In an era of rapid gentrification and little to no space/dedication to events that go beyond the average commercialized bachata, merengue, reggaeton nights I can’t stress the importance of La Pregunta and all they do. Please do your part to support La Pregunta and what they represent.
Letter from Yscaira Jimenez (young Dominicana btw,not some yuppie),La Pregunta owner:
My name is Yscaira Jimenez and we are losing our business. A slow economy and a losing battle with financial institutions resulted in an eviction notice last week. If we don’t come up with $50,000 for back rent in 40 days, our doors will be closed. I started La Pregunta for the uptown and working class communities of New York City. This business belongs to you. It belongs to the poets, musicians, filmmakers, painters, photographers, writers, comedians, actors, playwrights, producers, designers, students, teachers, PTA’s, entrepreneurs and members of non-profit organizations. It belongs to the janitor, home attendant, cashier, baby sitter, beautician, banker, bodegero, street vendor and MTA worker. It belongs to Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood and the Bronx. This space has been offered to you either free of charge or at a low cost for you to share your talent and message with the community. The community has enjoyed this space at a low or no cost. NOW LA PREGUNTA NEEDS YOU!
Help me save it lending your talent and support for our
SAVE LA PREGUNTA FUNDRAISER.
SATURDAY August 22th, 2009 4pm-4am.
12 hours of DJs, musicians and performers
$10 Donation includes food tasting
$3 dollar beer, Sangria and alcoholic smoothies all day and night
We will be raffling artwork, makeovers, gift certificates, designer clothes and sunglasses and many other prizes from local businesses owners and organization supporting our cause.
ABOUT LA PREGUNTA ARTS CAFÉ
La Pregunta Arts Café is a venue for artist to share their talent with the uptown community of New York City. It is also a place where people can enjoy a different, tasty and affordable meal, use the Internet or just enjoy a positive and uplifting atmosphere.
The idea came from the need of cafes and art related venues in the community. Many of the residents of this community commute downtown to areas like Alphabet city, Soho, Greenwich Village, Williamsburg, Dumbo and to a lesser extend, Harlem and el Barrio to enjoy similar places.
We offer 2 services and 2 products. The signature service is artistic entertainment by local artists who are looking to showcase their talent. As a result of this service, many artists use the Café as place to sell their art, be it paintings, books, music, photography, etc. The secondary products and services are Internet, food and beverage.
Yscaira Jimenez, a young Dominican immigrant who has spent the last 10 years in this community and has never found a place like this in the uptown area of Manhattan, spearheads this venture. Our vision is to retain the talent of our community in the very place where it is cultivated. Young Dominicans, Latinos and immigrants need no longer go to Union Square to enjoy great art, community and atmosphere.
You can find us online at www.lapregunta.net and on facebook, twitter and myspace.
ABOUT FUNDACION LA PREGUNTA
Past Activities: The Fundación has been producing creative-intellectual activities for three years. Before securing a donated space in March of 2008, our programming consisted of a series fundraisers at several different locations. These events (see attached promotional materials) featured writers, painters and performers from New York City’s working class and immigrant neighborhoods, and provided an opportunity for residents and visitors to attend an affordable and stimulating night of entertainment while also contributing to the Fundacion’s future efforts.
Present Activities: As of March 2008, upon establishing ourselves in the current space [at La Pregunta Arts Café at 1528 Amsterdam Avenue] in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Harlem, New York, the Fundación has played host to a packed schedule of free and low-cost events including live music, theatrical performances, poetry showcases, non-profit fundraisers, comedy shows, book presentations, film screenings, art exhibits, art and dance classes, elementary and middle school poetry readings, and numerous multidisciplinary and hybrid creative events. The majority of Fundación events have been free and open to the public. When an entry fee is charged, 100 percent of proceeds goes to the organizing party, be it a non-profit organization or a group of musicians, and we ask all event organizers to charge an affordable price and strongly encourage a ‘suggested donation’ system in which no one unable to pay is turned away from participating. Every week from early March 2008 to the present, Fundación La Pregunta has had something on its calendar to offer to the public. Please refer to the following pages for samples of promotional materials for some of these events.
Future Activities: Upon acquiring 501(c)(3) status, Fundación La Pregunta plans to uphold our practice of collaborating with and providing space for existing organizations and artists, and to move into producing our own programming as well. We will inaugurate our founding with the launch of two pilot programs:
• Space Grant
• Kids in Movement Workshops / Proyecto Niños en Movimiento
The Space Grant will provide an opportunity for a local visual and/or performing artist or collective to showcase their work in our current location, benefiting from the use of in-house gallery space, audiovisual services, and exposure to our growing audience. We will publicize an open call for submissions to area artists, and we will draw on the expertise of local arts councils and arts alliances to convene an advisory committee to support our curator and partake in the selection process. The Space Grant is our way of making use of existing resources (the donated physical space, technical capabilities, audience) to further our mission of making “the arts more accessible in working class neighborhoods in order to strengthen these communities by increasing exposure to art,” while also building the Fundación’s connections to local artists and arts organizations in order to work together in future endeavors.
Our second pilot program, the Kids in Movement Project, will be a monthly morning of activities for neighborhood children age six to 12 and their parents and guardians. The Project will focus on promoting healthy and creative lifestyles among local youth. Participants will be served a nutritious meal and engage in hands-on healthy food preparation demonstrations. Each month participants will and take part in a different main activity that fuses exercise and cognitive development, such as Capoeira (the Afro-Brazilian dance and martial art), yoga or physical theater. While youth participate in the activity, Fundación staff and volunteers will engage parents and guardians in a discussion on child nutrition with particular focus on preventing childhood obesity and diabetes through affordable and accessible food options.
Other concepts for future activities include a series of professional development workshops for local artists, a monthly life drawing and artist networking night, and building a network of connections to public school arts programs and arts education organizations in need of space to share their students’ work and give these youth a sense of pride in their creative efforts. In addition to these programs, Fundación La Pregunta will continue to host a weekly array of cultural events, as we have been doing for more than a year. Gaining official recognition as a public charity will help us to devote more time to curating and managing our events schedule, honor our associated artists with a greater level of seriousness and commitment, and further develop an audience for different events.
