Taller Puertorriqueño

PFKNR with authors Vanessa Díaz & Petra Rivera-Rideau
2026-09-16 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Wednesday, September 16, 6pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Free Event

Join us on Wednesday Septemebr 16, with Petra Rivera-Rideau and Vanessa Díaz, authors of P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became The Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. The talk will be followed by a book signing and will kick off our P FKN R Summer Book Club!

Feria del Barrio 2026
2026-09-13 12:00 - 17:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Sunday, September 13, 2026 | 12pm – 5pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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FREE EVENT

Save the date for our yearly block party Feria del Barrio. At Taller Puertorriqueño on North Fifth Street between Huntingdon and Lehigh. This event is RAIN OR SHINE!

Presented by Taller Puertorriqueño, Raíces Culturales Latinoamericanas, HACE, Congreso, APM, Visit Philly and PHL 250.

Philly Bookstore Crawl
2026-08-22 10:00 - 18:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday August 22, 10am – 6pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

Cooking con Omi: A Love Letter to Puerto Rican Home Cooking
2026-08-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Friday, August 14, 7pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

SOLD OUT

Tickets: $32.99 (includes Book + Admission)

Join us for an unforgettable evening with food entrepreneur Omi Hopper in conversation with Amy Rivera-Nassar of Amy’s Pastelillos. To celebrate the launch of Cooking con Omi: A Love Letter to Puerto Rican Home Cooking, these two Boricua chefs will be discussing all things food and culture.

Your ticket includes a copy of Cooking con Omi, which you may pick up at the event. Q&A will be followed by a book signing. Light bites will be provided by Amy’s Pastelillos and cocktails will be available.

We can’t wait to see you there!

P FKN R Summer Book Club
2026-08-12 18:00 - 20:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Wednesday, August 12, 6pm – 8pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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FREE

P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance

Global superstar Bad Bunny, like many other Puerto Ricans, has lived a life marked by public crises—blackouts, hurricanes, political corruption and oppression, among others—that have exposed the ongoing impacts of colonialism in Puerto Rico. Offering a portrait of the past and future of Puerto Rican resistance through one of its loudest and proudest voices, P FKN R draws on interviews with musicians, politicians, and journalists as well as ethnographic research to set Bad Bunny and Puerto Rican resistance in a historical, political, and cultural context.

Join us for a summer-long book club to discuss P FKN R, either virtually or in-person! Whether you’re a huge Bad Bunny fan or interested in learning more about recent Puerto Rican history and politics, this book club is for you! Sign up & purchase the book here.

Collaborative Stitches: The Making of Vámonos Pa’l Monte
2026-08-06 17:30 - 19:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Thursday, August 6, 2026 | 5:30PM

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

Register for Event

Free Event

Lead artist Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz & costume designer Kristina Tollefson will discuss the production process of their upcoming project.

On Thursday, August 6, join us for “Collaborative Stitches: The Making of Vámonos Pa’l Monte,” with the creative team behind this Mural Arts project: lead artist Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz and costume and production designer Kristina Tollefson.

The artists will discuss the planning and considerations that go into producing their creative collaborations, with a deep behind-the-scenes dive on Vámonos Pa’l Monte, a public art and engagement project culminating this fall in Philadelphia’s Norris Square neighborhood and throughout the city. The conversation will be moderated by Nicole Calderón, founder and director of Calderón in New York City.

El jueves 6 de agosto, acompáñanos en “Puntadas colaborativas: La Creación de Vámonos Pa’l Monte,” con el equipo creativo detrás de este proyecto de Mural Arts: la artista principal, Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, y la diseñadora de vestuario y de producción, Kristina Tollefson.

Las artistas hablarán sobre la planificación y los aspectos que hay que tener en cuenta a la hora de llevar a cabo sus colaboraciones creativas, con un análisis profundo de lo que ocurre tras bastidores en Vámonos Pa’l Monte, un proyecto de arte público y participación, que culminará este otoño en el barrio Norris Square de Filadelfia y en toda la ciudad. La conversación será moderada por Nicole Calderón, fundadora y directora de Calderón en la Ciudad de Nueva York.

This event is free and open to the public. | Este evento es gratis y está abierto al público.

Photo by Jon Kaufman. | Foto por Jon Kaufman.

