The Wadsworth celebrates Connecticut's Puerto Rican community in ¡Batey Boricua! Creamos Nuestro Espacio | We Create Our Space
HARTFORD, Conn. July 6, 2026 – This fall, The Wadsworth presents ¡Batey Boricua! Creamos Nuestro Espacio | We Create Our Space, a vibrant exhibition bringing together contemporary Puerto Rican artists with ties to Connecticut. Featuring artists working across painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video, and mixed media, the exhibition celebrates the creativity, resilience, and cultural richness of one of Hartford's most influential communities.
Rooted in the concept of the batey—the central gathering place of the Taíno, the Indigenous people of Borikén (Puerto Rico)—the exhibition transforms the galleries into a space for dialogue, memory, storytelling, and connection. Through deeply personal and visually compelling works, participating artists explore identity, ancestry, spirituality, migration, belonging, and the ways communities shape both individual lives and collective futures.
Guest curated by artist, writer, and curator, Jasmin Agosto, and designed by Andrew Garcia, ¡Batey Boricua! and its programming highlight the extraordinary contributions of Connecticut's Puerto Rican community. It is the first time in its history that The Wadsworth has entrusted curatorial oversight of an exhibition to a guest curator drawn from the wider community. This new model of collaboration enables the museum to reflect and advance the art and perspectives of its communities without compromise. The exhibition advances The Wadsworth’s role as a space where people of different backgrounds can come together through art, encounter new perspectives, deepen their understanding of one another, and build a shared cultural life grounded in mutual respect.
“It has been an honor to delve into the intergenerational, multidisciplinary storytelling of Boricua artists who were born, raised, based, or otherwise connected to Connecticut.” said Jasmin Agosto. “This is a love letter to my community, to my ancestors and late grandparents, and to my incredible immediate family, who have raised me to take pride in my heritage while facing the tremors of our colonial history and existence.”
Hartford is home to one of the largest Puerto Rican populations in New England, and the exhibition celebrates the city’s enduring role as a center of Puerto Rican culture, creativity, and civic life.
“One of The Wadsworth’s greatest responsibilities is to bring exceptional art before the public. ¡Batey Boricua! celebrates the excellence of Connecticut’s Puerto Rican artists but also provides a space for the Puerto Rican artistic community to shape the exhibition in their own way and to tell the stories that matter most to them,” said Matthew Hargraves, Director of The Wadsworth.
Public programs throughout the exhibition will extend the spirit of the batey beyond the gallery through conversations, performances, family activities, and community gatherings.
¡Batey Boricua! is presented in dialogue with The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from the Museo de Arte de Ponce, on view at The Wadsworth from November 5, 2026 through March 14, 2027. The two exhibitions offer complementary perspectives on Puerto Rican art and culture—¡Batey Boricua! rooted in Connecticut’s own Boricua community and The Sense of Beauty drawn from the wide-ranging collection of the finest art museum in the Caribbean.
Opening event
Thursday, September 3 | 5–8pm
Celebrate the opening of ¡Batey Boricua! during September First Thursdays. Dance the night away with a salsa lesson from Joey Huertas, enjoy folk music from Armonía Isleña, and indulge in a specialty cocktail featuring coffee from Hasta Luego Friend. Stay for an 8pm screening of the critically acclaimed drama Esta Isla (2025). Screenings of Kwamé Azure Gomez’s short experimental films will be on view throughout the evening.
Free. Registration is encouraged via TheWadsworth.org.
Exhibiting Artists: Imna Arroyo, Andres Chaparro, JOËL Cintrón, Tiana Correa, Luis Edgardo Cotto, Eland Malua Cruz Jones, Taína Cruz, Pablo Delano, Kwamé Azure Gomez, Jaryana Herrera, Miguel José Matos, Daniel Mena, Mercury, Victor Pacheco, Ricardo Rivas, G. Rosa-Rey, and Chris Roque.
Curated by: Jasmin Agosto
Designed by: Andrew Garcia
Agua Nile
In response to ¡Batey Boricua! and The Sense of Beauty: Six Generations of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce (opening November 5, 2026), the short documentary film Agua Nile celebrates generations of Puerto Rican artists, cultural workers, educators, and leaders whose contributions have shaped the region’s civic and cultural life. On view October 7
Exhibition and Program Support
Support for ¡Batey Boricua! is provided by Zayas Law, James Kirby, an Anonymous Donor, and CT Humanities as part of its America 250 | CT program. First Thursdays is generously funded by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program.
Agua Nile is generously funded by Zayas Law and produced by Pedro Bermúdez from Revisionist Films.
The Wadsworth presents ¡Batey Boricua! Creamos Nuestro Espacio | We Create Our Space in conjunction with The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce (November 5, 2026–March 14, 2027).
Images
(From left) Kwamé Azure Gomez, Tres hermanas, 2026. Oil, acrylic modeling paste, spray paint, sand from Puerto Rico, Spanish playing cards, gold necklace, Agua Florida, and St. John the conqueror root on canvas. Photo by Chris Gardner, Courtesy of Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen. Tiana Correa, Yo Soy Boricua, 2025, photograph. Courtesy the artist; Andres Chaparro, Liberty & Justice, 2016 mixed media on canvas. Courtesy the artist.
About The Wadsworth
Formerly known as the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, The Wadsworth honors the past and inspires the future through the power of human creativity. Guided by its founding belief that art can uplift society and ignite progress, The Wadsworth inspires reflection, dialogue, and cultural transformation through its outstanding collection, programs, and partnerships.
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