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SPRING 2023 

GALLERIES 

Artists Profiles 
Maniobra 

Maniobra is a cultural employment initiative providing guaranteed income and additional 

support for artists and collectives in Puerto Rico over three years. The initiative is profiled 

in an article in this issue of Artivate by Javier J. Herna ndez Acosta, who is involved as both 

an arts entrepreneur launching the program through the Centro de Economí a Creativa 

and as a scholar. A selection of the arts programs operating with Maniobra support is 

profiled here alongside the artists and collectives leading the work. 

Agua, Sol y Sereno 

Agua, Sol y Sereno is a multidisciplinary theater collective that promotes democratization 

of art by producing plays, comparsas, creative workshops for all kinds of communities, 

videoart, exhibitions, and other performative acts. Its pedagogical component includes 

talks, conferences, and the Escuela-Taller (2021-present), which offers various courses, 

https://www.aguasolysereno.org/


ARTIVATE 11.3 

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workshops, and seminars for people of all 

ages. The group concentrates its creative 

energy on processes linked to the social 

reality of Puerto Rico and the world as well 

as to the interiority of the human being. 

Since its incorporation as a non-profit 

organization in 1993, Agua, Sol y Sereno 

has promoted the development of Puerto 

Rican experimental theater aimed at 

achieving economic, social, cultural, 

educational, and political impact. 

Collective creation is a vital part of the development of works in which each member 

participates by proposing ideas, experimenting with objects, words, songs, and the body 

on stage. This process permeates the organizational structure of the group in which 

everyone has the opportunity to propose, develop, and lead projects from start to finish 

as well as have a voice and vote in important decision-making processes for the 

organization.  

Maniobra support enabled hiring two full-time artists to operate programming: 

Kenneth Salgado and Cristina Vives. Both have artistic training and are part of the team of 

main actors of the project. Kenneth has worked as an actor, co-curator of exhibitions, and 

workshop facilitator. Cristina earned a graduate degree in Cultural Management and an 

undergraduate degree in Music and has been working with Agua, Sol y Sereno for more 

than ten years. In April 2023, the founders of the project, Pedro Adorno and Cathy Vigo, 

joined the group of Maniobra artists. 

Colectivo el Ancón de Loíza 

“El colectivo” el Ancón de Loiza, Inc., is a 

community-based non-profit organization 

anchored in a historic space on the riverbanks 

of the Rio Grande de Loí za where the Cortijo 

Family first developed el Ancón (The Barge) 

more than one hundred years ago. El Ancón, a 

barge without a motor pulled by a rope or by 

leaning on the river bottom with a stick, was 

used to cross between Pin ones and Loí za 

Pueblo, as well as to transport people, cars, 

and crops from the eastern area to San Juan and the rest of Puerto Rico. A treasured part 

of the heritage of Loí za and of Puerto Rico, el Ancón is the historic main entrance to the 

town. It was here that the Cortijo family began to build communication networks, offered 

as a public service in the spirit of solidarity. The vision of the “colectivo” is to continue this 

Kenneth Salgado, Cristina Vives, Cathy Vigo, and 
Pedro Adorno (Agua, Sol y Sereno). 

https://www.elancondeloiza.com/


ARTIVATE 11.3 

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legacy and to generate initiatives that promote 

cultural, educational, and tourist activity in the 

historic center of Loí za. The “colectivo” also works 

toward incubating social and creative enterprises to 

impact the youth community of Loí za.  

Juan Pablo Vizcaí no Cortijo, who is part of this 

collective as well as a Maniobra artist, is an Afro-

Puerto Rican artist who has worked on the figure of 

the Vejigante for fourteen years, an artistic 

expression based on carving masks as a sign of Black 

Caribbean resistance. The figure of the Vejigante is 

an African expression. Born and raised in Puerto 

Rico with perspectives that address Afro-Caribbean 

approaches rooted in the culture of the Taínos 

(native people in the Caribbean and the Americas) 

and in all Afro-descendants, Juan Pablo, in addition 

to being an artist, is an activist for racial and 

environmental justice. Juan Pablo began his artistic work at the age of thirteen cutting hair 

and making designs with a razor, machine, and scissors. His activist work in support of 

communities, the environment, and racialized and oppressed groups has given him 

opportunities to present his art both locally and internationally. Juan Pablo currently 

works with reused materials, scrap metal, concrete, bamboo, wood, and mixed media. He 

mostly uses materials he finds in the streets of his neighborhood and has been exploring 

with digital art, animations, virtual reality, and NFTs. 

Casa Silvana 

Casa Silvana is a rural, self-managed cultural 

project focused on the development of 

experimental, contemporary, and Afro-

descendant visual arts in Puerto Rico, mainly 

impacting Humacao and the eastern region of 

the archipelago. It is an integration of the 

residence and studio of the artist Edwin 

Vela zquez Collazo and an alternative art 

space with an emphasis on the production of 

works of art, workshops, talks, conversations, 

conferences, exhibitions, micro artistic residences, as well as dissemination and 

promotion through digital media as documentation processes. Key projects include the 

curatorial practice, Edwin Vela zquez’s studio and workshop, and cultural dissemination 

through Puerto Rico Art News among other platforms.  

