Rhode Island Latino Arts is a statewide organization based in Providence and Central Falls, and acknowledge that we are on the traditional homelands of the Narragansett and Wampanoag peoples, the original stewards of the territory now called Rhode Island. We honor their ancestors, we offer our respect to the Elders past, present, and future, and recognize their continued existence and contributions to our society.
At RILA, we believe that the arts are a powerful force for representation, social change, and community connection. Our mission is rooted in ensuring that Latino artists, histories, and cultural traditions are celebrated, accessible, and valued across Rhode Island. We celebrate visual art, music, dance, theater, literature, foodways to show that the traditions of immigrants and all people of color have bolstered and generated the true beauty of American culture.
We are committed to:
• Showcasing the rich and diverse voices within the Latino community, including artists of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences.
• Removing barriers to arts participation and providing resources, opportunities, and funding for underrepresented Latino artists, creatives, and cultural bearers.
• Creating welcoming spaces where all community members—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, ability, or immigration status—can engage in the arts and share their stories.
• Through our programs, public art, storytelling initiatives, and educational efforts, RILA ensures that Latino culture is preserved, celebrated, and amplified for future generations.
We are largely a mixed-race people due to the various colonial histories of our countries and encounters between Europeans, indigenous people, and Africans. Our cultural heritage and who we are today is a result of an unprecedented history of transcontinental migration, when after 1492, 60 million Europeans, 11 million Africans, and 5 million Asians arrived in the Americas to inhabit a land that once belonged to what was once the Aztec Empire, now wiped out and non-existent.
Latinos come from regions of the world that span two continents: North America (including Central America and the Caribbean) and South America. This includes 19 sovereign nations and one non-independent territory, Puerto Rico. Most people from these regions speak Spanish or Portuguese, although French, English, Dutch, and Kreyol are also spoken in parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
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Would you like to support the mission of Rhode Island Latino Arts? Please consider making a donation. Your contributions will help us maintain this website — the only one of its kind in Rhode Island that provides the most comprehensive free cultural and educational information that features Latinos in the arts.
Latinx and Latiné are pan-ethnic terms used to describe people who are of or relate to Latin American origin or descent. They are regarded by some as gender-neutral or nonbinary alternatives to Latino, Latina and Hispanic.
To better understand the community we serve, RILA staff has gathered informal, non-scientific feedback from Rhode Islanders who identify with Latin American or Caribbean heritage. Our findings show that the terms Latino and Latinx are generally unpopular, with many individuals unfamiliar with or confused by the term Latiné. What we found is that among second-generation Latino-Americans, the terms Hispanic and Latino/Latina are more widely accepted. Overall, the highest percentage of second-generation Rhode Islanders prefer identifying by their national origin—such as Dominican-American, Guatemalan-American, Colombian-American, and so on.
We further note that a Pew Hispanic Report supports these insights, noting that critics of Latinx see it as an imposition from English speakers that disrupts Hispanic or Latino cultural norms. Some Latinos we spoke to also argue that it doesn’t follow Spanish language rules and can be challenging to pronounce and use.
After thoughtful discussions, RILA’s staff and board have decided to prioritize the use of Latino/Latina when referring to our Spanish-speaking community in Rhode Island. The term Latinx will be used intermittently, but we will avoid any use of Latiné. Many formal and informal conversations among RILA staff and board members have led us to conclude that non-Latinos and allies who choose Latiné signals a lack of alignment with the cultural values shared by Rhode Islanders of Latin American heritage and that of RILA.
We further note that a Pew Hispanic Report supports these insights, noting that critics of Latinx see it as an imposition from English speakers that disrupts Hispanic or Latino cultural norms. Some Latinos we spoke to also argue that it doesn’t follow Spanish language rules and can be challenging to pronounce and use.
After thoughtful discussions, RILA’s staff and board have decided to prioritize the use of Latino/Latina when referring to our Spanish-speaking community in Rhode Island. The term Latinx will be used intermittently, but we will avoid any use of Latiné. Many formal and informal conversations among RILA staff and board members have led us to conclude that non-Latinos and allies who choose Latiné signals a lack of alignment with the cultural values shared by Rhode Islanders of Latin American heritage and that of RILA.
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RILA is proud to be a recipient of the
2024 Guidestar Platinum Seal of Transparency.
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We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, class, color, sexuality, gender, gender expression, religion, age, nationality, disability, marital status, or military status, in any of our activities or operations. We value diversity. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all visitors, members of our staff, artists-in-residence, contracted artists and vendors.
We acknowledge our areas of privilege and how they interact and potentially impact our audiences and oppressed identities. We recognize the power dynamic that is evident by virtue of the art that is created by and sponsored by RILA and the arts participant. While we do not put this responsibility on our audiences or visitors to La Galería, we do welcome and encourage your feedback if you have ever been discriminated against or experienced micro-aggressions by a board member, our staff, or any artists representing RILA.
We acknowledge our areas of privilege and how they interact and potentially impact our audiences and oppressed identities. We recognize the power dynamic that is evident by virtue of the art that is created by and sponsored by RILA and the arts participant. While we do not put this responsibility on our audiences or visitors to La Galería, we do welcome and encourage your feedback if you have ever been discriminated against or experienced micro-aggressions by a board member, our staff, or any artists representing RILA.
