A new community-centered initiative, the Diasporic Collage Community Microgrant Program, has been launched through a partnership between the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO) at Hunter College, New York, New York, and the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. This microgrant program was open to all community organizations, inviting them to propose the creation of locally rooted programs that reflect their missions and engage with diasporic experiences.
The initiative builds upon the themes of the acclaimed exhibition Diasporic Collage: Puerto Rico and the Survival of a People, previously on view at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU (MSU Broad Art Museum) in East Lansing Aug. 31, 2024-Feb. 1, 2025, and currently on view at the CENTRO Gallery in El Barrio in New York through Sept. 25, 2025.
The Diasporic Collage exhibition was organized by the MSU Broad Art Museum and CENTRO at Hunter College, in collaboration with the Diaspora Solidarities Lab (DSL), and it was curated by Dr. Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez, Directora of CENTRO and the DSL; Dalina A. Perdomo Álvarez, Assistant Curator at the MSU Broad Art Museum; and Dr. Windy M. Cosme Rosario, Instructor at the University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras.
Echoing the collage aesthetic of layering and weaving together complex histories, the Diasporic Collage Community Microgrant Program encourages grantees to explore identity, memory, migration, and belonging through community-based programming.
The 12 selected community-based projects are:
- Between the Acts: Puerto Rican Accompaniment in Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet (New York)
- Digital Archive of La Impresora, La Impresora (Puerto Rico)
- Un Paso Alante: A Conversation with Bomba and Plena Masters in New York and Puerto Rico, Los Pleneros de la 21 (New York / Puerto Rico)
- From Las Carpetas to Los Algoritmos: Unveiling Modern Surveillance of Puerto Rican Resistance, Caitie Gutierrez (Sydney, Australia)
- Brooklyn JUPI Campaign Against Displacement, Juventud Unida por la Independencia (New York)
- De Aquí, De Allá: A Patriotic Story, Mi Patria Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico / New York)
- Festival Contempora, Compañía Contempora (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
- The 5th Annual El Barrio Parade, Marc Reign (New York)
- Saberes Digitales de la Cepa: Historias, Sabores y Saberes de Río Piedras, hacia una nueva escuela, Antonio González-Walker (Puerto Rico)
- Medicina Callejera y Cuidado Comunitario en Puerto Rico: Estudio y Memoria, Zevio Schnitzer Krasinski (Puerto Rico)
- Allí O Allá, Brianna Torres (Oakland, California)
- Con Orgullo: The Legacy of Buffalo’s Puerto Rican and Latine Elders, Joed Viera (Buffalo, New York)
Each of the 12 grantees will receive a one-time grant of $3,500 to design and implement a project that activates these themes within their own communities. Projects may include workshops, exhibitions, and community engagement programs, or other creative initiatives that center diasporic narratives and foster cultural dialogue.
“We’re thrilled to extend the impact of Diasporic Collage beyond the gallery walls,” Figueroa-Vásquez said. “This program supports the creative work of community organizations and deepens our collective understanding of how diasporic communities preserve, transform, and celebrate their histories, identities, and futures.”
The Diasporic Collage Community Microgrant Program underscores the power of collaboration between academic institutions and community partners and reaffirms the importance of community efforts in uplifting underrepresented voices and cultivating inclusive, culturally vibrant spaces.
“The College of Arts & Letters has been proud to support the work done by the organizations, students, artists, and scholars who have come together through Diasporic Collage, and we are equally thrilled to see the project grow,” said Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Interim Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies for MSU’s College of Arts & Letters. “This kind of community-directed work is crucial to the future of the arts and humanities.”