Preserving your Family's Keepsakes
2026-08-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday, August 1st, 2026 | 2pm – 4pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Free Event

Join us in person to discover how to protect the treasured items that tell your family’s story!

Join Taller Puertorriqueño in partnership with Penn Libraries and the University of Delaware for a free educational event to discover how to protect the treasured items that tell your family’s story. Whether you have photographs, letters, quilts, jewelry or documents you’ll learn practical techniques to help preserve them for future generations. Participants will explore best practices for handling and storing for family heirlooms. You can also bring a keepsake to have it digitized.*

(*We can photograph two-dimensional materials up to 13” x 18” (e.g. papers, photographs, cards, coins. It’s preferable that photos be unframed.)

Climate Crisis is not Neutral: Reclaiming Land, Cultures & Futures
2026-08-01 09:30 - 18:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday, August 1, 2026 | 9:30am – 6pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Registration Required | Free Admission

Join us for a powerful day of Indigenous-led panels, workshops, storytelling, ceremony, and collective visioning. Together, we will gather in community to share knowledge, build relationships, and explore how our histories, cultures, and lived experiences can guide us toward a more just and sustainable future.

The climate crisis affects us all, but not equally. Indigenous and frontline communities often bear the greatest impacts while also carrying generations of knowledge about caring for land, water, and community. This gathering creates space to learn from one another, uplift Indigenous and Latine leadership, strengthen community connections, and co-create solutions rooted in reciprocity, resilience, and collective care.

Reception: Tramando: Collective Making, Continued Traditions
2026-07-24 17:30 - 20:00 | Pennsylvania
Friday, July 24, 5:30pm – 8pm At Taller Puertorriqueño

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FREE EVENT

Join us on Friday, July 24 for the opening reception of our Tramando exhibition. Tramando is a community-based textile arts initiative that celebrates the power of making as a means of cultural preservation, creative expression, and collective growth. Rooted in Kensington’s rich textile history, the program brings together artists, culture bearers, and community members to learn, share, and sustain traditional textile practices across generations.

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Tramando has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

P FKN R Summer Book Club
2026-07-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Wednesday, July 15, 6pm – 8pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

Sign up

FREE

P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance

Global superstar Bad Bunny, like many other Puerto Ricans, has lived a life marked by public crises—blackouts, hurricanes, political corruption and oppression, among others—that have exposed the ongoing impacts of colonialism in Puerto Rico. Offering a portrait of the past and future of Puerto Rican resistance through one of its loudest and proudest voices, P FKN R draws on interviews with musicians, politicians, and journalists as well as ethnographic research to set Bad Bunny and Puerto Rican resistance in a historical, political, and cultural context.

Join us for a summer-long book club to discuss P FKN R, either virtually or in-person! Whether you’re a huge Bad Bunny fan or interested in learning more about recent Puerto Rican history and politics, this book club is for you! Sign up & purchase the book here.

Paint & Listen
2026-06-23 18:00 - 20:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Tuesday, June 23, 6pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

Get Tickets

Tickets: FREE for Taller Members $15 for non-members

June is Audiobook Month! Celebrate with us by painting a box of dominos while listening to an audiobook from Libro.fm. The first 10 people to register will receive a free audiobook provided by Libro.fm.

Free for Taller members

$15 for non-members

Dominos and paint materials included.

Remembering the Sin Colonias March of 1976: Part ||: La Lucha Continúa 2026
2026-06-13 11:00 - 14:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday, June 13, 2026 | 11 am – 2 pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

RSVP BELOW

FREE EVENT

Join us for Part II of our July 4th Sin Colonias programming at Taller Puertorriqueño. Building on our Part I panel, where we heard from participants of the historic 1976 march, this next gathering brings the conversation into the present, linking that legacy to the urgent struggles shaping our communities today.

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This event takes the form of a forum-style discussion, centering today’s organizers, artists, and activists as they share how they are responding to ongoing injustice. Together, we will ask: What does resistance look like now? What lessons have we learned from past decades of struggle? How are movements evolving? And how can we continue to build powerful coalitions across communities?

