Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development (LOUD), a statewide initiative focused on promoting collaboration between Latino arts and service organizations, artists, and the communities in which they operate, will host the Wisconsin Conference of Latino Arts and Culture on May 2-3 at Centro Hispano of Dane County.
“I think a lot has changed since we hosted that first event. There’s a lot more art and artists, for one. I think the number of local artists has quadrupled in the last four years,” Oscar Mireles, the founder of LOUD and host of the conference, tells Madison365. “I feel like pretty much every day or every week I come across somebody else that I’ve never heard of … and that’s just in Madison. This is an opportunity for all of us to come together and really build a future of collaboration.
“We are excited to have it at Centro Hispano this year with its brand-new facility,” Mireles adds. “I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for people from across the state to come and see Centro and see what we are all about, too..”
Mireles says that he expects there will be about 100 people at the event which he says is “pre-registration only.” The deadline to register is April 15.
Some of the featured artists and speakers at the event will include Greg Zelek, principal organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra; Colombian musician Angela Puerta; Juan Garcia Oyervides, director of Chicana/o and Latinx Studies at UW-Oshkosh; Dr. Armando Ibarra, professor in the School for Workers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Dr. Karen Mendenez Coller, the executive director of Centro Hispano. More people will be added to that list over the next month, Mireles says.
“This is an excellent opportunity to articulate our collective positioning facing the broad spectrum of challenges that we are facing today,” says Oyervides in a press release announcing the event. “In particular, this conference will allow us the means through which we can reflect on the role of the arts in our local communities, and how it has allowed us to present a sovereign image of who we are. In my specific case, the workshop on Mariachi Music and Digital Placemaking in Northeast Wisconsin will explore the role that music, language, dress, and food can occupy as we expand a Latinx-led digital footprint.”
The conference will also feature a gallery show showcasing emerging Latino artists as a part of the 11th Annual Latino Art Fair at the Common Wealth Gallery on Madison’s East Side. Local musicians, including guitarist Sergio Nute, marimbist Eric de Los Santos, and Cumbia Cachaca, who plays traditional Colombian music, will perform.
“The Wisconsin Conference of Latino Arts and Culture is going to have workshops on film, workshops on music, workshops on the visual arts and workshops on fundraising,” Mireles says.
Dane Arts will be the presenting sponsor of the conference. Centro Hispano of Dane County is the host agency and site of the 2025 WCLAC conference.
Puerta, the Colombian singer-songwriter and guitarist who is a six-time MAMA award winner and has been honored with Best of Madison 2019 and 2020 Latin Artist bronze and silver stars, says the conference speaks to her “both as a Latina and as an artist.”
“It’s a unique opportunity to network, exchange ideas, and champion Latin cultural representation in the arts,” Puerta said. “My session will highlight the music I’ve performed for decades, blending my personal cultural experiences. Join us in celebrating and uplifting Latino arts and culture.”
Registration is now open for the Wisconsin Conference of Latino Arts and Culture. To register or get more information, click here.