Latin American center to open
Culture, art, music and fashion to be combined in inaugural celebration

BY M.J. Van Deventer

Published: October 6, 2008

Art, fashion and jade will be the focus when the Latin American Cultural Center has its grand opening Friday through Oct. 19 at its headquarters in Crossroads Mall.

Nationally, October has been designated Hispanic Heritage Month, said Flory Mata, who founded the Latino cultural center three years ago. The center’s official opening will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Mata is a native of Costa Rica and has long been involved in education. She taught Spanish at St. Gregory’s College in Shawnee before founding the Latino cultural center. She has been a journalist for 20 years, involved in television and radio and is the host of Estilo Latino, a television show that airs locally on Univision.

"Four years ago, I had a dream to create the Latin American Cultural Center to share our culture with other people. Teaching is in my bloodstream,” Mata said. "Both of my parents and grandparents were teachers. I met with five other people who thought a Latin American Cultural Center would be a good idea.”

Ten area artists will have work on display at the opening. They are Alejandro Bagajewicz, Alvaro Posadas, Carlos Tello, Esperanza Saldarriaga, Franz Mutis, Imelda Juarez, Jaime Macias, Laura Berthila Malagon, Melissa Sue Lopez and Rocio Perez.

Also on view will be a private collection of reproductions of famous jade objects and figurines. The pre-Hispanic American jade pieces date to 2,000 years ago.

"Many American works of art in jade are green in color with widely varied tonal values — ranging from a pale apple hue, to a distinctive blue green, to almost black — where the basic greenness remains significant,” Mata said. "In ancient Mesoamerican thought, green was the color associated with rain, water and young growing plants, all highly meaningful to the societies dependent upon them for survival.”

Latin American fashions also will be part of the opening ceremonies, with Latino women modeling traditional clothing of their native country. Live music will be presented by local Latino artists, and there will be foods and beverages reflecting Latino culture.

Besides the weeklong festival, the cultural center is also offering classes in citizenship, driving, dance including salsa, tango and merenzque, conversational Spanish and Spanish classes for English-speaking residents. The Oklahoman’s VIVA Oklahoma publication will be used in the Spanish classes to complement the traditional textbooks.

"The conversational classes are in partnership with a Spanish school in Costa Rica — Epifania — which offers students the opportunity to tailor their classes for as long as they wish to attend,” Mata said. "This experience also will provide the opportunity to visit the beaches, rain forests and museums of Costa Rica.”

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