Juan Pablo Vizcaíno Cortijo (collectivo El 
Ancón de Loíza) 

http://juanpablovizcainoart.com/
https://www.facebook.com/casasilvanapr
https://www.puertoricoartnews.com/,


ARTIVATE 11.3 

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Edwin Vela zquez Collazo, born in Santurce in 

1961, was selected as a Maniobra artist in its first 

year. In 1988 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree 

with a concentration in Painting from the School of 

Plastic Arts and Design of Puerto Rico. He is an artist, 

curator, art critic, cultural manager, blog editor, and 

founder and former president of the Association of 

Visual Artists of Puerto Rico. He has had ten solo 

exhibitions in Puerto Rico and has exhibited 

collectively in galleries and museums both locally 

and internationally. He has won awards and 

distinctions from the National Endowment for the 

Arts, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, the A ngel 

Ramos Foundation, the Museum of Contemporary 

Art of Puerto Rico, and the Rockefeller Foundation. 

Recognizing the impact of Casa Silvana and its 

needs, during the second year (April 2023) Joyce De Jesu s Martí nez was brought into 

Maniobra. She was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1971. She holds a Bachelor’s degree 

in K-3 Education with a concentration in Special Education from the University of Puerto 

Rico and a Master’s degree in Drawing and Painting from the Pontifical Catholic 

University. In 2014, she started a proposal according to her personal experiences. Due to 

a self-promise, she began using human hair as the main material in her works. Beyond the 

final product, she focuses on the process, giving special care to external elements and 

emotions and learning at the moment of creation. Believing that hair is a symbol of our 

interior or spirituality, De Jesu s creates works with a memorial air and with the intention 

of evoking the true essence of being and its processes. With this idea of healing the interior 

and self-knowledge, De Jesu s works as a collaborator with Edwin Vela zquez Collazo at 

Casa Silvana and proposes to hold art therapy workshops as part of her artistic work.  

El Cuadrado Gris 

El Cuadrado Gris is a space for art, 

communication, education, and social action in 

the community of Barrio Obrero/Santurce. The 

space has hosted exhibitions, performances, 

concerts, live broadcasts, and community aid 

activities since 2015. It has become very 

important for the cultural community primarily 

due to its location and interaction with the 

community, but also for its focus on serving 

Joyce De Jesús Martínez and Edwin 
Velázquez Collazo (Casa Silvana) 

https://www.facebook.com/elcuadradogris


ARTIVATE 11.3 

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many forms of media as an exhibit hall and cultural 

center with a focus on the documentation and 

dissemination of audiovisual and musical content. In 

2021, the inaugural open-air terrace-theater was 

launched to host performances of theater, poetry, 

music shows, and films of cultural and social interest. 

The project also organizes programs of a social nature 

such as “bicis para todos” where donated used bicycles 

are received, repaired, and given away to those who 

need them in Barrio Obrero. El Cuadrado Gris also 

organized a solar energy program where solar lights 

were distributed to the community before, during, and 

after Hurricane Maria in 2017. 

The team of founders includes Anna Astor Blanco 

(art director/curator) and Ozzie Forbes 

(communications director, music and editing 

department). Through Maniobra, the primary artist who receives the salary incentive is 

Ozzie Forbes, who is responsible for producing, directing, and teaching (multimedia) 

internet, radio, and educational television to young people as a legacy and social 

communication tool. Additionally, he creates and leads cultural and social communication 

media platforms such as Radio Underground. Ozzie also coordinates international artists 

collaborations. As an indirect impact of Maniobra, they have also managed to provide 

frequent work for photographer and documentalist Javier Carrera. 

Taller Comunidad La Goyco 

Taller Comunidad La Goyco is a 

community-based cultural organization 

dedicated to defending the right to the 

city and cultural agency. It arises in the 

context of the closure of public schools in 

2015 and the community’s need to rescue 

these spaces to develop a work agenda for 

the resident community in Santurce. After 

several years developing the project, in 

2020 the Municipality of San Juan ceded 

the property to the Taller Comunidad La 

Goyco organization. Its programming includes music, theater, art, and cinema, among 

others. It serves the surrounding community which mostly consists of older people. It 

serves as the headquarters of the main archive of the plena (Afro-Puerto Rican music)—

La Casa de la Plena Tito Matos—and includes music, books, documentaries, art, and 

instruments. In addition, it offers conferences and workshops. Taller Comunidad La Goyco 

Ozzie Forbes in collaboration with Anna 
Astor Blanco and Javier Carrera (El 
Cuadrado Gris). 

https://www.radioundergroundpr.com/
https://www.lagoyco.org/


ARTIVATE 11.3 

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houses more than twenty artistic initiatives that 

include scenic design, ceramics, print making, design, 

and other workshops, making it an effective arts 

entrepreneurship incubator. 

Mariana Reyes Anglero  is the full-time executive 

director of Taller Comunidad La Goyco and is in charge 

of all initiatives that enable artists to carry out their 

work at the organization. She is a cultural manager 

with more than twenty years of experience in 

production and community management. She leads the 

coordination, recruitment, project development, and 

fundraising work as well as serving as the primary community liaison. She is in charge of 

supervising these areas and conceptualizing various programs that achieve the stability 

and growth of the project. In addition, Mariana is the lead responsible for solidifying the 

project of La Casa de la Plena, a key initiative that maintains the legacy of another of La 

Goyco’s founders, the late musician and cultural agent Tito Matos. 

Mariana Reyes Angleró (Taller 
Comunidad La Goyco). 


