HABITANTES | Space

HABITANTES is a project that explores the idea of space, memory and social identity through a selection of artists who have a special bond with the city of Bayamón. 

The exhibition proposes a look at the relationship of this community of artists with the place where they were born, raised or where they have carried out their lives.

Habitante (Inhabitant) is the term conferred to designate persons who have been part of the population of a particular place.

The exhibition is made up of forty-three artists whose works, in a multiplicity of media and aesthetics, trace a look at what it would be worth to define the being that inhabits something. 

"I have been taking art courses in my hometown since I was 7 years old. From workshops at the home of an art teacher I no longer remember, I went on to take three years of drawing and oil painting studies in the free workshops of the Municipality of Bayamón."

"Those workshops filled me with desire and fueled my passion to continue studying art."

"Bayamón has been the place where I go when I am "on my way home." Although most of my college life unfolded in San Juan, for many years I lived mostly in Bayamón."

"So many identify me with Bayamón and in that way I am glad that Bayamón is part of my identity."

"I came to Bayamón when I was 10 years old to live mostly with my grandmother; her house was upstairs from my mom's house who was usually working."

"Growing up under my grandmother's wing in the town of Bayamon became like a small world full of surprises. As a child I spent the day walking with her in the urban center of the town and then I studied at Santa Rosa College."

"Many of these experiences are the subject of inspiration in my work."

"My life in Bayamón began in 1980; originally born in Santurce in 1939. During the last 41 years I have developed different stages of styles in my work. Also in Bayamón two of my three children were born."

"Unfortunately I lost my workshop during Hurricane Maria. I have learned to love Bayamón and I am very grateful to the town for the support they have given me with the construction of a new workshop. I love chicharon!..."

JUAN FERNANDO MORALES-NAZARIO (Ponce, PR, 1974) "We went to Hato Tejas, El Hoyo, Valencia, Virgilio Dávila, La Milagrosa Católica, the ball park, Juan Morel, karate, Drive-In, the village, La pluma street, Bayamón Oeste, the cancha, the terra-plein....

to the 3- brother, to the Volcano, by bike, the little store, the Central, Las Lajas, where godfather, many times in Jayuya/NY/Santurce/Viejo San Juan... Always from Bayamón: my center, the home of my family and of many who are no longer here..."

"I was born in Santurce, but I grew up and studied since I was 5 years old in Bayamón. I took my first art classes at the Bayamón Art Workshop with professors Melvin Rivera and Margarita Torres Agostini while studying at the Agustín Stahl High School."

"That training was key in my youth to later be able to enter the Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico."

I was born in the city of Bayamón on 14 May 1970. Since then, my days have been surrounded by its daily life. My sisters and I were raised and grew up there, where my parents still live.

I can say that my days are summed up in a close bond with the city of which I have been a part for almost fifty-one years.

"Bayamón was where my grandmothers in Lomas Verdes and Santa Juanita took care of me since I was a child while my parents worked.

"Then, it was my first home when I returned from doing my Masters in Fine Arts at Hunter, NYC, at the same time I began to work as a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón campus."