Nuyorico: De Isla a Isla

Nuyorico combines "New York" and "Puerto Rico." Puerto Rican activists in New York City use this word to describe a connection between places. My exhibition Nuyorico explored the way cross-cultural identities can defy location.

Skills

Exhibition Design • Curation • Research • Copywriting

Software

Adobe Photoshop • Adobe Illustrator • Adobe InDesign

Creating Nuyorico: De Isla a Isla

Created for the Course

Space and Place in Human Communications

Initially, I took the course Space and Place in Human Communications because I was interested in museum exhibition design, but I never thought I'd have the chance to design one. Over the course of the semester, we were tasked with researching human connection to space through the etymology of place names, the political power of a place, forms of regulating space, and analyzing maps. It is this research that created Nuyorico: De Isla a Isla.

Nuyorico is a combination of the words "New York" and "Puerto-Rico." In my research, I found that activists were using the term Nuyorico to describe a place that had no one location. No borders. It was anywhere that embodied the people, places, and things of these locations. It could be a club in San Juan or a restaurant in Loisaida. It could be a mural or dinner con familia.

Using the many historic photos, documentaries, and maps analyzed over the course of the semester, I created art and collected objects that spoke to my research. It was both a practice in design and curation, sifting through my personal documentation to share the heart of my findings.

In the time since creating this exhibition, I've rethought it in some ways. Due to the nature of it being a research project, the art labels are information-dense, and I would streamline information if redone in a larger format. Additionally, I have edited my exhibition description to reflect new design decisions; The updated fonts are Barrio and Archerus Grotesque Light. I image an exhibition space reflecting the flora and fauna of Puerto Rico and the New York cityscape.

While I’m proud of the creative presentation and incorporation of my research as the text for an exhibition, I was also proud of this exhibition because it allowed me to explore scholarship in the Latine communities, a community I'm a part of. Moving from the Southern United States to New York City, this research project was part of my journey in identity.