Pre-Conference Cultural Experiences
Read more about each pre-conference cultural experiences below! The pre-conference day is an ADD-ON that you may add to your registration.
- Visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Puerto Rico Negrx Exhibition
This activity includes a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico (MAC) located in Santurce. The visit will allow you to learn about the community outreach projects of this institution that have impacted multiple communities in Puerto Rico and initiatives to provide direct support to artists. The experience includes a guided tour of the Puerto Rico Negrx exhibition, the first institutional exhibition to present over 30 Afro-descendant artists from Puerto Rico and the diaspora within their historical context. - Urban Walking Tour at Santurce
This activity includes a guided walking tour through the streets of Santurce to learn about the development of urban art in the community. The tour will include stops at Cerra Street, a sector with the highest density of public art and where the Santurce es Ley international urban art festival and artist workshops are located. The visit will place this development in the economic and social context of the neighborhood, including the challenges of displacement and gentrification that have been generated since the beginning of the urban art trend. - Entrepreneurship and Cultural Management Practices in Puerto Rico
This activity includes a guided visit to the Taller Comunidad La Goyco located at Calle Loíza in Santurce. This venue was previously a school that had been closed by the government until a group of cultural managers rescued it and turned it into a community cultural center. It now houses dozens of projects, including the Casa de la Plena, a museum focusing on this Puerto Rican musical genre (Plena). During the visit we will have the opportunity to participate in a discussion with organizations led by artists such as Los Pleneros de la Cresta and Y no había luz, among others.
Post-Conference Day
We’re thrilled to bring our 45th annual conference to San Juan, Puerto Rico! As part of the cultural experience on the island, AAAE & Universidad del Sagrado Corazón plan to organize a post-conference trip on Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. If you plan to attend the conference, please fill out this survey so we can gauge the number of attendees for this event.
Ponce is the second most important city in Puerto Rico and serves as a hub for artistic and cultural production. This visit aims to expose participants to a sample of the city’s creative ecosystem. The departure time will be at 8:30 am (the gathering place is to be determined) to officially begin the tour at the Meliá Hotel at 10:00 am, home to the Marina 15 Art Gallery, which has been providing a space for contemporary art in the region. Afterward, we will visit the Carmen Solá de Pereira Cultural Center and take a tour with Isla Caribe, a local creative enterprise, to learn about the historical context of the city. Following lunch, we will explore the workshops of internationally recognized artists Antonio Martorell and Diógenes Ballester, who currently contribute to the cultural and economic development of the city from their spaces, both located on Ponce Beach. Subsequently, we will return to San Juan around 5:00 pm. Transportation will be via bus.
The trip will cost between $80-100 dollars (in addition to your conference registration fees). We require a group of a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 50 people for the trip to take place.