Puerto Rican Women Artists Across The Diaspora

Tariana Navas-Nieves in Discussion with Tanicha López and Caridad De La Luz
2023 Plenary Keynote

Huáscar Robles, 2023 GIA Conference Blog

The third plenary of the Puerto Rico GIA Conference lit up with the sounds, wisdom, tears, and bewitching of three Puerto Rican women who did what few have achieved: restore hope in arts philanthropy. In and out of sessions, participants have been vexed by a lack of the sector’s unity and an abundance of crippling bureaucracy. But for this session, the three women turned that beat around and injected the San Geronimo Ballroom with their energizing message of resilience.

Prior to the performance and emotional conversation, GIA recognized María Lopez de León, an industry stalwart and NALAC’s former executive director. From Fundación Banco Popular, director Beatriz Polhamus López touted the institutions’ flexible arts sponsorship that extends from traditional to experimental programs.

The session sparked up with panelist Caridad de la Luz’s version of Cardi B’s “W.A.P.” . Videos of the performer, better known as “La Bruja,” flashed on the ballrooms’ monitors with the song’s racy acronym replaced by feminist messaging: Women Aren’t Protected, Words as Projectile, Weather Against Patriarchy.

On stage, La Bruja was joined by musician and powerhouse vocalist Tanicha López, who hails from Carolina, Puerto Rico, and the incomparable Tariana Navas-Nieves, an industry veteran who didn’t miss this opportunity to recognize her father, an activist and public service fighter, who was brought to tears in the audience.

The women traveled through several topics, at times drawing applause and often revving up collective frustrations. The lighter topic of improvisation had Tanicha singing and swirling in her chair. From behind her wide glasses and beaming smile, Tanicha imparted her brand of wisdom: “I tap into a culture and a city and a language. Through improvisation, I feel like a citizen of the world,” a powerful message in moments of international turmoil.

La Bruja brought us deeper. For her, the origin of improvisation lies in the solar plexus, a place of fire and fun. “Improvisation is where the universe gets to play. When we tap into source energy, in those moments in the unknown is where the magic comes,” said the Emmy-winning poet and current Executive Director of the Nuyorican Poets Café.

Navas-Nieves had her own take on improvisation. “I want to encourage us funders [to think] how we value improvisation in terms of when you’re thinking about process and evaluations and applications,” a jab perhaps at the formulas and algorithms that quantify instead of qualify artists vying for funds.

Mentorship, they all agree, spun their careers around. De La Luz couldn’t have climbed to her current executive-level position if it weren’t for the wisdom of Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, among others. She also thanked the Jerome Foundation Fellowship, whose funds fueled the work she did in Puerto Rico during the pandemic that eventually led to her winning an Emmy. Tanicha mentioned that, in a world polarized by gender wars, most of her support and mentorship have come from “masculine energy.”

This led to the thorny topic of obstacles. De La Luz has encountered resistance from some male counterparts. “For me, sexism and rape culture have been some of the hardest obstacles throughout my life,” she said crestfallen, then reminded the audience that the women founders of the Nuyorican Poets Café have remained in obscurity, including one living member, Lois Elaine Griffith. Yet La Bruja thrives. These and other mentors brought her to the NPC, which will now undergo a $24 million renovation project.

“The job of an executive director is… sexy,” Navas-Nieves quipped. The job of spearheading these organizations isn’t at all glamorous. Restricted grants, limited amounts, and applications so convoluted they made De La Luz feel “like I was set up to fail.”

Yet the 600-plus GIA members brought home more than a dose of reality. Tanicha and La Bruja entangled their talents in a seamless improvisation. Tanicha’s beatboxing layered with her sublime vocals whirled under and around De La Luz’s spoken word anthems. It was magic, as they had predicted, and there, at the Caribe Hilton’s GIA Conference, the women brought the universe out to play.