Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) will present An Afro-Latinx Mixtape, the fourth exhibition from Visual Voices, the organization’s three-year initiative focused on the work of emerging BIIPOC curators.

An Afro-Latinx Mixtape opens in JCAL’s Miller and Community galleries with a public reception on Friday, July 26, and remain on view through Friday, September 13. Conceived and curated by Adrian Bermeo, the exhibition features artists’ visual interpretations of musical genres that carried our ancestors, spoke for our communities, and influenced our global culture. The musical genres inspiring the exhibition include Hip-Hop, Jazz, Motown, Reggaeton, Rumba, Bomba, Salsa, Blues, and Reggae.

With many of the artists in the exhibition originally born in Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean, An Afro-Latinx Mixtape represents a multinational combination of sounds and stories from the undeniable melting pot that is New York City.

The artists represented in An Afro-Latinx Mixtape include Adrian Bermeo, Anthony Newton, Cameron St. Clair, Carlos Mateu, Catalina Baselli, Charlie Pastelle, Edgar Moza, Giancarlo Vargas, Gilly Lugo, Ingrid Mathurin, Irene Fernandez, Lisa Wilde, Sasha Lynn Roberts, Steven Luna, and Teri Gandy-Richardson.

An Afro-Latinx Mixtape is a dynamic group exhibition showcasing the Black and Latine experience through musical genres that carry on the traditions and essence of the diasporic journey, rooted indelibly in the African continent,” says curator Adrian Bermeo. “It reminds us that even in a world rife with contradictions, the human spirit's capacity for creativity and resilience can resonate far and wide, fostering a more inclusive and just global culture.”

“I love art that comes from the streets, from the people who live the experience and are brave enough to stand in its truth,” says JCAL Artistic Director Courtney Ffrench.”

“Not only do I love the use of the word ‘mixtape’,” added JCAL Executive Director Leonard Jacobs, “I think Adrian Bermeo has an incredibly exciting vision for this exhibition.”

An Afro-Latinx Mixtape follows the much-celebrated previous exhibitions in the Visual Voices series, including Free Your Mind (curated by Shenna Vaughn), You Feel Me? (curated by Juliet James), and Ancestral Nourishment (curated by Seema Shakti).

The five-member cohort of Visual Voices—in addition to Bermeo, Vaughn, James, and Shakti, the fifth is Wanda Best—was specially selected through a competitive application process. The cohort receives three years of fiscal, strategic and institutional support to propose and mount exhibition in JCAL’s galleries as well as in partner spaces throughout Queens, exploring themes that reflect the BIIPOC (Black, Immigrant, Indigenous, People of Color) experience. As part of their work, the cohort cultivates and elevates emerging BIPOC artistic talent, designs open calls, produces artist talks, collaborates with local collectives, and runs arts workshops and demonstrations in connection with each exhibition, with a schedule set through 2026.

Image - Sasha Lynn Roberts, Home, 2023, digital painting, 3'x3'