Grounded in the belief that art is a vital tool for protest, expression, and collective action, the program will also include hands-on activist banner-making activities, inviting participants to create united visual messages that speak to today’s struggles and futures and can be used in upcoming activities.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of this historic march, we invite you to join us in discussing, creating, and organizing. This gathering serves as a powerful counterpoint to official U.S. semiquincentennial celebrations by centering community memory, present-day resistance, and the ongoing work of coalitions.

Presented by Taller Puertorriqueño + July 4th Sin Colonias Coalition

Remembering the Sin Colonias March of 1976 forms part of Taller’s yearlong initiative WE WILL NOT HIDE, which reclaims the radical legacy of the 1976 Sin Colonias March to affirm everyone’s right to visibility, respect, and self-determination. Through exhibitions, talks, and community programs, the series uplifts voices often marginalized in national commemorations, emphasizing inclusion, critique, and transformation as Philadelphia and the nation observe the 250th anniversary.

Reception: Estamos Aquí - Student Arts Exhibition
2026-06-12 16:00 - 18:00 | Pennsylvania
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Join us on Friday, June 12th at 4pm for the reception of Estamos Aquí: Student Arts Exhibition. This year’s student exhibition celebrates memory, resilience, and cultural reconnection through the creative works of young artists. Through art, students explore identity, heritage, and the enduring connections between people, land, and history—even in the face of displacement and loss.

Each piece reflects stories of perseverance, empowerment, and belonging while honoring the cultural heritage and memories carried across generations. The exhibition seeks to uplift young voices as they reclaim and reimagine their place, identity, and creative expression within their communities and society.

Above all, it is a declaration that their stories, cultures, and artistic expressions deserve to be seen, valued, and celebrated.

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Estamos Aquí: Student Arts Exhibition forms part of Taller’s yearlong initiative WE WILL NOT HIDE, which reclaims the radical legacy of the 1976 Sin Colonias March to affirm everyone’s right to visibility, respect, and self-determination. Through exhibitions, talks, and community programs, the series uplifts voices often marginalized in national commemorations, emphasizing inclusion, critique, and transformation as Philadelphia and the nation observe the 250th anniversary.

Phamily Reunion
2026-06-01 17:00 - 20:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Monday, June 1, 5pm – 8pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Ticketing Options: $10 tickets online

These times call for radical imagining rooted in love, community, and revolution.

Phamily Reunion is for Black, Latino, folks of the global majority, and/or LGBTQ+ folx to catch up on life, promote your business, share your upcoming event, and be in JOY. This is your space if you’re an

entrepreneur,

healer,

business leader, or

a creative (poet, artist, etc)

and interested in lifting up your biz/org, idea, poem, or call to action – get your ticket TODAY to reunite with Phamily!

Your ticket gives you access to the LIVE recording of the Dearly Beloved (un)pod storyshare with

hostess elicia – the Passion Doula

Erikka Goslin – Taller Puertorriqueño ED

Deza Rullán-Fantauzzi – Afro-Boricua trans woman artist whose Taller exhibit ends June 6

Naiymah Sanchez – trans Latina & longtime Philly organizer

But wait, there’s more! Feelin’ bold?! Enter the Phamily Pitch 4 UR Life contest. This is a safe space to shine! OH – and compete for CASH.

Come prepared with a 60-second pitch, poem, song, or call to action.

Buy a ticket (or 10) to enter the contest. (you can buy contest ticket at the event, too!)

Contestants will be selected randomly “karaoke style” to compete. Note: not everyone who enters will be selected! The more tickets, the greater your chances to win a chance to compete!

Incorporate joy, humor, energy or get CUT by the crowd. Winner selected by Phamily! (bonus points if it incorporates Prince!)

Get your tix today to vend, pitch your biz, or just show up to mingle and watch the Dearly Beloved (un)pod storyshare! Shine a light on your business or art – AND support local communities – 10% of all proceeds go to Taller Puertorriqueño & JUNTOS

Cold War Puerto Rico: Steve Howell in conversation with Vanessa Maria Graber
2026-05-13 18:30 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Wednesday, May 13, 6:30pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

Get Tickets

Ticketing Options: Book + Admission | Sliding Scale Donation: $0 – $20

Join us for a riveting discussion with author Steve Howell in conversation with Vanessa Maria Graber about his new book, Cold War Puerto Rico.

