LAS GALLAS DANCE PARTY!!!

LAS GALLAS Dance Party
Saturday, March 22, 2014 

8:00-11:00 PM

featuring AfroTaino Productions' DJ Rahsaan! 

West Kensington Ministries, 2140 N. Hancock Street 

(corner of Susquehanna Ave.in Norris Square)

TICKETS $10.00

Join our dance party and help support our fundraising efforts to perform and lead a community workshop at the 14th Annual International Festival of Poetry in Havana, Cuba in May! 

This is a special invitation for Las Gallas as we continue to grow as artists following our performances at the Barnes Foundation and the First Person Arts Festival with Sonia Sanchez, Ana Castillo and Angela Davis. 

An evening with Las Gallas and friends fundraiser allowed us to meet our 1st goal of $3000. We have $4000. more to raise! 

As part of our continued fundraising efforts we invite you to join us for an evening of shaking your groove thing and having a funky good time with dancing beats from DJ Rahsaan and delicious Colombian food from La Costeña Catering!!!

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE! 

$10 - 1 Ticket $20 - 2 Tickets $30 - 3 Tickets $40 - 4 Tickets $50 - 5 Tickets $60 - 6 Tickets $70 - 7 Tickets $80 - 8 Tickets $90 - 9 Tickets $100 - 10 Tickets

SUPPORT LAS GALLAS!!! MAKE A DONATION!

Las Gallas have received a special invitation to perform and lead a community workshop at the 14th Annual International Festival of Poetry in Havana, Cuba in May!

This is a special invitation for Las Gallas as we continue to grow as artists following our performances at the Barnes Foundation and the First Person Arts Festival with Sonia Sanchez, Ana Castillo and Angela Davis.

In February, an evening with Las Gallas and friends fundraiser allowed us to meet our 1st goal of $3000. We have $4000 more to raise!

SHOW SOME SUPPORT AND MAKE A DONATION TODAY! 

$25 - Donation $50 - Donation $75 - Donation $100 - Donation $150 - Donation $200 - Donation $250 - Donation $300 - Donation

LAS GALLAS in Havana, Cuba!

Las Gallas have received a special invitation to perform at the International Festival of Poetry in Havana, Cuba in May!

This is a special invitation for Las Gallas as we continue to grow as artists following our performances at the Barnes Foundation and the First Person Arts Festival with Sonia Sanchez, Ana Castillo and Angela Davis.

As part of our fundraising efforts we are organizing an Evening with Las Gallas and Friends. Based on our Café con Leche series, this salon style evening will feature area dancers, singers, poets, visual artists and musicians including: Sonia Sanchez, Pablo Batista, Chuckie Joseph, Anthony Tidd, Arturo Stable and many more!!!

Please join us Wednesday, February 19th at 6:30-9:00 pm for an evening of art, passion and just a funky good time.

TICKETS ARE $25.00 PURCHASE THEM HERE: http://goo.gl/Wg7HQu

If you cannot join us please consider making a donation of $25 or more. DONATE HERE: http://goo.gl/1t18EE

Con mucho amor ,
Julia, Magda, and Michelle

Upcoming Performance at the Barnes Foundation

Friday, December 6, 2013 6-10 pm

The Barnes Foundation

2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway

The Barnes Foundation presents First Friday! Philadelphia Artist Spotlight. This event is an artistic exploration of Philadelphia’s talented musicians, dancers, poets, and performing artists.

Las Gallas will be performing along with other Philadelphia artists: Mr. Sonny James, Pattern is Movement, Team Sunshine Performance Corporation, and Yellow Rage. For more information and to purchase tickets click here. 

Las Gallas Perform at the First Person Arts Festival




(Pictured from left to right- Galla Julia Lopez, Ana Castillo, Angela Davis, Sonia Sanchez, Galla Michelle Angela Ortiz, and Galla Magda Martinez)


On Thursday, November 14th, 2013, Las Gallas opened for three amazing women- Ana Castillo, Sonia Sanchez, and Angela Davis.

What happens when words become weapons? Sonia Sanchez, Ana Castillo, and Angela Davis explored that question, drawing upon their own work as activists and authors, in this provocative literary event hosted by the First Person Arts Festival.

Over 200 people attended while we performed excerpts from Ghetto Bolero. Ghetto Bolero re-imagines the traditional Latin American boleros from a woman's point of view. The performance was accompanied by violinist Luigi Mazzochi and guitarist Patricio Acevedo.

Las Gallas on WHYY Radio!

