MISSION
PEPATIÁN: Bronx Arts ColLABorative is a South Bronx-based non-profit (501c3) organization dedicated to creating, producing and supporting contemporary multi-disciplinary art by Latiné and Bronx-based artists.
Director, Jane Gabriels, Ph.D. in collaboration with Caridad De La Luz and Rokafella.
“This organization provides essential performance opportunities and programming in the South Bronx. Courageous programs and outstanding artists make the organization stand out. Its target audiences are those most in need of vibrant and excellent storytelling. Operating on a shoestring, Pepatián fills in gaps that address gender, race, sexuality, and healthy communication for enthusiastic audiences and participants.”
— Thomas F. DeFrantz
Director, SLIPPAGE:Performance|Culture|Technology
Founding Director, Collegium for African Diaspora Dance and Professor, Northwestern University (Chicago)
History
Pepatián Co-Founders: Pepón Osorio, Patti Bradshaw, Merián Soto
Pepatián was originally founded by visual artist and MacArthur Fellow Pepón Osorio, choreographer Merián Soto, and dance and puppet theater maker Patti Bradshaw as an artists’ collective in 1983, and earned a reputation within the visual and performing arts community for its ability to respond to the needs of the field and create successful projects with limited resources.
In 1999, Pepón Osorio and Merián Soto hired Jane Gabriels, Ph.D. to help coordinate the first Bronx Dance Fest. Under her leadership, Pepatián continues its mandate to reach out to Latiné artists and audiences underserved by mainstream institutions through performances, residencies, workshops, panels, arts education, mentoring projects, Q&As, and other programming that is deeply rooted in the borough. Pepatián strives to encourage audience understanding and appreciation of the diversity of contemporary Latiné arts in NYC, across the US and internationally, but feels a special commitment to its home base in the South Bronx.
In June 2000, Pepatián was recognized and given an award from the Bronx Council on the Arts and the Bronx Borough President for its contributions to the cultural well-being of The Bronx.
Pepatián continues the legacy of Osorio and Soto through its commitment to involving local Bronx and Latiné communities in artistic process and product, and is dedicated to programming that supports and strengthens Latiné performance through its Bronx Artist Spotlight series. Produced by Gabriels as a two-week festival in 2001, this series was inspired by the 1999 Bronx Dance Festival, and was further developed to become annual performances series, Jump It UP and Fall Into It (borough-wide celebration of artists and venues, 2001-2006). These consistent platforms highlighted the borough’s artistic resources (dance and performance artists, non-profit centers and performance spaces) and led to multiple collaborations within and beyond the borough.
Pepatián continues to help provide a regional draw and vital network for performing arts in the Bronx, raising visibility of artists making work in the borough. Several generations of Latiné artists have been positively affected by this proven ability to formulate significant projects and collaborations.
In 2018, Pepatián created a new model of collaborative leadership with Co-Director /Consultants: Caridad De La Luz/La Bruja, Jane Gabriels, Ph.D. and Ana “Rokafella” Garcia. In 2020, Pepatián added a new tagline to better describe our work, Pepatián: Bronx Arts ColLABorative (social media, PepArtsBX).
In 2023, we celebrate Pepatián’s 40th Anniversary and look forward to continuing our work in the Bronx and with our interconnected Caribbean islands.
