Patacones, Paintbrushes, & Power Opening Reception

A multi-disciplinary exploration of Panama–U.S. cross-cultural exchange, Patacones, Paintbrushes, and Power celebrates the transformative collaborations between Taller Portobelo on Panama’s Caribbean coast and the U.S.-based Creative Currents Artist Collaborative. Spanning painting, photography, performance, oral history, and cultural exchange, this exhibition reveals how African American and Afro-Latin artists have fueled activism, identity, and community through shared creative practice.

“In a time of cultural erasure and division, Patacones, Paintbrushes, and Power is both archive and blueprint for liberation,” says co-curator Dr. Renée Alexander Craft, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor and scholar who has spent over two decades researching Portobelo’s vibrant Congo traditions. “It insists on the fullness of Black life—its contradictions, its beauty, its joy, and its enduring capacity to shape the world.”

Celebrate the launch of Patacones, Paintbrushes, and Power with an evening of art, conversation, and community. Enjoy light bites and refreshments, immerse yourself in the vibrant sounds of live music, and connect with artists, curators, and fellow art lovers in an intimate setting surrounded by powerful works from across the African Diaspora.

This is more than an opening—it’s a gathering of voices, stories, and visions that honor the legacy of Afro-Panamanian and African American collaboration. Come be part of the dialogue, the celebration, and the beauty.