Highlighting the shared stories and struggles of immigration and migration within the Asian and Latino communities, Illuminate Me is the multi-sensory culmination of a cross-cultural exploration through a series of community workshops in which participants shared personal histories and journeys through a range of text, sound and image-based storytelling activities. Lanterns created by workshop participants are featured in the exhibition alongside new mixed-media artwork by Las Gallas members Julia Lopez, Magda Martinez, and Michelle A. Ortiz accompanied by an original soundscape by Alex Shaw.

Click on the video below to listen to the the story on the installation by Peter Crimmins from WHYY Radio. Click here to see pictures and read the story.

Opening Reception: Friday October 19, 5 p.m.

Highlighting the shared stories and struggles of immigration and migration within the Asian and Latino communities, Illuminate Me is the multi-sensory culmination of a cross-cultural exploration through a series of community workshops in which participants shared personal histories and journeys through a range of text, sound and image-based storytelling activities. Lanterns created by workshop participants are featured in the exhibition alongside new mixed-media artwork by Las Gallas members Julia Lopez, Magda Martinez, and Michelle A. Ortiz accompanied by an original soundscape by Alex Shaw.
The opening reception of Illuminate Me on Friday October 19 coincides with the bi-annual convening of approximately 400 artists and representatives from member organizations of the National Association of Latino Arts And Culture (NALAC) which takes place in Philadelphia this October 17 - 21. 

Illuminate Me is the first in a series of projects that Asian Arts Initiative is presenting as part of our Neighborhood Spotlight Series, presented by PNC Arts Alive and The Knight Foundation. Our Neighborhood Spotlight Series  focuses on the neighborhoods of Chinatown (our home base) and South Philadelphia (where we offer after-school programming three public schools) and provides creative experiences and interactions in spaces such as public parks, plazas, storefronts, restaurants, and parking lots, allowing us to enliven our communities and engage diverse audiences.

Illuminate Me is made possible with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's Knight Arts Challenge, The PNC Foundation's PNC Arts Alive grant initiative and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC).

   

Las Gallas featured in APIARY Magazine

APIARY 3 Magazine features outstanding poetry and fiction by 30 contemporary Philly authors, alongside the stunning multimedia art of the Las Gallas art group and woodcut artist Rebecca Brame.

On Saturday, December 10, 2011, they will launch their very first FREE print issue. To celebrate, they are throwing down an evening of delights with the help of the Philadelphia Poetry Collective. Stay for the whole night or just swing by to pick up your issue. There’s enough fun (bookish and otherwise) to go around.

What: You, your beret and your dancing shoes - and a free copy of APIARY.

Where: Torrent Collective, 930 S 8th St, Philadelphia, PA (Italian Market area, Ellsworth/Federal or Lombard/South stop on Broad St. Line)

When: 7:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.

Tickets: $5-10 sliding scale. Every dollar over $5 is a direct donation to APIARY and gets you a raffle ticket

Click here to RSVP

7-8:30 p.m.: Live music and performances by APIARY authors. Laidback & family style. Holiday goodies & coffee.8:30-9 p.m.: Open Mic: poetry, fiction, anything goes.

9-11 p.m.: Beat Slam! After the massive success of its jokey ‘Emo Poetry’ Slam last year, Philadelphia Poetry Collective is taking on the Beats. Whether you’re a Kerouac, Ginsberg or Gil Scott-Heron fan, compete for prizes with your best imitation of the poets responsible for every stereotype about poets. Coffee & tea will be provided.

11 p.m.-2 a.m.: Dance party! 3 DJs. BYOB. Need we say more? Holy Allen Ginsberg!

Las Gallas receive the Vision Award

Las Gallas are received the Vision Award as Creative Artists of the Year at the Hispanic Choice Awards in Philadelphia on Tuesday, October 11th 5:30-8:00 pm.

We are so honored to be recognized in the Latino community for our work as artists!!!

Las Gallas

Barcelona, SPAIN

on the Mediterranean

July 21, 2011

LookOutFor10thAnniversaryInformationAndShenanaginsAndJustAllOutCrazyFunTimesAhead
So I posted this without Galla permission...I am so scared...they might kick me out of the Gallalandia...

Las Gallas perform and exhibit at Fourth Wall Arts Salon

In October, Las Gallas exhibited their works and performed at the Fourth Wall Arts Salon. We created a performance piece in collaboration with skilled percussionist, Elizabeth Sayre.

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO highlighting us. It was created by the video/ film group called Philthy Soft Pretzels Take a look below.

