de
las Artes Ensenada
(CEARTE) was the site of two highly anticipated events: the
opening of a new
art exposition featuring local fine artists, and the official
inauguration of
the Foro Experimental that completed the second phase of Ensenada’s
State
Center of the Arts. (The first phase
was inaugurated on July 30 & 31, 2007.) Both events were very
impressive, thoroughly
enjoyable, and
served as further proof that Ensenada has a firm grasp on its own
cultural
identity.
On the evening of Wednesday, April 23, a vibrant crowd of
more than 500 art aficionados packed CEARTE’s lobby and the Sala
Ernesto Muñoz
Acosta for the inauguration of “Autorretratos,” an exposition of large
format self-portraits
by 35 of Ensenada’s most talented professional and emerging artists.
Nearly all
of the exhibiting artists were on hand to pose for photos next to their
paintings and explain their creative concepts to interested onlookers,
media,
family, friends and other members of Ensenada’s art community. Jaime
Delfín, an
established artist and CEARTE’s Coordinator of Visual and Fine Arts who
conceived the idea for the exposition, was extremely delighted by the
enthusiastic public response and the success of the opening reception.
 Of the 42 Ensenada artists who were invited to
reveal their
inner selves through self-portraits, 35 stepped up to the challenge
including
venerable, internationally esteemed figures like Estela Hussong,
Salvador
Vilchez, José Carrillo Cedillo, José Jule and Rafael
Contreras. Also
participating were a large number of established, well-known artists
like Nancy
Ordoñez, Carlos Smith, Pedro Camarena, Julio Angeles Labra,
Silvia Chavez,
Miguel de la Torre, Carlos de la Torre, Luis Torreblanca, Eduardo
Tello,
Armando Franco Guevara, Malena Durán, Claudia Valdez, Patricia
Romero Correa,
Rafael Ruanova, Pilar Ruiz Azuara, Enrique Avilez, Francisco Merino,
Roberto
Calderón Campos, Luisa Acosta, Arturo Ponce, Octavio Cervantes
and Marco
Miranda. Students and emerging artists like Mónica de la Parra,
Luis Gabriel
Razo, Alejandro Ruiz, Alejandro Elias, Hortensia Hernandez, Rosa
María Gonzalez
Silva, Luis Manuel Urrutia and Alejandro Dacosta also made a
surprisingly
strong showing.
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Salvador
Vilchez
|
Roberto
Calderón Campos
 |
José
Carrillo Cedillo
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Julio
Angeles Labra
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Eduardo Tello
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Carlos
Smith
|
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Mónica
de la Parra
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Enrique
Avilez
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Silvia
Chávez
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“Autorretratos” is a cerebral, earthy, clever, colorful,
humorous, honest and inspiring collective exposition that reveals the
hearts,
souls and creative strengths of Ensenada’s artists. Skillfully
museographed by
Berta Armas and coordinated by Jaime Delfín, the 35 large format
paintings –
most of which average 4 feet by 6 feet in size – harmoniously fill the
walls of
the spacious Sala Ernesto Muñoz Acosta and adorn every nook and
cranny of wall
space in the lobby. The variety of artistic techniques, mediums and
styles are
as diverse as the artists themselves. There are watercolors, acrylics,
oils,
charcoals, digital photography, metals, collages and mixed media on
paper,
canvas, wood, jute, vinyl and other mediums. The array of figurative
contemporary paintings includes elements of abstract, surreal,
realistic,
cubistic and outsider art, plus a few styles that defy definition.
“Autorretratos” remains on display through June 25, 2008. Exhibition
hours are 8am-8pm from Monday-Saturday and 11am-7pm on Sunday.
Admission is free.
Dignitaries
preside over ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the inauguration of the Foro
Experimental
At noon on Thursday, the inauguration of CEARTE’s Foro
Experimental and Plaza de las Artes was yet another impressive affair
that was well
attended by state and city officials, members of the art community,
schoolchildren
and the general public. Among the guest speakers were Angel Norzagaray
Norzagaray, the Director General of the Instituto de Cultura de Baja
California
(ICBC); Laura Lechuga Solis, the CONACULTA Coordinator of the Support
Program
to the Cultural Infrastructure of the States; Pablo Alejo López
Núñez, the Mayor
of Ensenada; and José Guadalupe Osuna Millán, the
Governor of Baja California.
After presenting their speeches, all of which were signed by
an interpreter for the hearing impaired, officials presided over
ribbon-cutting
ceremonies on the outdoor Plaza de las Artes in front of the Foro
Experimental.
With paparazzi on their heels, the dignitaries then toured the newly
completed building
that contains office and storage areas, restrooms, dressing rooms, a
rehearsal
hall, and a 200-seat black box theater that serves as a flexible
performance
space that can be set up in a variety of configurations in order to
involve the
audience in an intimate theatrical experience. Alternatively, on one
wall of
the black box is a huge sliding door that opens onto the adjacent plaza
so that
the performance space can be transformed into a giant stage for outdoor
concerts and other events to be viewed by audiences of up to 4,000.
 The celebration continued a while longer as mime
artists
from Expresarte and the Centro de Desarrollo Artístico Teatral
Ensenada entertained
the crowd and handed out oranges and bananas. The Worldbeat Center, a
non-profit
multicultural arts organization located in San Diego’s Balboa Park,
provided a
special appearance of the musical duo “Sene Africa,” composed of kora (African
harp) player Amadou Fall and singer/guitarist Ibrahima Ba, both from
Senegal,
West Africa. By 2pm, the crowd had begun dispersing from the plaza,
either
to view the “Autorretratos” exposition or to enjoy the traditional
Mexican
lunch hour. The inaugural festivities for the Foro Experimental
continued for
four more evenings with the presentation of a play by a Mexicali
theater
company, an alternative rock concert by local bands, a children’s clown
and
pantomime show by a Mexico City theatrical group, and a contemporary
dance
production from Hermosillo.
For information about musical, theatrical, art and cultural
events at CEARTE, call (646)173-4307 or (646)173-4308. Centro Estatal
de las
Artes Ensenada is located on the corner of Blvd. Lázaro
Cárdenas (Costero)
& Av. Club Rotario, just south of the Riviera Cultural Center.
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The
CEARTE staff, friends and mime
artists pose in front of the new Foro Experimental
Left to
right: Makeda Dread Cheatom, Executive Director of
WorldBeat Cultural Center of San Diego, CA; kora
(African harp) player Amadou Fall of “Sene Africa”; Marcela Danemann,
Coordinator of CEARTE’s Artistic Extension; Christina Jones,
Event/Outreach Coordinator
of WorldBeat Cultural Center; Laura Lechuga Solis, CONACULTA
Coordinator of the
Support Program to the Cultural Infrastructure of the States; and
singer/guitarist Ibrahima Ba of “Sene Africa.”
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