[caption id="attachment_1425" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="http://tallerpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/8167148313_b7e5408fd2_o.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1425 size-medium" src="http://tallerpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/8167148313_b7e5408fd2_o-300x203.jpg" alt="Taller Puertorriqueño in the 1970's" width="300" height="203" /></a> Taller Puertorriqueño in the 1970's[/caption]

<strong>Mission</strong>

Taller Puertorriqueño, Inc. (Taller) is a community based cultural organization whose primary purpose is to preserve, develop and promote Puerto Rican arts and culture, grounded in the conviction that embracing one’s cultural heritage is central to community empowerment.  Taller is also committed to the representation and support of other Latino cultural expressions and our common roots.

<strong>Organizational Goals</strong>

<em>Through the following goals, Taller is committed to work that promotes social justice and equality:</em>

•   To serve as an educational vehicle in the advancement of the Puerto Rican/Latino community’s pursuit of cultural identity and reaffirmation.

•   To strive for the continued development of the Puerto Rican/Latino community through the arts.

•   To preserve and promote the contributions and accomplishments of all Puerto Rican communities and support the work of Latin@ artists of all disciplines.

•   To support increased understanding and appreciation of other cultures within the wider community.

&nbsp;

[caption id="attachment_1426" align="alignleft" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-1426 size-medium" src="http://tallerpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/8167119049_9ea0d955e3_b-300x204.jpg" alt="We started as print making workshop" width="300" height="204" /> We started as print making workshop[/caption]

<strong>History</strong>

Founded in 1974 by Puerto Rican and Latino artists and activists in the North Kensington area of Philadelphia, Taller Puertorriqueño (Taller) stands as testament to the wealth of possibilities they created. Motivated by the absence of creative outlets, Taller’s founders developed a community-based graphic arts workshop to provide cultural training alternatives to local youth.

<em>For almost four decades</em>, Taller has continued to be a vital resource for progress in the Barrio and the region. It is now recognized as a model organization that uses the arts as a vehicle for social change. In its evolution, Taller has gone from a grassroots, Puerto Rican graphic arts community center to a respected institution that celebrates the arts of Puerto Rico, Latin America and the Caribbean. Providing an outlet for neighborhood children and youth by providing after-school activities and programming rich in artistic and cultural discipline, remains central to the organization's mission and ongoing work.

[caption id="attachment_1427" align="alignleft" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-1427 size-medium" src="http://tallerpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/8186353669_fb5d59be29_b-300x250.jpg" alt="Student achievements " width="300" height="250" /> Student achievements[/caption]

Known as El Corazón Cultural del Barrio, The Cultural Heart of Latino Philadelphia, Taller Puertorriqueño promotes local and international artists while doing the daily work of transforming children and youth’s artistic visions into realities. Taller Puertorriqueño now encompasses the Julia de Burgos Gift Shop, the Lorenzo Homar Gallery, the Robert E. Hernández Theater, and educational classrooms along Philadelphia’s historically Latino North 5th Street commercial corridor.

To further its institutional and program goals, <a title="About the New El Corazón Cultural Center" href="http://tallerpr.org/about-the-new-cultural-center/"><strong>Taller is involved in a Capital Facility Expansion Project</strong></a> to develop a 25,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art cultural center. Taller has already raised $6.6 million of $10.5 million and has site control. A marketing and feasibility study has shown significant community demand for more arts and cultural programming. Among many other advantages, this new facility will allow us to showcase our permanent collection as well as exhibitions with more works and larger objects, provide the community with a 220-seat presentation space, and more than double the number of children and youth we are able to serve on site.