Ticketing Options:

RECOMMENDED: Book + Admission

Sliding Scale Donation: $0-$20

About the book:

A gripping history of FBI surveillance, political repression, and the fight for Puerto Rican independence. In the 1940s, with the construction of a naval base and a bombing range, Puerto Rico became a major geo-political military outpost for the United States. For a power claiming global leadership in a decolonizing world, however, the archipelago’s colonial condition underscored the dissonance between American democratic rhetoric and its imperial reality. The solution was a deal that, in 1952, gave Puerto Rico a degree of self-government without changing its legal status as an “unincorporated” US territory. The US then publicly claimed Puerto Rico was now more autonomous while using repressive tactics such as FBI surveillance, arrests, destabilization, and other methods developed in Washington to silence activists and political parties pushing for full independence.

In Cold War Puerto Rico, Steve Howell examines how J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI targeted Puerto Rican communists as part of an offensive against pro-independence parties and activists generally. Howell’s US-born father, who fell afoul of Hoover for producing radical cartoons while working in San Juan in the 1940s, remained on the FBI’s watch list long after exiling himself in Britain. His close friends, the Puerto Rican author César Andreu Iglesias and Jane Speed de Andreu, were meanwhile arrested and imprisoned three times during the 1950s. Drawing on a wealth of new sources, including interviews and FBI files, Howell tells their stories along with those of other activists who battled indictment in 1954 under the Smith Act, challenged the jurisdiction of the House Un-American Activities Committee in San Juan in 1959, and revived the Puerto Rican independence movement in the 1960s, despite the FBI deploying the covert tactics of COINTELPRO against them.

Puerto Rico is virtually invisible in histories of what is generally called McCarthyism, yet anti-communist repression was in many ways more intense there than in the mainland US. Now, with Puerto Rico’s future currently hanging in the balance, Howell’s compelling history demonstrates why we need to understand the long enforcement of its colonial status.

What Kind of Queen? Book Launch
2026-05-02 11:00 - 13:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday, May 2, 11am

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

Register for Event

FREE EVENT

Join us on Saturday, May 2, with illustrator Cindy Lozito to celebrate the launch of What Kind of Queen? A Royal Biography of Drag Queen and Activist José Sarria. The reading will be followed by a craft and interactive activity. This free event is for all ages! RSVP and pre-order the book below.

About the illustrator

Cindy Lozito is a muralist, illustrator, and cartoonist based in Philadelphia. Originally from Queens, New York, she is the daughter of Nuyorican and Italian-American parents. Her murals and artwork have appeared in the World Trade Center, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Philadelphia Art Museum. When she is not illustrating, you can find Cindy giving her terrier mix belly rubs, singing in her local choir, or drinking too much cold brew.

Opening Reception: Miranda Lopez: Para mi niña
2026-04-24 17:30 - 20:00 | Pennsylvania
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Para Mi Niña reflects the past, present, and future dreams of our little Black and Brown girls. Three young girls — the youngest, middle, and oldest — play dress-up as their mothers, aunts, grandmothers, and matriarchs who worked during the World Trade Fair era.

Wearing vibrant colors, flowers, prints, and dresses inspired by Puerto Rican culture and the spirit of Plena, they mirror the strength and pride of the women before them. The youngest builds the Women’s Pavilion with blocks, symbolizing foundation and possibility.

This piece honors how older women clear the path so younger generations can dream, create, and shape lasting change.

Miranda Lopez: Para mi niña is included in Radical Americana, a citywide initiative organized by The Clay Studio to mark the Semiquincentennial.

Reception: Hagudeza Rullán-Fantauzzi:Mi Isla y Yo
2026-04-24 17:30 - 20:00 | Pennsylvania
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Join us on Friday, April 24 at 5:30pm for the reception of Hagudeza Rullán-Fantauzzi’s exhibition, Mi Isla y yo, draws a parallel between the Puerto Rican people’s yearning for territorial sovereignty and the struggle for bodily autonomy. This theme echoes the upcoming semi-quincentennial celebration, yet feels increasingly out of reach for many.

