Santino
In Lima, Peru, at age fourteen, Santino learned to play the guitar while composing songs for his rock band called Sentencia. They recorded an album and Santino traveled to Holland for a record contract. This is when he first learned to view music as a medium of expression. “His music is an eclectic mix of Latin, Pop, Rock, and Flamenco with a strong influence of his Peruvian roots. And he is about to blow up…genuine…talent.” —Valeria Brumen for Latino LA

Banda Tecno Caliente
Founded by Alejandro Barragán, with his brothers José Francisco Barragán, Rafael Barragán, Julián Barragán, and with the addition in 2006 of new members Carlos Nieves, Issac Sánchez y Juan Ortega, Banda Tecno Caliente produced their first record Cuando te vi partir (When I Saw You Go). In 2008, Banda Tecno Caliente presents their new album: ¿Por qué me enamoré de ti? (Why Did I Fall for You?).

Charanga Carolina
This Cuban charanga ensemble features flute, violins, brass, piano, bass, and percussion. It is mostly associated with the danzón, a musical and dance style with roots in both European light classical and Afro-Cuban music. The charanga also played a central role in the development of salsa music in the 1960s and 1970s in New York City.

Tercer Divisa Nacional
Originally from Mexico, Tercer Divisa Nacional started six years ago with singer/guitarist/bassist David Robles Mendes and drummer Celso Torres, and now also features Jorge Lopés and Avisay Méndez on guitar. Tercera Divisa Nacional plays urbank rock — a new musical style with songs about love, the harsh realities of life, and broken hearts.

El Trio de Hoy
El Trío de Hoy is one of the most influential groups in today’s Christian music genre. The band’s five skilled musicians feature an infectious beat and distinctive sound to communicate traditional messages in a contemporary dance style that appeals to the younger crowd as well as to those who still fondly recall the classic trios of yesteryear.

Los Silver Star
Los Silver Star, one of Honduras most popular bands, have appeared successfully in Central America, Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The group puts on a dance show titled Rhythms of the Caribbean, which features a troupe of talented dancers and singers interpreting such popular musical styles as punta, reggae, soca, salsa and merengue.

Braco
Braco incorporates a variety of Latin musical styles ranging from Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and Puerto Rican to folk rhythms of Central and South America. A Santana-style quintet with electric guitar and rock drums, it adds a refreshing change of pace to the musical landscape. With John Parker (guitar), Ezra Kelly (drums), José Sánchez (conga and timbales), Scott Drewery (saxophone and keyboards), and band leader César A. Oviedo (bass).

Mickey Mills & Steel
Trinidad native and Carrboro resident Mickey Mills has pounded out infectious Caribbean music around the Triangle on his 55-gallon steel drum for many years. His smooth reggae stylings and positive lyrics make for a rousing family-oriented listening experience. Mickey has worked with artists such as Mick Jagger, Johnny Mathis and Lord Kitchener, and cites Bob Marley as one of his major influences.

Visual Arts Exhibit

Cornelio Campos
Cornelio Campos has lived and worked in his native Mexico, in California, and in Durham, NC. His paintings include expressive narratives of his beloved hometown of Cheran, and of his immigrant experiences in the US.

Juan Manuel Cortez
Born in Colombia, where he studied Fine Arts at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, Juan Manuel earned a degree in Computer Art and Animation from the School of Communication Arts in Raleigh North Carolina in 1997. His artistic interests include working in various media, including clay, 3D computer graphics, photography, and animation.

Gustavo De Los Ríos
Born in Cali, Colombia, Gustavo De Los Ríos has been painting and drawing since he was ten years old. Trained in the University of Antioquia, Colombia, he was juried into Raleigh’s prestigious Artspace in 2003 where he has become a creative force who attracts visitors and corporate and private collectors. He has exhibited his work in galleries and museums in the United States, Honduras, and France.

Francisco del Pueblo
Francisco Zarate comes from Chiapas, Mexico. He studied art at Acapetahua College in Chiapas. He enjoys a passion for creating works of art by hand. His preferred artistic medium involves painting on wood, in which he uses his unique imagination to create stunning still lifes and landscapes.

José Galvez
José Galvez is internationally known for his striking documentary photography of Latino life in the United States. As a Mexican-American, Galvez has the sensibility of an insider that is often missing in the voyeuristic nature of documentary photography. A Pulitzer Prize winner, he has exhibited his work in galleries and museums here and abroad.

Eduardo Lapetina
Dr. Eduardo Lapetina’s life has become much more colorful since he retired in 2002. After a 35-year career as a medical researcher, presenter, and art collector, a formerly hidden talent blossomed and he began painting. Today the this Argentinian native is an award-winning artist whose works are collected world-wide.

Francisco Loza
Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Francisco Loza creates “Arte de Estambre” (Yarn Art) by working on a wood surface using a combination of waxes as an adhesive base on which he intricately weaves together thread-by-thread yarns of brilliant colors.

Gladys Madauss
Born in San Salvador, El Salvador, Gladys Madauss is currently working as a First Grade Teacher at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh. She has exhibited her art work at several Elementary Schools in Wake County. She was a featured for “Hispanic Heritage Month” at the Office of Multicultural Affairs at UNC Greensboro. This year will be her fourth time organizing the Cultural ArtsExhibit for la Fiesta del Pueblo.

David Sovero
Sovero is an artist who creates layers of rich color, offering us new forms, concepts, and elements of art, over many generations. David’s ancestral Incan roots are saturated with thousands of years of Andean stylized figures. His everyday existence and relationships are intimately tied to his work. Shadowy, semi-abstract specters emerge from the darkness of his canvas. His surreal compositions and simplistic geometric forms are based on lines, textures, and many dimensions.

Our Stories, Our Dreams
A CDS/SAF Exhibition

As border crossings, undocumented immigration, and related labor issues continue to define debate in the national political arena, the perspectives of those who have uprooted their livelihoods and risked their lives to come to the United States are seldom heard.
The project, which began in 2006, produced a traveling exhibition and a publication that incorporates documentary photographs and recorded interviews; the exhibition brings the voices of Latino migrant youth and their families to the forefront so that their stories can be heard.