Musician Rick Reyes may have been born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but his heart and his music lie in Puerto Rico. Which is one reason he’s created the Puerto Rican songbook project: It’s his way of sharing a piece of Puerto Rico with the world.

Reyes, who refers to his Connecticut hometown as “Bridgeportorico,” moved back to Puerto Rico when he was a young child. He lived there until he was 13, at which point he and his family moved back to the States.

It was a tough time to move, Reyes recalls, and it was music, and Puerto Rican in particular, that helped him through the transition. “When you move any place as a child…it’s a big transition in your life,” Reyes says. “I was taken aback by leaving friends behind, starting again new.”

“I used to always write my thoughts and feelings as a little kid,” he continues. “My outlet became to write more. I picked up guitar. Things became songs.”

These songs eventually turned into a music career, which in turn evolved into a dedication to spread the sounds of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican songbook project began with an arts grant in 2016 that placed Reyes as artist in residence at the Bijou Theater in Bridgeport. The grant enabled Reyes to perform once a month with various Latin-centric groups, as well as develop the project.

While not the sole focus of Reyes’ concerts—he performs regularly with Cosmic Jibaros, the Pasofino Social Club, and Novela Sin Tiempo—the Puerto Rican songbook project is meant to be a Puerto Rican musical travel guide of sorts, featuring songs from the 1920s to the ‘90s and highlighting the contributions of Puerto Rican composers. Reyes, who is a member of the Nest Arts Factory in Bridgeport, has also developed a few workshops on the topic.

Reyes is pleased with the feedback he’s getting on these performances so far. (You can catch the next one April 22 at the Bijou). “It’s had such an impact in the community,” Reyes says. “It’s a community that needed to realize their roots. It’s a very healing show for folks.”

That healing seems apt given that’s what music initially did for the young Reyes newly transplanted in America. “When I started writing music, it was not with the intent of following any particular genre but to let me emotions out,” he says. “It was the only way I could express what I was feeling. Like many artists you paint your soul, you sculpt your emotions.”

Rick Reyes – musician
Bridgeport, Connecticut
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Top images courtesy Rick Reyes

The post Rick Reyes’ Love Songs to Puerto Rico appeared first on Take Magazine.

Victor Pacheco, one of our artists to watch in 2016, impressed Take Magazine and executive director of Real Art Ways in Connecticut Will K. Wilkins with his imaginative and informative paintings. Back in our December/January 2016 print issue, we highlighted some of his artistic renderings of natural gas wells which, according to Wilkins, “captures awe-inspiring technology and raises discussion about the environmental impact of our search for carbon-based energy.”

It’s about time we check in with Victor.

Sculpture by Victor Pacheco for the Worcester Water Infrastructure Project

In 2016, Pacheco, raised in Hartford, Connecticut continued this artistic analysis of our built environment through his sculpture project in his new home – Worcester. Always half artist, half researcher, Victor used a materials grant from the ArtsWorcester to create sculptures based on the city’s winding scheme of pipes. His work comes at a pivotal time for the city given its current issues with water resources, “I started to do some work looking at water systems where I live, looking at Worcester’s water infrastructure, and developing some larger scale work around the water system…this year particularly was pretty bad year in terms of drought.”

Victor’s work we highlighted last year, and his sculpture work with the City of Worcester, attempt to use art as a means of communicating complex ideas about resource use and the impact humans have on the environment. Pacheco’s work artistically analyzes systems, using expression as a means to illuminate portions of our built environment that we cannot see, or choose to ignore. “There’s a huge series of pipe systems that go underground and into our house that we don’t really think about. The network of pipes that deliver and transport water in and out of our homes is a crucial element in our everyday routine. Because our water infrastructure is so vast, it doesn’t feel real.” said Victor, “…these sculptures show that on a manageable scale for someone to look at.”

Sculpture by Victor Pacheco for the Worcester Water Infrastructure Project

Over the next year, Victor plans to create work that’s a bit divergent from this creative look at infrastructure. The artist hasn’t exhibited a lot this year because he’s planning and preparing a massive installation for 2018. Victor plans to create many large-scale multimedia works that explore how technology is changing the way we interact with each other, using frogs as a creative stand-in for humans.

“I started using frogs in my work about three or four years ago. I did a series on small frogs based on some commission work and people really took an interest to it – which was a really refreshing to me since I do a lot of serious work…work that is theoretical and based on research. Making frogs and using frogs totally changes the way in which people approach art…it’s more welcoming.”

Having already unveiled a five-foot cyborg frog, Take eagerly looks forward to what Victor Pacheco plans for the next year…or two.

Unfinished sculpture for Victor Pacheco’s 2018 exhibition

Victor Pacheco is a multi-media artist from New Haven Connecticut. Follow Victor on Facebook and Twitter for all cybor-frog-related updates. 

All photos courtesy of the artist

The post The Art of Science with Victor Pacheco appeared first on Take Magazine.