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A central element of the exhibition is Rullán-Fantauzzi’s exploration of the Puerto Rican flag. In her photographic work La Guerrera (2024), the artist is painted in the historical sky blue, red, and white of the flag. This choice carries significant weight, as it references the 1948 Gag Law (Ley de la Parada), which criminalized the public display of the flag. The artist connects this historical suppression to contemporary resistance against trans visibility, suggesting that both are attempts to control identity and sovereignty.

Mi Isla y yo demonstrates how symbols persist and how patterns of oppression repeat across eras. Ultimately, the exhibition suggests that recognizing these patterns is essential to breaking negative historical cycles and offering a path toward personal and collective liberation.

Meet the Author Adriana Ramírez: The Violence My Family's Colombian War
2026-04-23 18:30 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Thursday, April 23, 6:30pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

Register for Event

Free Event

Join us on Thursday, April 23, with author Adriana Ramírez to discuss her new book, The Violence: My Family’s Colombian War. RSVP and pre-order the book below.

A powerful chronicle of Colombia’s descent into decades of civil war through the lens of an intimate, multi-generational tale of upheaval and betrayal.

When presumed president-elect Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, champion of the working class and harbinger of a new era of progressive social change, is assassinated on the eve of Colombia’s 1948 presidential election, the capital is plunged into bloodshed. So begins a singularly brutal period of Colombia’s history known simply as la violencia—a bloody civil war that spawned decades of turmoil and splintered the country into ever-shifting factions.

The Violence is an intimate history of this conflict—told not from the political center of the war but from the mountainous finca that Adriana E. Ramírez’s family tended to for generations, and through the eyes of her formidable grandmother, Esther. With startling lyricism, Ramírez illuminates the specter of violence—from guerilla warfare to the brutalities found so often in romantic relationships to the spontaneous and senseless violence steeped into everyday Colombian life during this period—and the threat that it poses to a country, and a family, that is trying to stay whole. Gracefully braiding together macrohistory, family history, and personal narrative, Adriana E. Ramírez traces these parallel stories of upheaval in a sweeping portrait of a country and family in flux.

Remembering the Sin Colonias March of 1976: A Two-Part Panel Discussion
2026-04-11 13:00 - 16:00 | Pennsylvania
at Taller Puertorriqueño 2600 N. 5th St

Remembering the Sin Colonias March of 1976 – A Two-Part Panel Discussion Part I: Voices from la Lucha 1976

“It is to assert the long and heroic tradition of our people’s resistance to all forms of tyranny, a tradition which today takes the form of the battle for democratic rights, against the effects of the system’s economic crisis and for an end to colonialism, that we will observe the Bicentennial in Philadelphia on July 4 in protest and in celebration of our unity in struggle.” – The July 4th Coalition Call to Action, 1976.

FREE RSVP BELOW

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On July 4, 1976, as the United States celebrated its 200th anniversary, a massive multiracial alliance—led by Puerto Rican and Native American activists—took to the streets of Philadelphia under the banner “A Bicentennial Without Colonies” (Sin Colonias). Tens of thousands marched to demand social and economic justice, exposing the gap between American ideals and the colonialist realities still shaping the lives of many communities.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of this historic rally, we invite you to join a special commemorative gathering. This event offers a meaningful counterpoint to official U.S. semiquincentennial celebrations by highlighting an essential chapter in Philadelphia’s activism and community history that has lessons for today.

If you were a participant in the 1976 march, there will be opportunities to share and record your memories and reflections. Photos, flyers, and other memorabilia from the July 4th Coalition protest will be displayed

Whether you marched in 1976 or are learning about this history for the first time, we want to hear your voice—join us in a panel discussion to remember, reflect, and connect with the spirit of this protest.

Featured panel, including:

Alyssa Ribeiro, Henry A. Logan, Sr. Professor of American History at Allegheny College. She has written about the July 4th, 1976, protest in the anthology Revolution Around the Corner. Her research explores how diverse coalitions have driven political and social change at the local level. Her forthcoming book, “Making the City Brotherly: Multiracial, Progressive Activism in North Philadelphia, 1960s–1980s,” will be published by the University of Chicago Press.

Pedro Rodriguez, a participant in the 1976 march and a longtime community activist. He has led several Philadelphia-based organizations, including the Open Borders Project (Proyecto Sin Fronteras) and the Action Alliance of Senior Citizens, where he served as Executive Director from 1997 to 2007.