Las Gallas Fourth Wall Artist Profile from philthysoftpretzls on Vimeo.

Video of our exhibit at Taller Puertorriqueño

Artist Talk at Taller Puertorriqueno

Friday, June 4th 6-8pm
Lorenzo Homar Gallery, 2721 N. 5th St. Philadelphia PA 19133

Las Gallas will give an artist talk about their exhibition "Lo Que Aparece y Desaparece" at Taller Puertorriqueno. They will share their experience as a collective, the development of the work on the exhibit, and a few surprises.

"Lo Que Aparece y Desaparece" Exhibit

Las Gallas would like to thank everyone that made it to our opening this past Friday. It was great to show our hard work and to have such positive feedback from all those that attended.

Our great friend, Monica McIntyre, opened the exhibit with a special musical performance.

The show will remain until June 5th, 2010. Here are some photos of our exhibit as a sneak peek, but be sure to see it in person!

Works by Magda Martinez

Works by Julia Lopez

Works by Michelle A. Ortiz

Las Gallas in Al Dia Newspaper

"No somos Gallos, ni gallinas, somos Las Gallas"

por Nubia Erives/ Al Día Newpaper

Al Día newspaper interviewed us about our exhibit at Taller Puertorriqueño. To read the full article click here.

"Lo Que Aparece y Desaparece"

Opening Reception Friday, April 9 2010 5-8pm

Taller Puertorriqueño's Lorenzo Homar Gallery

2721 N. 5th Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19133

(show runs from April 9 - June 5, 2010)

Lo Que Aparece y Desaparece is a mixed media print installation that explores the importance of mark making (those seen and unseen) in art, family and on the path of individuals. Lo Que Aparece y Desaparece was created by Las Gallas Artist Collective specifically for Taller Puertorriqueno’s 35th Anniversary exhibition season, The Graphic R/Evolution, and as an independent project of Philadelphia’s first international print quadrennial The Graphic Unconscious.

A mix of print techniques, including photography, screenprinting, collographs and woodcuts the exhibit explores marks themselves. How are experiences, people, places imprinted on us? How do we manipulate and recombine the artifacts of memory? What does a memory become when it begins to fade? How do we decipher marks with unknown origins? By creating an alternate reality through printmaking Las Gallas hopes to create a space to interact with these questions and the long tradition of printmaking in Latino arts.

We ask you to respond

We are collecting phrases, words, responses related to our theme "Lo que Aparece y Desaparece" (What Appears and Disappears) for our exhibit at Taller Puertorriqueno in April.

We ask you to respond to these questions at las_gallas@hotmail.com

How are experiences, people, places imprinted on YOU?

How do YOU manipulate and recombine the artifacts of memory?

What does a memory become when it begins to fade?

How do YOU decipher marks with unknown origins?

Scar and Imprint

Lo Que Aparece 

              foto by J.Lopez

Getting ready for Las Gallas exhibit "Lo Que Aparece y Desaparece" opening 

Friday, April 9, 2010

at Taller Puertorriqueno, Inc. 

for the Philagrafika International Quadrennial of Printmaking in Philadelphia.

I have spent a lot of time with images of Mami, Papi, and an abuelo I never met. Spending hours and hours with these images and reimagine-ing a story; stories that she told me, that he withheld and a story that I never got to hear. All have left an imprint; one that you can see on my skin and another that is buried within. This play is one that is almost done. I wrote "Graciela" to pay tribute to Mami's struggle as a single mother, as an immigrant, and as a woman who survived domestic abuse. She defended herself from all these trials by creating a world that left a bundle of scars in her abdomen, scars that lined her uterus and electrified her brain cells. Text from "Graciela" will be incorporated in the prints that are being produced for the exhibit. Mami is forever. It is my intention to acknowledge the value of the imprint and the impact it has had on my way of seeing the world and being in the world. This circle ends. The next celebrates the wonder of this struggle I call Life.

Las Gallas Community Art Workshop

On January 23rd, Las Gallas led a workshop at Taller Puertorriqueño to explore the themes related to marks that appear and disappear in our lives. The images are works created by the participants. And some will be shown in our exhibit in April at the Taller Puertorriqueño as part of Philagrafika.

Galla, Julia Lopez, became an Alumni of the
2009 Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute
on Saturday, November 14th!
I started as a NELI Fellow in April. One of the most rewarding parts of the program was the incredible network of support of NELI participants and Julia's working group the "VIPS". The non-profit community is very diverse and unique. I appreciate the opportunity to share the NELI experience with many of its most dedicated leadership!