Hecho En Califas Programming and Festival

La Peña Cultural Center's Hecho en Califas programming presents and supports young Latino artists from California and beyond who break new ground through the fusion of traditional with contemporary art forms. Many of the artists are addressing issues such as immigration, "borders", bi-lingualism, cultural identity , and criminalization of youth.

Hecho en Califas programming is diverse: from roc en español to teatro, from son jarocho to punk mariachi, from visual art to spoken word and hip hop. The programming is aimed at showing the diversity of talent and vision and the radical fusion of forms and ideas which is occuring in many young communities. Each year we hold at least one residency project with artists from Hecho en Califas programming.

Featured artists have included: Quetzal, SlowRider, Quinto Sol, Blackfire, Culture Clash, Rudo Revolutionary Front, Aztlan UnderGround, Tijuana No!,Of Mexican Descent, La Paz, Domingo Siete, Son Borikua, Grito Serpentino, Mariposa, Prophets of Rage, Orixa, Skalavera, Firme, La Plebe,Taco Shop Poets, Leticia Hernandez, Teatro Campesino Nueva Generación, Los Otros, Los Cenzontles, B Side Players, Latina Theater Lab, Tim Hernandez, Hazel and many many others.

Annual Hecho en Califas Festival

Once a year gathers more than one hundred musicians and artists in an Hecho en Califas Festival that showcases the best of California, national and international Chicano/Latino music, theater and art.

Over the last four years, the Hecho en Califas Festival has expanded from Bay Area and California based artists to include the youth arts movement all across the United States and internationally. Both in the regular programming and through the annual Festival, featured artists have come from New York, Chicago, Texas, Arizona, Miami, Puerto Rico and Mexico. La Peña also commissions new works for the Festival. In 2003, we presented two new works: "The Fruitvale Project" which grew out of an year long residency project directed by Elia Arce, and "Word Becomes Flesh" by Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

La Pena is planning for the fifth annual Hecho en Califas festival which will take place in Fall/Winter 04 in collaboration with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and many other community based organizations. In conjunction with Hecho en Califas 04 we will also host a Next Generation Arts Summit to provide a place for artists, presenters, activists and funders to discuss artistic and production issues.

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