Angel L. Ortiz, the first Puerto Rican and first Latino to serve on the Philadelphia City Council. He was first elected in 1985. Ortiz served on the Philadelphia City Council for 19 years and was a champion for working-class Philadelphians, marginalized communities, and the rights of women and LGBTQ individuals. In 1976, Ortiz was a young lawyer who had just moved to Philadelphia and played a pivotal role in organizing the July 4th protest.

Edwin Mayorga (moderator), Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies and in the Program in Latin American and Latino Studies at Swarthmore College. His engaged scholarship applies cultural, political, and economic perspectives to questions of urbanism, Latinx education, and social justice teaching.

Summer Camp Open House
2026-04-11 10:30 - 12:30 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday, April 11, 10:30am – 12pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

RSVP for Event

FREE EVENT

Learn more about our summer camp, available scholarship opportunities, tour our classrooms, meet our staff and check out if our program is a good fit for you and your kids! Visit our summer camp page for information on our application process.

For any questions contact Jose Ramos at jramos@tallerpr.org

2749 Social Cartography: The Photo Archive of Decolonial Ecology LAB
2026-03-28 14:00 - 16:00 | Pennsylvania
FREE RSVP BELOW

A participatory workshop by Caterina Pecchioli, in collaboration with Amy Diaz Newman

28 March 2026 | 2– 4 pmTaller Puertorriqueño, 2600 N. 5th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19133

The Social Cartography Lab invites photographers, artists, activists, and the public to collectively reflect on the relationships between humans, non-human life, and the environment across cultures, exploring the interdependence of colonial histories and contemporary ecological challenges.

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Part of the “We Will Not Hide” program, the workshop amplifies the voices of historically marginalized people and focuses on alternative ecological visions and practices of climate resilience that challenge dominant narratives.

Through image-sharing, storytelling, and collective listening, participants will contribute to the Photo Archive of Decolonial Ecology, an evolving collaborative resource that will inform future artistic outcomes, including an interactive cartographic platform and a textile-based speculative artwork imagining Earth in 2749.

Participants are invited to bring one or more photographs (printed on paper) that explore:

Spiritual or symbolic ties to nature

Situated knowledge related to water and land

Environmental and social transformations due to colonialism and migration

Acts and practices of resistance

The workshop includes moments of collective reflection and discussion, exploring connections between personal histories, environmental change, and practices of resilience.

About the artists

Caterina Pecchioli is an Italian multimedia artist working at the intersection of art, research, participation, and social practice. Her work explores the relationships between individuals, society, and structures of power, and how these shape collective memory, environmental narratives, and social dynamics, through participatory and decolonial practices. Since 2015, she has developed collaborative projects that use art as tools for social inquiry and collective action. She is a co-founder of Nation25 and other interdisciplinary platforms addressing migration, environmental issues, and cultural exchange. Her work has been presented internationally in museums, festivals, and public spaces. www.caterinapecchioli.com – www.nation25.com – www.bwblackwhite.org Instagram: @catepecchioli

Amy Diaz Newman is a Philadelphia-based artist and art educator. Currently a faculty member of Abington Friends Upper School, her artistic interests include Pre-Columbian art and history, community arts collaborations, and screenprinting in all forms. She has exhibited work at Taller Puertorriqueno, Abington Arts Center, The Woodmere Museum, and Fleisher Art Memorial, among other local venues. She has partnered with The Woodmere Museum on teacher education.

“2749 Social Cartography: The Photo Archive of Decolonial Ecology” is a project by Caterina Pecchioli. The research project is supported by Strategia Fotografia 2025, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Co-funded through the Fourth Century Center Research and Design Fellowship. Cultural Partners: Abington Friends School (AFS), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, IUAV University of Venice, Sale Docks, Thami Mnyele Foundation.

Jorge Luis Rodríguez: The Playing of the Music Boxes - Featuring Timbalona Collective
2026-03-28 13:00 - 15:00 | Pennsylvania
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The Event

The Timbalona Collective is a dynamic percussion ensemble rooted in the vibrant traditions of Afro-Caribbean and Latin American folk music. This performance will realize Jorge Luis Rodriguez’s long-held dream of seeing his sculpture series, The Music Boxes, played as musical instruments.

