WHO WE ARE

Our
Mission & Vision

Our mission is to support, coordinate and lead arts, cultural and educational exchange programs between artists from the United States, Cuba and Latin America by cultivating, promoting and documenting their talent, creativity and magic to tell their own stories and histories.

Our vision is that our international arts and cultural exchange program is an honest person-to person engagement which encourages communication and dialogue to promote better understanding of other cultures among people from diverse countries, races and ethnicities as they come together for a profound and sustained engagement among artists and between artists and audiences.

EcoArts USA is a non-profit arts and cultural exchange organization led by Rhode Island based Latino, Afro-Cuban and African-American Cultural Development Professionals from the United States and Cuba.

ABOUT US
Who are we? 
We are Artists and Cultural Development Professionals with diverse art and cultural backgrounds, disciplines and talents which include performing arts, music, visual art as well as media and social media and digital promotion with 20 years of experience in the art and cultural equity world. Since 2015 we have been working to connect directly with Cuban artist and arts organizations, as well as create and strengthen partnerships with artists and arts organizations of color from the US to create a program that has Cultural Equity, sustainability, inclusion and diversity.
Why Cuba?
 It is no surprise that with the opening doors of diplomacy between the US and Cuba, there has been a great deal of interest by everyone, both here and there, to learn from each other. Americans are fascinated by wanting to visit Cuba “before it changes”, however, the magic and beauty of Cuba is directly connected to the people and their stories. The best way to connect with another country is meeting directly with people through the arts, cultural conversation and convening, thus this program offers that direct people-to people, artist-to artists, artist-to-community component essential to successful international exchange programs.

ECOarts USA 
LEADING CHANGE
Sharing U.S. Art, Culture 
and History with Cuba

Cultural exchange programs are known to have a positive impact on our everyday lives, our art, our culture, our education, and our growth as individual participants in a global society. EcoArts USA proposes to create an arts and cultural exchange program that works with artists of color from the United States who travel to Cuba and lead programing to enrich youth education, connect with undeserved communities and interact with everyday people of Cuba through the arts. Our hope is to build an environment of acceptance and knowledge of the American culture that will prepare us all to fully participate in a global society.
 
EcoArts USA envisions a true cultural exchange opportunity for a more profound and sustained engagement among artists and between artists and the community. Over the past year, we have been traveling to Cuba to participate in arts and cultural events by sponsoring artists from the US to travel to Cuba to share their creative skills and knowledge. Through these trips, we have developed strong relationships with Cuban arts organizations and many community artists. As a result, we designed a program that engages people to people through the arts to promote better understanding among both countries.
This program offers a true opportunity for an open exchange of ideas, experiences and culture particularly over a period of time. This design offers an opportunity for a deeper understanding of U.S. culture, where we too, are able to listen and learn from their culture. Furthermore, we intentionally have designed the program to engage small groups for each tour, because these tend to provide a better opportunity to connect with and engage with emerging artistic and cultural groups in Cuba.
 
Through our program, we will document each one of our arts and cultural tours through video, photography and in writing to highlight and make visible the positive outcomes these exchanges have on the community. We have been working on documenting our first three trips to Cuba, and it has become clear that the stories of the interaction between the artists and Cuban people are truly inspiring and informative and they should not be lost or forgotten. For this reason we have enlisted the support of the Providence Historical Society to assist us in the documenting and archiving of this arts and cultural exchange program.
 

Key Team Leaders

The members of our team are thought leaders who have made a significant contribution to our society. Each and every one of them brings a unique set of skills and expertise to our organization.

Partners

In the United States:

ECAS The Educational Center for the Arts & Sciences (ECAS) is a non-profit 501(c)3 theater and arts organization founded in 1997 // Fiscal Agent
Francis Parra
Artistic Director, President
 
Mixed Magic Theater 
Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, Founder

RI Historical Society 
Morgan Grefe, Executive Director
 
Black Storytellers of RI
 
Hip/Hop Union
 
Latino Musicians and Performers:
  • Grupo Afincao
  • Cezare Santana
  • Marleny Luna
  • Sussy Santana
  • Carlos De Leon
African Drummers
  • Sidy Maiga
  • Jesus Andujar
  • Ibrahim Aminou

Educational

Schools
  • TAPA Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts
  • Central Falls School District
  • Meeting Street School
 
Colleges and Universities
  1. Rhode Island College
  2. University of Rhode Island
  3. Roger Williams University
  4. Brown University
 
Partners in CUBA
  • Instituto Superior de Arte, ISA
  • La Havana, Cuba
  • Casa del ALBA Cultural
  • La Havana, Cuba.
  • UNEAC, Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba en Matanzas
  • Teatro Tentempié
  • Centro de Teatro de La Habana
  • Casa de las Américas
  • Coordinating group of Afro-Palabra

Government Supporters / advisors

  • Senator Jack Reed
  • Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
  • Congressman David Cicilline
  • Congressman Jim Langevine
  • Secretary of State Nelly Gorbea
  • Mayor of Central Falls James Diossa
  • Providence City Council President Luis Aponte
  • Arts + Culture + Tourism City of Providence
  • RI State Council for the Arts
  • RI Foundation
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