Latin jazz filled the halls of The Wadsworth Thursday in celebration of the newest exhibition that curator Iraida Rodríguez-Negrón said brings “a little piece of Puerto Rico” to the people in Hartford.
The Sense of Beauty is an exhibition featuring sixty paintings from the Museo de Arte de Ponce, a cultural landmark on Puerto Rico’s southern coast that Luis A. Ferré founded in 1959.
“The title of the exhibition actually comes from a speech that our founder Luis A. Ferré presented,” Rodríguez-Negrón said. “In 1964, he presented this speech called ‘Cultivar el Sentido de lo Bello.’ ‘How to Cultivate the Sense of Beauty.’”
With this theme in mind, the artwork in the exhibition features religious themes, landscapes, and modern styles ranging from the 1500s to today. Many of the paintings are visiting the United States for the first time, Rodríguez-Negrón said.
José Campeche, Francisco Oller y Cestero, Myrna Báez, Rafael Ferrer, and Waldemar Morales Lugo are among the Puerto Rican artists in the exhibition, alongside European and American artists.
“It's a great way to teach audiences not only about our early masters of Puerto Rican art,” Rodríguez-Negrón said. “Some of the artists that are included in the exhibition are Puerto Rican artists that are part of the diaspora in the United States.”
Rodríguez-Negrón hopes this exhibition helps Puerto Ricans in Connecticut experience the legacy of former Gov. Ferré, who she said envisioned the Ponce Art Museum as a museum “para todos los puertorriqueños”, meaning “for all Puerto Ricans”.
“This is definitely the most important legacy that he left for us,” she said, “because from the beginning, the collection was made for Puerto Ricans, and ‘todos los puertorriqueños’ are the people in Puerto Rico, but also the people in the mainland.”
The exhibition is traveling around the United States as the Ponce Art Museum undergoes repairs after earthquakes in 2020 caused damages to its infrastructure.
“We were very lucky because this year we didn't have any hurricanes that interrupted the construction,” she said. “Hopefully, in a period of two years, more or less, we'll be able to be ready for reopening.”
Rodríguez-Negrón said she believes the exhibition will offer visitors a window into Puerto Rico.
“In Puerto Rico, we value culture, and not only how we express culture and how we live in culture, but how we have been able to preserve this cultural legacy,” she said, “not only for Puerto Ricans but for the whole world.”
‘A little piece of home’
The Wadsworth celebrated the opening of the exhibition with a “Brushstrokes + Bomba” First Thursdays event that featured live music, Puerto Rican food, and a screening of El Cantante, a film about Puerto Rican salsa singer Héctor Lavoe.
Hartford resident Bryan Xavier Baéz Arroyo was just visiting family in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The Wadsworth’s First Thursday event, he said, brought him back.
“It's beautiful,” he said. “I'm very excited and happy that something like this was set up.”
Baéz Arroyo said he’s been by the Ponce Art Museum in Puerto Rico, but he’s never gone inside. The exhibition, he said, offers not just a look into the museum on the island, but also a point of pride for local Puerto Ricans.
“It almost feels like being seen,” Baéz Arroyo said. “A space where we could host something like this in The Wadsworth Museum, one of the oldest museums around the country, it's pretty special.”
Karen Maisonet was born in Manatí, Puerto Rico and lives in New Britain. A friend told her about the First Thursday event, she said.
“It makes me feel right at home,” she said. “I grew up in Hartford, so just to see my culture being celebrated, it makes me feel proud.”
Maisonet said she got chills learning that some of the exhibition paintings were visiting the U.S. for the first time.
“I have a lot of family members that have never been to the mainland,” she said, “so it's beautiful to see our culture come overseas and be represented.”
“It makes you feel like there's a little piece of home here,” Maisonet said.
Learn more
The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce is on display at The Wadsworth through March 14, 2027. The museum has a bilingual catalogue of the exhibition available in its shop.
The Wadsworth has a companion exhibition on display called ¡Batey Boricua! Creamos Nuestro Espacio | We Create Our Space. This exhibition highlights contemporary Puerto Rican artists in Connecticut. It is on view through February 7, 2027.