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The Sculptures

Created in 1981 while Rodriguez was a resident artist at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Cajas musicales are crafted from welded steel and deeply influenced by African Art. Each of the eight boxes is distinct, possessing its own unique aesthetic and resonance. Rodriguez’s work has always been experimental, pushing the boundaries of modernism and redefining our understanding of sculpture. Join us for this inaugural event—45 years in the making.

About the Artist

Rodríguez is a pioneering multidisciplinary artist whose career bridges minimalism, site-specific installation, and Afro-Caribbean cultural expression. After moving from Puerto Rico to New York in 1963, he absorbed the city’s emerging art movements—minimalism, optical art, and environmental art—before “abandoning the canvas” in the 1970s to pursue sculpture. Following his studies at the School of Visual Arts and New York University, he developed a visual language that fuses formal precision with symbolic and cultural depth. His early works, shaped by the alternative art scenes of Harlem and SoHo, reflect a growing dialogue regarding culture, modernism, and art in public spaces.

Bomba Puertorriqueña Bilingual Storytime with author Milterí Tucker Concepción
2026-03-21 11:00 - 14:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday, March 21, 11am

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Join us on Saturday, March 21, with author Milterí Tucker Concepción for a bilingual, musical storytime!

About the authorRenowned dancer, choreographer, scholar. Born and raised in Puerto Rico. Ms. Tucker Concepcion is the founder and artistic director of Bombazo Dance Co, Inc. A non for profit dance and drum organization preserving, advocating and educating in Puerto Rican Bomba and its connection to the African Diaspora. As a dancer/choreograpger she has graced the stages of Lincoln center out of Doors, City Center, Teatro La Perla in Ponce, PR, Teatro SEA, Pregones Theater, BAAD, Bronx Museum, Congo Square, New Orleans, Teatro Heredia in Santiago de Cuba and Chiapas ,Mexico. She protrayed Josephine Baker for Macys Herald Square, danced at the Latin Billboards as a featured dancer for Latin sensation Don Omar and was featured in Univision commercial: “Herencia Puertorriquena.” Milteri has won numerous awards for her innovative and thoughful choreography.

Book Launch: You Should Have Been Nicer To My Mom with author Vincent Tirado in conversation with Diana Rodriguez Wallach
2026-03-17 18:30 - 20:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Tuesday, March 17, 6:30pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Join us to celebrate the launch of YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN NICER TO MY MOM, a modern gothic horror by local author Vincent Tirado.

About the book:Demons clash with inheritance claims as secrets unfold and violence is unleashed over twelve harrowing hours trapped in a house with the worst thing imaginable: family.

When Papi Ramon, the patriarch of the wealthy Abreu family dies, he gives the family one last message in the will: “One of you is el bacà, the demon that I made a deal with. Get rid of them or you will be damned.” Xiomara, the uncontested favorite of Papi Ramon (and therefore the least liked in the family), watches as everyone dismisses this as the joke of a senile old man and demands the lawyer obtain the previous will Papi wrote.

While the lawyer drives back to his office, a storm breaks out, forcing the entire family—Xiomara’s aunts and uncles and cousins—to remain in the house. And the words of Papi’s will hangs over their heads even heavier than the rain clouds. Over the course of the night, scandal after scandal is revealed to the public about the family. Suddenly a tense few hours of surviving her family turns into a vicious night of recrimination, violence, accusations…and murder.Xiomara is faced with an impossible task: uproot a demon and somehow kill it or excise the ghosts that linger within her own family.

And the clock is ticking…

Florece: Un reset para mujeres listas para expandirse con Ruthy Adorno
2026-03-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Tuesday, March 10, 6pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Florece: Un reset para mujeres listas para expandirseA través de actividades sencillas e intencionales inspiradas en los libros, las participantes podrán pausar, reflexionar y reconectar consigo mismas de una manera práctica y significativa. En un espacio empoderador y acogedor, las asistentes pueden bajar el ruido del día a día y llevarse herramientas que les ayuden a tomar decisiones más alineadas con lo que desean crear en esta etapa de sus vidas.

Arturo Schomburg Symposium
2026-02-28 09:00 - 17:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday ,February 28 from 9am – 5pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Ticketed Event | $10

The 30th Annual Arturo Schomburg Symposium traces how African-descended peoples, both enslaved and free, have sustained cultures and liberation struggles through rich, dynamic, spiritual, and religious expressions.

