CAICU offers Music, Murals, Totems and Tours!

In observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Mural Arts is spotlighting our CAICU project. CAICU is a socially engaged public art series weaving together culturally and historically significant Puerto Rican-themed gardens in the Norris Square neighborhood, created by community organizers in the 1980s. The project builds a cultural bridge with Norris Square, Philadelphia, and Loíza, Puerto Rico, through cultural organizing, public art, and cultural exchanges.  CAICU is funded by NEA, The William Penn Foundation and PNC Arts Alive

Spring / Summer Recap

It has been a busy 2025 for the CAICU project. Since January, Mural Arts and CAICU project manager Ricky Yanas have been working with a group of 8 members from local organizations, residents, and former Norris Square Neighborhood Project Youth Program participants, to develop a pilot tour program showcasing the gardens and sites of Norris Square and its surrounding area.

Officially launched on April 19 in tandem with the dedication of the monumental Nunca Olvides de Dónde Vienes / Never Forget Where You Come From by artists Celso González, Angurria, Calo Rosa, Dan One, and Vanessa Vega (Taina Sisters), the CAICU Norris Square Tours invite guests to explore the history of cultural resilience and creativity of the neighborhood in North Philly. The route highlights the history of Iris Brown & Grupo Motivos’ developing community gardens (now under NSNP stewardship) and the beautiful works of art produced from the 1980s to the present day. Our tour season wraps up this fall, so be sure to join us for the last two events of the season in October – more information below!

Our Summer programming joyously concluded with a concert by contemporary Salsa legends Orquesta El Macabeo (@orquestamacabeo) at Taller Puertorriqueño and the first-ever Norris Square Game Day in the Park. The concert also featured an interactive performance by dance duo Elian Gomez and Ashley Rivera (@mambolabphilly), as well as our good friends at Amy’s Pastelillos (@amys_pastelillos) , and our special guests, Wanda Raimundi Ortiz and the team from Special Projects’ upcoming Vamonos Pa’l Monte. We even had some of the community. It was a wonderful evening full of dancing and high spirits!

The Norris Square Game Day was equally vibrant. Neighborhood resident Giovannie Vilomar (founder of Kensington Powerlifting) originally planned the event to be a simple dedication to launch a set of artist-painted gaming tables (by CAICU artist Dan One and others) with a grant from the Clean Air Council, but the program blossomed into a party and fundraiser for the Friends of Norris Square Park, celebrating outdoor gaming and creativity. We had $5 yoga by Monarch Yoga in the park, a chess tournament, board games by BUBS, science activities by Skype a Scientist, a cookout provided by the Philadelphia Liberation Center, and a dominoes tournament refereed by Mural Arts’ own Artist Relations Director Emilio Maldonado along with prizes and raffles throughout the day! Note: One of the teams from the Norris Square Senior Community Center dominated the dominoes competition. We even had a special appearance by Councilmember Quetcy Lozada. In addition, neighborhood artist Nitza Walesca Rosario and the Clay Studio were on-site, running a tile glazing workshop for all our guests. These tiles will be used in an upcoming restoration of the mosaic columns (led by CAICU artist Celso González), lining the edge of the Park, this fall. Fun fact, Nitza also participated in the original production of the columns in the early 90s with her ex-husband, artist and firefighter Darling Rosario. Needless to say, the whole neighborhood and its businesses and organizations pitched in to help make the event a success. It’s Giovannie’s plan to make this the first of many.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month

Our Fall programming kicks off with a Circulo de Memoria: Phillyrican Experiences (or “Memory Circle”) at the Norris Square Senior Community Center (NSSCC) with 9 Millones on Thursday, September 25, from 10:30 AM until 1:30 PM. 9 Millones is an independent news platform that connects the nine million Puerto Ricans worldwide through stories. The Memory Circle Archival Project aims to document and honor the stories of Puerto Rican communities, both within the archipelago and in the United States. This NSSCC-only program will be followed by a Meet & Greet (open to the public) at Ulises Books at 6 pm called PhillyRican Stories: Meet & Greet with 9 Millones, where members of the Puerto Rican community in Philly can learn more about 9 Millones’ ambitious projects and share their own stories. Sign up here: REGISTER HERE.

Next, we have a very special music event scheduled to take place at Taller Puertorriqueño on Saturday, October 11. From 8 pm until 10 pm, genre-bending Puerto Rican band Chuwi will be serving up their bold mix of plena, indie, and Caribbean rhythms live! You may know them from their headline-making collaboration with Bad Bunny on the track “WELTiTA.” Doors open at 7 pm. GET TICKETS HERE.

Murals, Totems, Tours & Bembé

Plans are in the works to reimagine the aging mural on the front of Norris Square’s Senior Community Center at the Casa Carmen Aponte Apartments. The design, a collaboration between neighborhood superstar Betsy Casañas and CAICU lead artist Celso González, has gone through a community-centered design review process with the NSSCC’s community and staff.  The mural will incorporate images of the NSSCC-based, Philly-famous Grupo Alegria dance group, organized by Programs Manager Esperanza Lopez, and a portrait of the residential complex’s namesake, Carmen Aponte, an icon of advocacy and service in the neighborhood. The mural production process will be led by Kris Casañas (long-term neighborhood resident and emerging muralist) with mosaic elements by González and his team, Siempre Estudio Creativo. The mural will be dedicated on Saturday, October 18, in tandem with the restoration of 8 of the 16 mosaic columns (or “totems”) marking the 16 entry points of Norris Square Park, led by Gonzalez and the Siempre Estudio Creativo team. These works continue the bridge-building (between past and present, Philly & PR, Taino, African, Caribbean, and Philly cultures) central to the CAICU project.

Saturday, October 18th, also marks the culmination of 2025’s CAICU Tours Program and Norris Square’s Neighborhood Project’s annual El Bembé event at Las Parcelas following our NSSCC dedication event. Please sign up for our final tours on October 18 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm, or you can also enjoy a tour earlier that week on Thursday, October 16, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.