In the Fall of 2014, Rhode Island Latino Arts commissioned local Cuban artist, Ana Flores, to work on an exciting community art installation entitled Café Recuerdos.

Café Recuredos is a visual complement to Nuestras Raíces: Latino Oral Histories Project of Rhode Island coordinated by Marta V. Martínez, RILA's Executive Director.

The Café Recuerdos project focuses on the popular Latin past-time of drinking café - coffee serves as a memory catalyst for Latin-American immigrants here to remember the community that is absent, and it is also a way of connecting with their new home in America. The project aims to commemorate the Latin American experience, celebrating the hyphenated reality of becoming Latino-American: honoring the past - allá and embracing the present and future here - aquí.

The visual component takes the form of a functional peddlers cart with a bottom base made of steel and scrap metal, and the top side walls made from Café Bustelo coffee cans attached together (see illustration above). It measures 30” x 6’ x 6’ and it’s used as a temporary installation both at indoor and outdoor locations. It has narrative on the front wall made of Café Bustelo coffee cans, with the painted likenesses of Latino immigrants in Rhode Island who have been interviewed, plus other Latinos in the state.

At each location, we can dispense coffee — the smell of coffee is a way to bring people over to visit us. The cart encourages community engagement in public spaces: we set up a temporary café with bistro chairs and tables, and invite visitors to drink their coffee and share stories with us.

Public engagement was also intended to be a part of the process as the artist fabricates the cart. Flores’s intention was to reach out to other community artists, students and fabricators to assist with the construction of the project, while, Martínez engaged young people in the collection of community stories at various local venues including schools, libraries and community organizations statewide.

Do you drink Café Bustelo? Do you know anyone who does? We are looking for donations so we can serve hot coffee while the Café travels around the state. Contact us (Send an E-Mail or write a note at the bottom of this page) if you have cans or funds to donate to purchase supplies — coffee, cups, creamer, napkins, etc.

Congressman Langevin greets the crowd at the kick-off reception for Café Recuerdos.

Marta V. Martínez, RILA Executive Director and oral historian shows Roberto González, one of the Latino pioneers interviewed for Nuestras Raíces, a section of the cart that shows his image.

Our kickoff event on August 15 was well attended and so well received!

Congressman Jim Langevin gave welcoming remarks and congratulated RI Latino Arts for being one of 200 recipients nationwide of “Latino Americans: 500 Years,” a competitive grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA), which provided partial funding for the kickoff event.

Artist, Ana Flores gave an inspirational artist talk to the crowd of 45 people and Project Director and RILA ED, Marta V. Martínez provided background about the Nuestras Raíces: Latino Oral History Project.

Attendees included members of the arts and humanities community, friends and coffee cart creators from the Steel Yard, staff of the RI Council for the Humanities, fans and supporters of Ana Flores, RILA board members and even some of the Latino Pioneers that were interviewed by Marta for Nuestras Raíces.

What next? The cart will be traveling from August to December, first around the City of Providence and then to places around the state that want to host our community story collecting project. Stop by, participate and share your story. For a full schedule, click here ➤

And then what? The collected stories will be posted online, on the website of Nuestras Raíces. To read them, go here ➤

Do you have a story to tell? Yes! We want to hear from you. Go here, fill out a preliminary form, submit and we will follow up.

Do you want to host an artist talk related to the cart or schedule public programming about the Latino Oral History Project? Our staff will be happy to visit your site to provide a workshop or talk about the Latino history project for a nominal fee. Contact us ➤

For an artist talk, contact Ana Flores directly.