As the United States commemorates the Semiquincentennial in 2026, Taller Puertorriqueño’s guiding theme, “We Will Not Hide,” draws inspiration from the 1976 “Sin Colonias March” in Philadelphia—also called the “People’s Bicentennial”—which united over 40,000 African Americans, Indigenous activists, Puerto Ricans, and allies in a powerful demonstration of solidarity and resistance to a narrative that ignores their presence, needs, and contributions. This historic coalition serves as a touchstone for the symposium’s commitment to visibility, dignity, and self-determination. The Schomburg Symposium will kick off this year’s programming.

The Schomburg Symposium has, for the past 29 years, presented critical, celebratory, and reflective perspectives from the Latine, Latin American, African American, and AfroLatine communities, featuring leading scholars, activists, artists, and community voices.

Learn more about the Symposium’s programming here.

Arturo Schomburg Symposium Opening Reception: Capoeira Demonstration & Workshop with Mestre Cobra Mansa
2026-02-27 17:30 - 20:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Friday, February 27 | 5:30PM – 8PM

At the African American Museum in Philadelphia | 701 Arch St.

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Open to all | Pay what you wish

Join us on Friday, February 27 from 5:30pm – 8pm for the opening night of the 30th Annual Arturo Schomburg Symposium at the African American Museum on Philadelphia. One of our presenters, Mestre Cobra Mansa will lead a Capoeira Demonstration & Workshop. This event is open to all!

The symposium will take place the next day on Saturday February 28 from 9am – 5pm at Taller Puertorriqueño. Learn more about the Symposium’s programming here.

La Lengua del Tambor Screening x Concert Fundraiser
2026-02-21 18:00 - 22:00 | Taller Puertorriqueño, North 5th Street 2600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19133, United States
Saturday, February 21, 6pm – 10pm

Taller Puertorriqueño | 2600 N. 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133

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Ticketed Event

Immerse yourself in La Lengua del Tambor – Bomba documentary by Ant M. Rivera brought to life with live performances in El Centro de Oro!

La Lengua del Tambor Screening x Concert Fundraiser

La Lengua del Tambor is taking on a new form Saturday, February 21st for a special screening x concert fundraiser with Tumbao Entertainment at Philly’s beloved Taller Puertorriqueño. This night is about bringing the film to life. Not just seeing it, but hearing it, feeling it, moving with it. Live performances honoring the legacy of Bomba featuring:

Los Bomberos de la Calle

Julio del Hoyo

Los Buhos

Esencia Latina

This project has been a year in the making, and this moment marks what’s next. Every ticket purchased goes directly toward supporting the completion of the film, helping us carry La Lengua del Tambor into its final production stage. More than a fundraiser, this is a gathering rooted in community, cultura, and care.

Pull up to support the film and show love to Boricua-owned and local Philly businesses:

Amys Pastelillos

Coquí Cult Coffee

Wilde and Lovely

Power Street Theatre

Gabby Rodriguez

Astrid Salazar Ovalle

If you’re feeling extra generous, support the film’s GoFundMe

Reception: Jorge Luis Rodríguez – Orisha / Santos – An Artistic Interpretation of the Seven African Powers​
2026-02-13 17:30 - 20:00 | Pennsylvania
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Join us on Friday, February 13 at 5:30pm for the reception of a groundbreaking installation by Puerto Rican artist Jorge Luis Rodriguez — Orisha/Santos: An Artistic Interpretation of the Seven African Powers.

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First shown at MoCHA in 1985, this work reshaped how Afro-Caribbean spirituality, minimalism, and sculpture intertwined. Rodriguez now brings this historic installation to Taller Puertorriqueño, working closely with Philadelphia-based artists Yoanny Aldaya and Danny Melendez, both deeply rooted in Santería traditions.

Through cut steel forms and layered symbolism, Rodriguez reimagines the Orishas, revealing their enduring power and connection to resilience, faith, and identity. Each piece bridges Yoruba deities and their syncretized Christian counterparts, capturing the spirit and the resistance of Afro-diasporic survival.

Don’t miss this monumental return.
